Honig Winery Mediterranean Cruise

FIRST DAY: NICE, FRANCE

The first full day in Nice, recovering nicely (snicker) from 13 hours on airplanes the day before. A full day of activities: tour of and a tasting at a local winery, lunch at an outstanding small restaurant, an afternoon Rose tasting, a walk through the old town, and dinner at the hotel restaurant. The day was a Bank Holiday in France; everything shuts down and everyone goes partying. For us, the evening ended with a beautiful fireworks display over the water that we watched from the roof of the hotel.

Waiting for the minibuses

On the road through Nice

Path to the vines. The vineyard was at the top of a very narrow, winding road.

Kelly and the winemaker, Gio, explaining the vines on the hill behind them. Wilson, for once, paying attention.
Looking out over vines. Brangelina's winery is out there someplace.

The wines

The Wines, the Winemaker, and our Leader.
Remnants

Tools of the trade.
Waiting for wine

Wine Baskets

Hot sunny morning. The sun zeroed in on my Lensball and started lighting a barrel on fire. Moved everything before the winery burned down.

View from the park. I fiddled a bit with HDR and like the way the colors pop.
This is what was originally where the park is. Very little remains.

The waterfall was amazing.
I didn't notice the bird at the top of the falls watching me.

It looks like a cave entrance but is actually narrow steps up to the next level.

Can't leave highest place in Nice without some scenics.
Lensball scenic

A marker for early tourists and visitors?

Hooked on Lensball lens. I like the colors, even if it is upside down.
Rock snakes

Some of the walkways had interesting detail work.

Earlier pictures were from the bottom of the waterfall. This is from the top. The birds perched on the very edge. The rushing water did not bother them.

Late in the afternoon, we left Nice by bus taking "the back road" to the Principality of Monaco. The back road consisted of working our way down the coast, mostly on smaller twisty roads to Monaco.

Some detail about Monaco care of Wikipedia: "Monaco has an area of 2.020 km2 (0.780 sq mi), making it the second-smallest country in the world after the Vatican. Its population was about 38,400 based on the last census of 2016.[6] With 19,009 inhabitants per km², it is the most densely-populated sovereign state in the world. Monaco has a land border of 5.47 km (3.40 mi), the world's shortest coastline of approximately 3.83 km (2.38 mi) (regardless of the coastline paradox), and a width that varies between 1,700 and 349 m (5,577 and 1,145 ft). The highest point in the country is a narrow pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires Ward, which is 161 metres (528 feet) above sea level. Monaco's most populous Quartier is Monte Carlo and the most populous Ward is Larvotto/Bas Moulins. Through land reclamation, Monaco's land mass has expanded by 20 percent; in 2005, it had an area of only 1.974 km2 (0.762 sq mi). Monaco is known to be the most expensive and the wealthiest place on Earth, Vatican City excluded, due to its tax laws. In 2014, it was noted that about 30% of the population was made up of millionaires.

Three images of comparative boat sizes, starting with VERY big. This was, according to several people, Prince Albert's yacht. His castle is in the background.
Big in back, smaller heading out and small coming in. Of course, the size of some of the yachts made everything look smaller by comparison.
BIG and TINY. The little sailboats are all tied together nose to stern and pulled by the lead boat. Some of the sailboats are crewed by very young kids.
Evening arriving in Monaco.
All the Monaco pictures were taken from the veranda of our room onboard ship.

CORSICA, FRANCE. The day started with a visit to the Ajaccio Public Market; think of it as an upscale farmers market with sausages, cheeses and pastries. A bus ride took us to the prestigious Domaine Comte Peraldi winery. Then it was off to lunch at a local restaurant perched at one of the highest points in Corsica. The road was so narrow and winding that we had to walk up the last hundred or so yards because the bus couldn't get there. Lunch lasted until sometime after three, so it was back to the ship with an intermediary stop at an amazing local wine store (samples of homemade Limoncello).

PORTOFINO, ITALY. Our ship anchored in Portofino Bay. We tendered to a small pier beside the village and decided to walk up to the very scenic Castello Brown, high on a hill. The information sheet said a fifteen-minute walk, it neglected to say it was a fifteen-minute climb up narrow steps. The castle just reopened so it was worth the climb (we found out while on the top that there was a very nice ramped walk back down). We walked the village and I abandoned Ruth to shopping in favor of going back to the ship to take a nap.