The homestretch of the French pilgrimage was on the Riviera. On Wednesday we landed in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. The view from our room at the Hotel Deux Frères was stunning. We saw the crescent-shaped harbor with Monaco in the distance. We also saw a flotilla of megayachts moored in the harbor, poor souls. Dinner at the hotel was merveilleux! We started with crab-stuffed tomatoes, then moved on to rack of lamb.
After breakfast, we roamed around Roquebrune. The town is what Julian refers to as a target-rich environment. He took many photos of the buildings, views, and street life. We also took a short visit to the cemetery, which has family plots going back over 300 years. We struck up a conversation (in French) with the friendly groundskeeper at the cemetery when he noticed my bandaged hand.
Because this section of the Riviera is so close to Italy, there’s a lot of cross-pollination between the two countries. Many of the local names look and sound Italian. In addition, the predominant cuisine of local restaurants is Italian. We had pizza for lunch today, and Julian had penne all’Arabbiata for dinner tonight.
Our last stop was Villefranche-sur-Mer, just east of Nice. The traffic in town is what you’d expect for a tourist destination, as is the parking. I was ready to tell Julian to drive to the Nice airport and get us on the next flight home when I saw an open parking spot that would accommodate the Purple People-Eater. We mostly walked and took transit from points A to points B. The hotel is located right on the working harbor.
On Saturday we took the train to Nice, mostly to visit the Marc Chagall Museum. The centerpiece of the collection is a series of paintings he did based on Biblical scenes. Many of these paintings were recently restored. The colors were wonderfully vivid. The rest of Nice was a big-city tourist trap. There was one exception: The memorial to the victims of the Bastille Day attack. The pile of toys, stuffed animals, candles, and messages takes up half a block of a park.
Sunday we took a bus to Cap Ferrat. Details of the visit are in the previous post. Our final dinner in Villefranche was at a Vietnamese restaurant. Then it was back to the hotel to pack and try to get some sleep before driving to the Nice Airport.
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