Our first port on our Mediterranean Cruise was Nice. My group of friends travels well together because we don’t feel we have to do everything together. All of us had different interests here and went our own way. Danny and I took a tour to Nice, Eze, and Monaco. I really wanted to see Monaco.

Nice was first that morning. The tour bus dropped us off near the flower market and the promenade.

We did some walking through the flower market. I was intrigued by the cheeses but didn’t know if we were allowed to bring it back on the ship, so we didn’t purchase anything. The architecture here is such a contrast to the buildings in the US. It feels like Europe has much more character. We did find a gelato place just opening and had a snack there. I think we had gelato in nearly every port. We walked along the promenade a bit before it was time to get back on the bus and go to Eze.

The picture on the right is the view from the yellow church in the left picture. I made it to the church and that was it – I couldn’t go any further in the heat. I gave Danny explicit instructions and let him climb to the top on his own while I explored that area.

We split a pizza and had drinks at a nearby cafe. I made a Facebook post, thanking my high school French teacher for all of her work and letting her know it was still coming in handy. I can understand it better than I can speak it.

We almost were left by the tour here. I thought the time we had to be back at the bus was 1:45 and it was actually 1:15. One of the people who had been climbing up to the church with us told the tour guide I hadn’t been doing too good so she waited with the bus. I felt really bad when I realized my mistake. From now on I write a note in my phone when we are on tours!

Because of my mistake, we didn’t have as much time in Monaco. We visited the Palace and some people walked up the hill to the Casino. I had planned on skipping the Casino due to the dress code. Danny and I went across the street from where the bus parked to a “mall” and found the Starbucks on the roof. My cousin and I try to collect the mugs from the different locations and I really wanted to get one here. The cold drinks also felt really good in the heat.

On the way back to the ship, our guide pointed out many celebrity homes. It was an interesting tour and I’d definitely like more time in the area.