5th July – Cannes, France

‘Movie stars, motor yachts, the crush of paparazzi on the Croisette - such are the
images of Cannes and its legendary film festival.
But this gracious city with its palmlined boulevard dividing divine beaches from chic cafés and nightclubs is also your gateway to Monaco and Monte Carlo, Nice and St. Tropez.

For centuries this former Roman camp - the Castrum de Canios - was nothing more than a sleepy port. Then in 1834, the British Lord Brougham interrupted his travels to Italy to take shelter from a
cholera outbreak. He fell in love with the stunning coast, built a villa and voila!

Two centuries later, the town remains synonymous with glamour, luxury and a sybaritic lifestyle.’ – Tourist brochure.

Slowly in early mist and haze we entered into this attractive harbour and dropped anchor ½ kl from the shore. Already another cruise ship was disgorging its passengers into tenders for their onslaught onto this charismatic city and already it was obviously going to be another hot day.
Ships life boats were used for the ten minute ferry to shore, where a coach picked us up for a commentated tour of glamorous Cannes city. What amazing views we observed as we drove slowly through the city streets and then from many strategic view points as the coach driver wound his way slowly around numerous tight roads overlooking the city, at one stage he even crossed the road to the wrong side and parked so we could get a good glimpse of the city below. At a high vantage point we transferred from coach to a city transport bus that took us down into the old city and principality of Monaco where the Grimaldis have reigned for over 600 years. Monaco is the second smallest independent state in the world after the Vatican. Once again our very knowledgeable guide gave us untold undisputable history information and facts as we ambled through this old city. We watched the changing of the guard, Monaco’s daily pomp and pageantry and at the risk of sounding cynical, compared to something in front of Buckingham Palace I would say sloppy almost comical.
During free time for shopping we had lunch another fabulous pizza and a carafe of red – I could get used to this, I’m glad Nancy doesn’t drink.
Also a visit to St Nicholas Cathedral where we observed the final resting place of  Princess Grace and Prince Rainier.