Deux Jours et Deux Moules Frites

Yes, the two days in France have been the battle of the mussels.  Sounds like a reality TV show.  

Wednesday we were in Calvi, Corsica, France.  We'd been to Corsica before but to Ajaccio.  In Calvi,we took an early tender in to the town.  

We walked from the pier to the very prominent citadel.

We walked around the citadel and up to the church.

The views up there were great.

After that, we walked through the town and to the waterfront.

And then the debate began - do we eat lunch in town or go back to the ship for lunch.  Passing a restaurant that offered mussels, it became no contest.

The mussels were good as was Linda's burrata and tomatoes, but the star of the show might have been the profiteroles for dessert!

There was this amusing picture hanging over the toilet in the men's room.

Today, Thursday, we are in Cannes, France.  Initially, the forecast did not look good - drizzle all day.  We even thought that, since we have been here before, we might not go off the ship if that forecast held.  But then the sun peeked out and we jumped on a tender into Cannes.  

We started with a walk up to the Marche Forville.

The meats were beautiful but we weren't tempted.

We then did a wander through the old part of the city where Linda was able to accessorize for the wedding..

And then the debate over lunch began once again.  And again, the mussels won out.  Linda could not resist the non-traditional French poke bowl.

Today's mussels were the clear winner - small and so tasty.  It took quite effort to make my way through that bowl.  There had to be well over 100 mussels there!

Tomorrow we will be in Toulon, France, our last French port before heading to Spain.  I will make every effort to avoid mussels tomorrow!

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

Arrivederci Italy

Today we are in France but let me catch up on our last two days in Italy.  Monday we were in Civitavecchia, Italy once again.  So, we did not have big plans.  A leisurely morning was capped off with massages.  After lunch, we took the shuttle bus in and just did a walk mainly along the waterfront.  If you look carefully, you might be able to see that there were 6 cruise ships in port.

We walked back to the ship, passing the same statue as last time.

So that was our uneventful day in Civitavecchia.  Tuesday, we were docked in Livorno.  We took an afternoon excursion to Lucca, a place that we visited some 15 years ago.  I had no recollection of what we saw there.  Lucca is city surrounded by walls built in the 16th century.

Walking in the gate, we came to a church that I immediately recognized from our previous visit.  

Our guided walk took us past 3 of the 40 churches in the city and past many great sights.

Eventually, we came to a Piazza that was built on the site of a former Roman amphitheater.  This was the site that Linda remembered.

During our free time, we walked part of the way around the walls of the city.

Returning into the city through another gate, we had time for 2 stops.  First, gelato.

Then, it was time for a Limoncello Spritz and bruschetta.

We then met up with the guide to walk out through yet another gate to get the bus back to the ship.

Our guide was terrific and it was a very worthwhile return to Lucca.

My next post will pick up in France.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry