Villefranche, Antibes, Monaco, and back to Villefranche on the new Ship Muse

We pulled into the large protected bay of Villefranche in France and had out first sight of the new ship The Muse that we will be on for three days as part of our World Cruise and 120 of the 140 world cruisers elected to go. There are three ships in the harbor here, The Silver Whisper, The Aura of the Seas and The Silver Muse, made for a sight. We got on the first tender at 11:00 am and as we pulled into dock we both wondered what country we were in, France? Italy? Monaco? The name Villefranche should have been a clue but we have been traveling for so long and in so many ports they become a blur. After confirming that yes we were in France we set out for a stroll along the seaside. Nice sunny day but cool and a jacket required at times. Our shore excursion to Yes another ancient city this time Antibes was not until 2:00 pm Sat down at a restaurant with the table right along the sea wall to have a cappuccino and a snack. A waiter said yes that's ok and then a gal came over and said if we were not having a full lunch we had to sit on the other side of the little seaside road so we did. Ordered the Tuna & salmon tartare that sounded good but after we started eating it some of the fish was spoiled so we stopped. The same french waitress came back to ask how things were but when I tried to explain the fish was no good she didn't understand English any more. We paid our bill in full and left hoping not to be sick later and we were not. Cecelia was our tour guide for Antibes and it was a beautiful drive along the Cotes de Azur coast past Nice and many small towns. This is the area that a crazy hijacked the truck and ran over all the people and she pointed out where it happened. Antibes was a nice little walk around and had a little tasting of some special booze that was 150 proof, wow. Then back on the bus for another hour plus to go home, not sure why we do this. Got back about 6:30 pm and decided to have dinner ashore in Villefranche. Our timing was bad as all the restaurants were closed until seven so we had a glass of wine at a bar to pass the time. There were many restaurants but we picked a little hole in the wall because of the soup. It was creamy chorizo soup with calamari and onion and was it ever good! We then split the duck which was also very good! The little place was run by two gals, one the cook and one the server. It was a dark and stormy night as we got back on the tender with some large swells. Being the second to the last tender it carried as passengers just the two of us but radio traffic said there were five more still ashore. We left the port at night and arrived in Monaco the next morning where we did the final packing for the trip. Ended up sending five big bags home by FEDEX. My one carry on this morning didn't want to zip shut. At 10:00 am this morning they called green tags and we got off our home of four months to depart for the Muse. Such a long voyage it seemed that it would never end having four months to go, three months, two months, a Whole Month! but then it's gone. In Monaco this morning for the Whisper but the Muse was back in Villefranche so we had a bus ride to get back to Villefranche. We had a brand new full sized bus this morning and it held just Ron & Carol, Linda, Us two, and Fernando. We travel in style. Boarding the Muse was a breeze and we now sit on the pool deck having lunch. One of the best parts of the world cruise was the location of our room. On purpose we picked the starboard side as traveling west during the cruise all the land would be outside our room and 831 was located just one door away from the pool deck with the bar & grill. We are now in Room 851 but are two floors down from the pool deck on deck 10. The Muse is beautiful with neutral colors and everything shining. They had a first cruise with just travel agents and then this one so we are among the first travelers on the Muse.

French Alps with snow in the background coming into port at Villefranche

The Muse

Three ships at anchor in the bay

Looking west towards Nice

Looking down on Monaco from our bus ride

The tender for the below yacht

This is Andrey Melnichenko's yacht parked just outside the harbor in Monaco. It's too big to come in. At a staggering $300 million dollars it is the most expensive yacht in the world. Just a bath knob costs $40 thousand dollars! Andrey did not invite us aboard today which I'm sure is just an oversight on his part. Don't worry about Andrey as he is reported to be worth 11.5 Billion dollars and yes he is Russian.

A door in ancient Antibes. The left eye of the man is the peep hole

Antibes door

Le Aparte Restaurant appetizer menu

The Muse