No Cote d'Azur for us!

So, we did not make it to Nice by train because there was a blackout all along the coast from Monaco to Cannes. When we reached Villefranche by tender, it was raining sort of regular - you would get wet and miserable if you did not have a coat and umbrella (which one of our group did not have).

Anyway, Villefranche was looking very picturesque with the slight rain, then as we were walking toward the train station the rain started coming down in buckets. We stood there for a while and then made way toward the awnings of the several cafes along the waterfront. Oh, did I mention that the cafes were closed because of no electricity. We were standing in one restaurant outdoor seating area with another couple from America and the water started coming up from the sewers. THEN the man hole cover about 6 feet away popped off because of water spouting up against it, and now out of it, and a rat ran towards us! Another floated along, drowned.

So we headed back to the tender, stopping in the one shop that was open - that's right we could not even shop because the electricity was out!

Out first big adventure ended with a trip to the spa onboard the Celebrity Summit. The picture was taken before the rats came!

More later!

Rome Restaurants

Here are some restaurant recommendations for Rome:
Alberto Ciarla
40, Piazza San Cosimato, Rome, Italy
+39 6 581 8688 / +39 6 581 6068

• Review in Real Travel

Ristorante Piperno
Monte dè Cenci 9 - 00186 Roma
Tel. +39 06 68806629
Tel. +39 06 6833606

• Review on Real Travel

Trattoria Monti
Via San Vito, 13a, Rome, Italy
+39 6 446 6573

• Review by Katie Parla

• Review by Real Travel

Agata e Romeo
Via Carlo Alberto, 45
00185 Roma (RM), Italy
+39 06 4466115

• Review in Lonely Planet
  

We finally made reservations for Trattoria Monti for November 5. Will let you know how it goes.

Cote d'Azur on our own

You may remember that we had a big plan to take the train in to Nice from the port of Villefranche and wander on our own. The market place on Cours Saleya is an antique mart and I wanted to walk down the Promenade de Anglais. I did not think we wanted to go further afield as described in this post.

Here is a map of our first port of call, and a link to the port review for Villefranche.


View Larger Map

We arrive at the yellow arrow. Monaco/Monte Carlo is east (right) at the aqua arrow. Nice is west (left) at the blue arrow. Nice is a couple of miles away. The train from Villefranche actually cuts through the mountain to reach Nice.

Eze (green) and St. Paul d'Vence (fuschia) are two popular destinations for tours in the area. Cannes is a green arrow off to the left (west) past Antibes.

These maps are great if you zoom out to see the overview of the area or zoom in for the details. Also, here is a web site, Real Travel, with lots of maps. The link will take you to a map similar to this one of the area, but it also links to maps of the specific destinations, like Nice.

P.S. Here is a link to another Villefranche map that is even better since it appears to be the official city map.

So, is that what we did?