Any concerns I’d had about the weather were burned away on Day 5 as we rocked up in Villefranche, anchoring in the middle of the bay as we were too large to dock. It was another early morning, but after the fabulous night before, we felt much more energized and ready to seize the day!

By 7:45 we were on dry ground, and heading for our coach. We’d already been warned about some steep hills, which had scared off some guests – the original coach park was closed for a classic car derby – but the walk wasn’t bad, and we even got to spot a few classic Alpines!

By 8:45 we were up in the hills, overlooking Villefranche and our ship. Another half hour later, we were at our first stop – the ancient village of Éze.

The commune of Èze extends from the Mediterranean Sea (Èze-sur-Mer) to the hilltop with a medieval village (Èze-Village). Saint-Laurent-d’Èze connects these villages.

After getting off the coach and clambering up some particularly steep hills, we found ourselves at the entrance to the village. At the foot of the ‘entrance hill’ was a set of ornate black and gold gates with some choice cars behind them. We learned that most of the village was now essentially part of a very unique hotel – the Chateau de la Chèvre d’Or. Given the village’s unique layout and confines, people began to move out as the realities of modern life began to make the village an unrealistic place to live. As they left, the hotel simply bought the residence and turned it into another place for guests to stay. Despite all of this, or perhaps because of it, the whole place was still open to the public, so we could freely mix and mingle with the rich and famous – if any of them came out of their rooms.

Our guide took us up through the village until it was time for us to wander alone. We had the option of joining her and a smaller group at the local perfume factory, but we wanted to soak in the village more leisurely, and get some fridge magnets as souvenirs!

Rather than keep waffling on, I’ll just post the pictures we took. It was a magical little place, totally different from anywhere we had previously been.

As is fairly typical for us, we spent so much time looking at everything and taking pictures of it that we completely missed the window for finding food before we were due back on the coach, and so, stomachs rumbling, we got back on board for the short trip along the coast to somewhere I’ve wanted to visit since I was little – Monaco.

As a lifelong Formula 1 fan, Monaco holds a special place in my heart. It is the true blue riband event of the championship, and the place itself is steeped in motorsport history and wealth, and power. To my delight, they were setting up the principality for the race later in the month, so I got to see the grandstands in place and – gasp – drive down the actual Start-Finish straight, albeit in a bus.

Monaco is very pretty and very well-manicured. The whole place felt like it had just been cleaned and landscaped just before we arrived, which, given the amount of money sloshing around the place, it probably had been. After a walking tour, we were released to find food – sorely needed by this point – and wander around ourselves to see the place before heading back to the bus. That’s exactly what we did, so here are some pictures.

That night we dined at Sushi on Five. We mostly had the place to ourselves, but on the Constellation the restaurant nestles alongside one of the lounges, so we got to listen to one of the jazz & blues shows that was playing whilst we ate.