Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Tuesday, October 23, 2012 – Cannes, France – Mostly Sunny – 75 F

Distance from Toulon to Cannes, France: 98 Nautical Miles

An absolutely beautiful day on the French Riviera…Sunny and warm just like the Riviera ought to be.

Local Information:  Cannes is in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region of Southeastern France.  It is home to the International Cannes Film Festival.  It became a tourist destination by chance when Britain’s Lord Chancellor, traveling to Nice, was forced to stay in Cannes because of a cholera outbreak.  He love the city and so have others in the last 150 years.

We are on tour today- “Cannes and Nice French Riviera”.  We are at anchor and will be tendering in.  We are meeting the tour bus on the pier so we tendered over a little early to see some of Cannes and find some WiFi.

 20121023 Tendering to Cannes (Small)

Tendering in to Cannes

Reflection at Anchor Cannes (Small)

Reflection at Anchor

Ellen managed to get the password for the WiFi from a nearby hotel so we were able to catch up on things and send along some new pictures.

We had some time before meeting the bus, so we walked around the streets near the beach.

Beachfront stores Cannes (Small) Beach Hotels Cannes (Small) 

Shops and Hotels along the Beach at Cannes

20121023 Park in Cannes (Small)

Statue in the Park across from WiFi Hotel

20121023 Beach at Cannes (Small)

The Reflection and Schooner from the beach

It was warm but apparently too early for the beach goers.  The beach had very few customers (it was around noon).

20121023 Beach at Cannes 1 (Small) 

We met our bus around 12:15 PM on the pier and soon we were off. Ellen can’t let the bus depart before the final count.

20121023 Super Escort (Small)

20121023 Civilian on tour (Small)

Just a civilian today

20121023 On our way to Antibe (Small)

On our Way

On the way out of Cannes, we passed the fable Casino

20121023 Cannes Casino (Small)

as well as the site of the International Cannes Film Festival.  The guide told us it costs $38,000 to walk the red carpet during the Festival but today you can do it for free.

20121023 Film Festival Complex (Small)

Cannes Film Festival Venue

We passed a few nice beach cities as we made our way along the coast but our first stop was the town of Antibe.

 20121023 Marina at Antibe (Small)

Harbor at Antibe

 20121023 E at Antibe (Small)

Antibe, like most of the beach towns, has an Old City.  There is not much left of the Old City but one of the remaining structures is an arched gate.

20121023 Medieval Arch (Small)

Medieval Gate Old City Antibe

20121023 Medieval Walls Old Antibe (Small)

Old Antibe

We actually got two pictures of the two of us together.

20121023 H and E Antibe (Small)  20121023 H and E Antibe 3 (Small) 

H and E in Antibe

As we wandered through Antibe on our guided tour, we came across a very cute town square complete with cafes.

20121023 City Square Antibe (Small)

After a little free time in Antibe (we took a detour and checked out the city a bit before returning to the bus meeting place), we were off to our final stop – Nice.

Nice is a very big city with a very long beach.  It also has cafes everywhere including some with some cute art gracing their entrances (below).

 20121023 Candy Sculptures Nice (Small)

Wrapped Candy  - Jumbo Size

Our guide pointed out the main street of Nice and a Statue of Apollo.  I jogged the block to get a picture of Apollo’s best side.

20121023 Apollo Sattue Nice (Small)

Apollo Statue

Near the Apollo Statue, I spotted a local police station.  In the courtyard of the station was a most interesting piece of sculpture.  Not sure what the thumbs up means in a police context.

20121023 Statue Nice Police Station (Small)

The Old City of Nice was next on the tour.  Funny thing – on the tour of Antibe, the group used wireless “Whispers” but here in Nice, no Whispers (odd).

20121023 Old Nice (Small) 

Old Nice

20121023 Nice Opera House (Small)

Nice Opera House

20121023 Al Fresco Dining Old Nice (Small)

Al Fresco Dining – Nice Old City

We had a few minutes of free time, so we meandered through the narrow streets of Nice and ended up on the beach walkway.

20121023 Beach at Nice (Small)

Beach at Nice

20121023 Iron Sculpture Nice Beach (Small)

Iron Sculpture on the Beach

We made it back to the bus right on time and soon we were on our way home.  The bus took the highway back to Cannes so were there in no time.

There was no wait for a tender.

Cannes from Tender (Small)

Cannes from Tender (returning)

Reflection tender return (Small)

Celebrity Reflection from Tender

Cannes and Reflection from Tender (Small) 

Reflection and Cannes from Tender

The reason I was able to take so many pictures of the ship while on the tender was that another tender was at the ship and not unloading passengers.  After about 30 minutes, passengers from that tender started making their way up the ramp.  Some problem with the equipment (card readers, security scanners, who knows?).  After things started moving, we docked and soon we were on board.  I should mention that this was a very large tender that used a special boarding platform.  When everyone was on board, the boarding platform was folded up and taken away by one of the tenders.  I don’t recall seeing that on any previous cruise.

The sail away – photographed from the Opus Dining Room – was spectacular.

20121023 Cannes Sail Away (Small)    20121023 Cannes Sail Away 2 (Small)

Cannes – Sail Away

The show tonight features headliner – Nik Page.  He played the role of Jean Valjean in Les Mis for two years in the West End.  He has a very good voice and did some nice numbers from Les Mis.  He included “I Dreamed a Dream” which just didn’t feel right.  He also was not as good when it came to more standard “rock and roll” selections (e.g. Jersey Boys Medley).  He was at his best when he stayed with Stage Musical numbers.

20121023 Nik Page (Small)

20121023 Nik Page 2 (Small)

Pedometer: 11,259 steps; 5.34 miles; 551 calories

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