France | Days 12 & 13, Villefranche & Nice

Friday, June 23 & Saturday, June 24, 2023

These were, without a doubt, the two most relaxing days of our vacation. After two days of driving 1000 miles from Normandy to Villefranche with stops at four major cities and/or tourist attractions – including a brief religious pilgrimage – then landing at our AirBnb at 9:30 p.m. without dinner, we all slept in.

Jump to:
1. Our Airbnb and Around Villefranche
2. Dinner and Sightseeing in Villefranche-sur-Mer
3. Nice and Swimming in the Mediterranean
4. More Villefranche-sur-Mer and the Rue Obscure

Our Airbnb and Around Villefranche

Our Airbnb, which we booked for three nights, was like a little piece of paradise. If it weren’t for our need for food and the desire to swim in the Mediterranean, we might have never left.

Late Saturday morning Doug and I went for a walk down into “town” while the girls stayed at the house, resting and doing laundry because, YES! This was our last AirBnb with a washer and we still had another week before heading home.

***Because y’all know how much I love to talk about European washers and dryers, this house had a relatively decent set up. Not nearly has nice as Paris, but better than Normandy. And with three nights, everyone had a chance to wash and air dry whatever they needed.***

Villefranche vs. Villefranche-sur-Mer

As for our walk into town, this is where it gets a little confusing. According to our lodging address, we were staying in Villefranche, not Villefranche-sur-Mer. (sur-mer = by the sea) The town center of Villefranche was about halfway down the hill between our place and the sea. So when I say we went into “town” it was not the official resort town of Villefranche-sur-Mer, which is at sea level. I say this so that if you go googling about for Villefranche, 95% of what comes up will be Villefranche-sur-Mer, and even though it’s within walking distance, it’s not quite the same as staying in Villefranche.

I say we walked “down” to the town center because it took several hundred stairs to get there. These little staircases are charming, and they sure do help you burn the calories, but I couldn’t help but notice that it’s friendly to neither the elderly nor the disabled.

The town square had a park, a few shops, and some restaurants. Doug grabbed a much needed coffee at a coffee stand, and we picked up some cheese, meats, fruits and snacks for lunch.

On our way back, we stumbled upon what we thought might be a proper grocery store, tucked down an alley near the police station. But to our surprise, this store was devoted entirely to frozen foods! We’d never seen anything like it. The place was nicely air-conditioned, brightly lit with white walls and floors, and rows and rows of freezer chests, which all had glass tops for easy viewing. The concept was similar to Ikea in that you move in one direction through a maze of freezers, until you reach the registers at the end. It was a little adventure, and we were excited to find gluten-free frozen pizza and ice cream. But we couldn’t take more than we could carry back up the hill!

We spent the afternoon resting at the apartment and enjoying the view from the deck. We had a lot of fun scoping out the yachts on the bay. And I mean YACHTS. One even had a basketball court. On the ship! Crazytown!

If you zoom in you can see the basketball court!

Villefranche-sur-Mer

For dinner, we made reservations at a little restaurant called Cave Nature, in Villefranche-sur-Mer. I think it took us about 30 minutes to walk down to the village and that was the moment I was truly glad we had decided to stay in this area. It all felt so authentically French. I’ve never been anywhere like it and I probably never will be again. It was absolutely wonderful.

Cave Nature is a small restaurant surrounded by tall buildings, offering only outdoor seating. The food was fresh and made to order, so we had plenty of gluten-free and corn-free options. And the service was excellent. We loved it so much we went back there the next night!

After dinner, we walked down to sea level to visit the beach, marina, and more restaurants. Most of the shops in the area close at 5:00 p.m., so get your shopping done during the day!

We walked to the “sandy” beach in town – at least that was how the Airbnb welcome packet described it. The “sandy” beach in Villefranche-sur-Mer was really more of a pebble beach.

The pebbles were small enough that they didn’t hurt, but had the hilarious effect of tickling our feet as we walked on them. We must have been quite the site, because the whole time we were walking along the beach, we were giggling just like little kids having their feet tickled.

All I know is that I hope these people get the chance to experience a real sandy beach someday!

We dipped our feet in ocean for a few minutes, and then a kind woman offered to take our photo. Earlier in the evening, when we noticed that Doug, Christina and I were all dressed in blue and white, we told Jacquelyn she had to wear blue also. And that is how we accidentally ended up with what would turn out to be our 2023 Christmas card. So thanks Lady on the French Riviera who Stopped for us on Your Way to the Bar! You’re awesome!

Walking back up the hill to our apartment was a trek but we took our time, stopping at a little mart to get some bottled water and snacks. At night we enjoyed the view from our deck, which included fireworks out on the peninsula.

Nice and Swimming in the Mediterranean

Sunday was our day to venture over to Nice, the popular resort town just on the other side of the hill to our west. We took an Uber to a piercing studio of all places because Christina has lost her nose ring and needed a new one. Then we walked to the coast until we found a cafe for lunch. They tried to seat us in these really fun chair swings, but unfortunately it was literally right next to the very smelly, very busy restroom. So we gave up our swings and sat at the tables that face the street and the sea.

Lunch at Topaze was good, not great. I’m sure there were better restaurants nearby but we were hungry and didn’t want to keep looking. And Doug was even able to take a quick nap!

After lunch, we went across the street to the public beach. Suddenly we understood why the beach in Villefranche-sur-Mer was considered a “sandy” beach!

The beach in Nice, which I’ve seen described as “pebbly”, was more like a giant pile of gray stones. And by stones, I mean the ones used for hot stone therapy. As in they also store heat from the sun, of southern France, in June. So unless we were up for a hot coals challenge, walking barefoot was not an option!

After staking out a spot for our stuff, we tried to walk down to the water. I say tried because just as this beach-that-is-a-pile-of-scalding-stones meets the sea, the “land” dips down forming a small slope of wet, round, slippery stones. Imagine walking on giant wet marbles and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what it’s like. We’re pretty sure it was high tide which made it a little more challenging, but either way that hill of hot stones is always going to be tricky.

After watching the people around us, we realized that the best way to get into the water is to sit down and sort of crab-walk in. It was so awkward and we felt ridiculous, but it helps that it’s just as awkward for everyone else. Needless to say, we laughed a lot. And we even captured some photos of the ridiculousness.

That said, once we were in the water it was absolutely GLORIOUS! I just looked at my family and said, “Oh, this is why people come here.” Now I don’t know if the water gets hotter later in the summer, but in June it was the absolute perfect temperature. Warm but not too warm. A beautiful clear blue. And some other qualities I couldn’t quite understand. So I read about it online and discovered a few things:

• It has a higher salt content than the open ocean, making people more buoyant.
• It’s a semi-closed system with very slow water exchange which limits food for phytoplankton, or algae, which contributes to the water clarity and a sense that the water is clean.

If I lived in France, I would try to get to those waters as often as I could!

Eventually, we had to leave. Even if we had all the time in the world, those stones don’t lend themselves to a long stay. I could not believe how many people were sunning and sleeping on the rocks! We walked through town, did a little shopping, and got some ice cream.

More Villefranche-sur-Mer and The Rue Obscure

Then we Ubered back to our place to shower, rest, and get ready for dinner. Crazy as it seems, we decided to go back to Cave Nature a second time. We were not disappointed.