I just had a pretty amazing couple of days on the French Riviera and countryside. A few days ago we docked in a favorite of mine called Monte Carlo. The country of Monaco itself is only about the size of Rhode Island or even smaller, but there's a lot packed into that tiny little island for the rich. The ship docks in the main harbor full of large and exquisite yachts. A Ferrari shop can be found in town in several locations as well as many other high end and sporty cars for the rich to play in. The main casino is so posh you have to be dressed well to even enter the front door. I had seen my fill of Monte Carlo and all its beauty that I wanted to take a trip to Nice, France. France is a neighboring country as well as Italy. I was going to do it in style on a Vespa or scooter. Well I journeyed down the harbor to find that the rental place was all closed up despite the hours posted telling me it was open. So I was with our lead singer, Dan, since we were so gung ho about renting scooters for the day. We went to the tourism office and asked if there was another place we could find and they proceeded to tell us this was the only place in town and that they would page him to come open up. They left a message and said it might be a while. We had limited time as you do on a cruise ship and decided to cave in and take the train. It was easy enough and Nice was a mere 20 minutes away at a cost of $6 round trip. No bother. We got on the clean train system and headed into France. The train plopped us in Nice proper 20 minutes later and we began our stroll through town. It was a typical city filled with the ambiance of the French Riviera. A lot of stores you might see anywhere else for fashion. We got to the beach and it was pristine. The water was a hue of blue I can't even begin to describe. It was so gorgeous and then to see up and down the coast of the Cotes d'Azur! Ah! C'est magnifique! I got to use some of my French knowledge here today as we went up and down streets and even dipped our feet into the chilly waters of the Mediterranean. The beaches in Nice were pebble beaches so they weren't optimum for lying out although from the looks of it the locals would disagree. The water made an interesting and soothing sound as it receded over the pebbles, which can be nice if you're relaxing out there. We walked up the coast to a very scenic overlook and caught some pictures before we tried to find a bite to eat. The old town was very picturesque with the old French style and cafes lining the area as well as an open-air market. We stopped for a bit to eat at a creperie where I ordered a crepe filled with potatoes, meat, and cheese. I had a fabulous Viennese coffee with it and was very satiated with people watching and food. The vibe here is so amazing with youth and charisma. We headed back after this lovely stroll to the train station to head back to Monte Carlo. I ran some errands back in town before boarding the ship again. I'd love to come to Nice again for a week's vacation on the Riviera.

The next day was absolutely astounding. I went outside of my comfort zone again and decided to rent a car in port to drive out in Provence and wine country. It didn't look like it was going to start out as a good day since I lost a lot of people who wanted to go out with me. I knew this though the day before and there were a few people still unsure. I had difficulty renting a car online through the major carriers. I finally found a decent price around $150 for the day. Personally that was too much for me, but I still wanted to do it anyway. Once I booked it, the final count was only 4 of us now that would go simply because it was a hectic day in Tuscany. The drive in Italy was great, but it lost a little bit of its ambiance when we decided to caravan. It was still a spectacular adventure, but I think it put some people off a bit. No worries since 4 of us were still going strong. That morning going out we were 3 strong and determined. The rental was at the airport so we would have to take a cab there and the cabbie was going to charge us about $55 just to get there, which means that would add an additional $110 to the rental. Yuck!! I mean at this point to take an adventure would be nice, but I still have to budget and not do anything too extravagant. We decided against the airport rental and decided to take the cheaper shuttle bus into town to see if we could find a rental at the train station for less. We were taking our chances at not going at all, but we were still hopeful. We walked along the streets in Marseille to go to the train station finding a McD's on the way where my two other travelers decided to stop for sustenance. I had already eaten breakfast and opted out. Once we were finished there and took some pictures of the archway that was in the area, we walked up the street seeing the train station in sight. On the right we just passed a local car rental place and walked in to see if we could get one. Sure enough there were 2 cars available and the only difference in price was whether or not we had air conditioning. The car came to $70 for the day. Awesome!! We started our drive out of the crowded city and we were on the expressway to Aix en Provence. It was only 20 km out so it would be a short drive. We made our stop in a little city right in the heart of Aix en Provence. We were just at the tip of what is famously known as Provence and wine country. We got some snacks (cheese), some water, and a map of France to get us up to the area. We figured our course and decided we'd take the country roads on our way to Avignon. It was so good to be driving and away from the city traffic and crowds. We were on a country road called N7 passing through cute little villages such as Renault, Velaux, and Eguilles and as we would soon become familiar with all the tree tunnels that lined the roads with the countryside in the distance. Learning our lesson from the previous road trip we stopped for lunch (dejeuner) at a local town called St. Canant. This was a very cool picturesque town with a small city center and some local watering holes. We stopped at a terrace restaurant that looked like it had good French food. We sat upstairs and we didn't have a terrace seat, but we had a lovely seat inside with the nice atmosphere. The menu was on the walls and they had a prixe fixe menu for about $13. It included a main dish, dessert, coffee, wine, water and bread. Good price and fabulous food! I had what was on the menu as Tagliatelle au Pistou, which is pesto pasta. It was a scrumptious dish of homemade pasta in olive oil with tomatoes, basil, and pesto. YUM!!! It was so richly delicious. It was a good portion too because I couldn't finish it all. A carafe of wine came to the table that went well with the pasta. The dessert though was to die for. It was called Fondant du Chocolat. It was a fudgy cake lying in a creamy vanilla sauce rippled with chocolate sauce. I was in heaven it was so decadent. Whoa!! My shot of espresso (what they refer to as coffee) came as well and I was raring to go. So far I was able to use my French for the day and if I couldn't communicate, the person I was talking to would try and explain to their best ability in English or simple French. It was so wonderful to encounter such friendly people here in the south of France. The waitress told us that Avignon wasn't too far away and our main point of taking the trip (Chateauneuf Du Pape) was even closer. We were stoked. Bex turned on here iPod in the back and we were on our way up the country roads into Avignon. We passed through lovely areas like Salon, Orgon, St. Remy, Cavaillon, and Chateaurenard. We came upon Avignon about 4:00pm after a lovely 2 hours of driving through winding roads, rolling hills, and lush fields. We stopped for a bit in the main metropolis and the old city. The old city was right in the heart of it all and fortified by a wall around the entire quarter. The streets were all cobblestone and all the buildings inside were a la old France. The sight to see here was the views of the Palais des Papes. Avignon sits along the Rhone River in France and has spectacular views from the palace of the country and the city. We spent some time here wandering through the city and taking it all in before we decided me must be on our way if we wanted to get up to the region of wine called the Cotes Du Rhone and Chateauneuf Du Pape. We learned that it was an additional 30 minutes to the north of Avignon and an additional 30 minutes to our time away from Marseilles. I was slightly nervous about going since the car had to be back before 9:00pm and we had to be back on board by 10:00pm. We went anyway and took the lovely scenic route past Avignon and into wine country. The moment we got on the D17 route heading into the area we were blown away. Vineyards EVERYWHERE. It's indescribable. Rolling hills and castles perched on top offered VERY scenic and over stimulating views. We stopped at a local winery where the drive was marked with 2 pillars a la castle style with trees lining the way all the way up to the hilltop. It was called Domaines Mousset. It was a cute hotel and winery where we tasted some of the local wines and each bought a bottle. We had so much fun here and just took the sights in as much as we could. We drove into the town proper and went to a chateau high on top of the hill called Les Avril. The views were stunning looking out over the vineyards in the distance and the sleepy town below. I was so overwhelmed with happiness. Today was a fabulous day. We finished our travels around 7:00pm and started our drive back to Marseilles. Instead of taking the country roads this time we had to take the expressway. It was a toll road along A7, but well worth it since it got us back into the coastal city an hour later. Amazing! We dropped our car off and sat for a lovely dinner along the harbor side in the city of Marseille. Another great meal with a grill of steak and fries before heading back to our home on board in which we JUST made the all aboard time. Oh my God!! This car renting could get very addictive. Especially if it comes so cheap. Amongst the 3 of us, I suspect we'll only pay $30 for a full day excursion. Wonderful!!! C'est tres magnifique!