Back to my "happy place"!

The first time I went to Europe was in 1979 and, for some reason - back in the dark crevices of my brain - I knew I wanted to visit Villefranche sur Mer but now have no idea why. So, my friend and I went and I fell in love with this charming and beautiful place; in fact, I fell for the entire area! Perhaps, the real reason was, which I freely admit at times, I have momentary delusions of grandeur! Regardless of the reason, I have been lucky enough to return many times since; sometimes for a couple of days and other times for a week. I always know when I get here I will feel so blessed and happy, particularly being close to the sea. It is my "happy place" - not the only one, however!

I have usually been here towards the end of September and into October at the end of the tourist season. In spite of the weather being mild and summer-like then, many of the tourist-related businesses, restaurants and tours have been shut down. I have always wanted to take a boat ride off the coast here to see it from a different perspective but have never had the chance. So, I was so delighted to find tours of the coast are still operating from Nice - albeit for only one hour - that do a coastal route toward Cap Ferrat then south along that shore into the bay of Villefranche sur Mer and back to Nice going along the Promenade des Anglais in the Baie des Anges before returning to port. For the record, the bay in Villefranche is actually called a "rade" rather than a "baie", like the Baie des Anges in Nice. The reason is that a "rade" is associated with a deep water harbour which is sheltered. If the bay in front of Nice is compared to the one in Villefranche, you will understand the difference - one being that much more shallow than the other. Cruise ships routinely anchor in the bay of Villefranche but never in front of the Promenade des Anglais.

So, at 11 am, we boarded the tour boat in Nice harbour at Quai Lunel for our one hour trip. The Italian influence in the harbour is visible here as well in so much of Nice, The architecture and the colours of the buildings evoke images of Italy more than France.

We headed east toward Cap Ferrat and cruised down the western side of that peninsula. We could spot some of the amazing villas on this world famous "cap" where property prices rival anywhere in the world - aka very expensive. It is seriously beautiful here, however, so you can see why the rich want to live here - and even .

One of the villas in the photo ((Nellcote) is where the Stones wrote Exile on Main Street

Then, we entered the bay where the "village" of Villefranche is located. The guide pointed out where the homes of Bono and Tina Turner were - sort of missed that details - and, apparently, Elton John has a place here as well. I am sure lots of other famous (and rich!) people do as well. For me, seeing the perspective of this place I have loved for so many years was amazing.

For the next part of the cruise, slowly made our way along the Promenade des Anglais in the Baie des Anges in Nice. Again, it was great to see this place, where I have been so many times, from the sea. We could see our apartment and many of the famous places along the seafront including the Hotel Negresco and the entrance to Vieux Nice. After that, we returned to the harbour, admiring some of the rather impressive yachts as we did.

Then, we decided to go to Villefranche for the afternoon. Uber has become our new "best friend" so we used the app to get there. It was a glorious day and could not have been more perfect as I haven't been here for 3 years. We walked along the quai, checked out the various restaurants, and had a lovely lunch at a new one (to me) next to l'Oursin Bleu called Lou Bantry. It was a lovely time and then we wandered some of the back streets before going back up the hill a bit to get our next Uber ride back to our apartment.