The Great European Adventure, Day 5: Cannes, Grasse and Saint-Paul-De-Vencefeatured

Our first full day onboard the Vision of the Seas brought us into Cannes, in the Côte d’Azur region of France. We were beyond words excited for this port for many reasons: Mom had basically waited her entire life to step foot onto French soil, Cannes has a reputation of luxury and as a hotspot for the rich and famous and above all else, the Cannes Film Festival coincided with our visit, so I was in the same vicinity as Leo, Matty McConaughey and the celeb I wish were my best friend, Chrissy Teigen.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, promising good weather on what was sure to be a memorable day. Our excursion didn’t meet until the afternoon, so we took our time getting ready and heading up to the Windjammer for breakfast.

Options on the Vision for breakfast were pretty limited – Windjammer, Park Café, Aquarius (the main dining room) or room service. On most of our port days, the Windjammer won out because it was the most convenient. We found plenty of options at the Windjammer and had no problem finding a table. Like Carnival’s Lido Marketplace, the Windjammer has a station for made-to-order omelets, which were both tasty and satisfying.

Tendering began while we were eating breakfast (~9:30), but we were in no real rush to get off the ship. After we finished our meal, we headed upstairs to get our first real glimpse of Cannes.

First Impressions

If St. Thomas and Beverly Hills had some sort of weird Euro-Caribbean love child island, I imagine it would be something like Cannes. Chic villas and posh resorts dot a hilly terrain while impressively large yachts that cost more money than I’ll ever see in a lifetime anchor slightly offshore. The water mimicked the sky in a shade of blue I don’t think I’ve ever seen before – a richer hue than you see in the Caribbean. I gazed out at Cannes for mere minutes before I decided I’d be forever obsessed.

I just stood there, staring, taking it all in. Mom was still trying to grasp that after a lifetime of waiting, she was finally in France. And Stephanie? Stephanie got on her phone and started Google-ing every single yacht she saw.

All Ashore

The original plan was, after breakfast, to tender off into Cannes and see what we could explore off the Boulevard de la Croisette before our excursion. The problem was, we couldn’t figure out how to get off the ship. We knew we needed to get tender tickets, but there weren’t any explicitly clear instructions on how to get them. If we were on Carnival, this wouldn’t have been an issue – a flash of our Platinum Sail and Sign cards would have gotten us access to the next tender. But we weren’t in Kansas anymore and our Gold status on Royal Caribbean wouldn’t help us here.

By the time we figured out where to get tender tickets (Chops Grille, if you’re wondering), they were out of tender tickets, and we’d have to wait until the last numbered group (15) for general boarding. They were currently on group 12, so it wasn’t like we were waiting forever…it just felt that way. Sometimes they’d call one number to board their tenders, sometimes two. General boarding began within twenty minutes and we were on the first non-ticketed tender out.

The ride was no longer than ten minutes and left us off at a pier right next to the beach. A pier with wi-fi, no less. This is Cannes, after all.

Yes We Cannes!

Walking outside of the pier into our first non-Caribbean or Mexico port provided a bit of culture shock. I haven’t been to a single port where there weren’t taxi drivers and tour operators trying to convince you to step into their vehicle or where locals weren’t haranguing passersby about hair braids, massages or whatever merchandise they’re hocking at their shop.

Cannes was different.

There were no tour operators holding up faded signs, no taxi drivers yelling over each other as they angled for the best priced island tour. There were a couple of locals hocking sunhats and selfie sticks (in case there was any doubt as to if the selfie stick revolution has taken over the French Riviera), but they stood over their merchandise silently, waiting for tourists to come to them. It was a very different experience.

We exited the pier to the left, where there are immaculate public beaches, dozens of restaurants and plenty of souvenir shops. Had we gone to the right, we would have found ourselves where the hotels and film festival events were. I regretted two things almost immediately: one, not getting an earlier start and tender tickets, and two, eating breakfast on the ship, because there were some beachfront cafés advertising petit dejeuner at decent prices. I don’t regret going left instead of right because in the instance I actually found Leo or Matty, I might not have left Cannes.

Between the beaches, the palm trees and the retro 1950s old Hollywood glam feel of the buildings, I was immediately in love with Cannes, and we hadn’t even scratched the surface yet. Even the air smelled better in Cannes, if that were even possible.

We couldn’t venture too far away from the pier and we didn’t have time to do much before we had to meet our excursion, so we mostly walked around, taking pictures and popping into some shops to buy souvenirs.

The Grass(e) is Always Greener

We headed back to the pier around 12:30 pm to meet up with our excursion and quickly found the sign for our tour: Grasse and Saint-Paul-de-Vence. We booked this tour (and all of our tours on this trip) through Royal Caribbean. I know many people have opinions on shore excursions and private vs through the cruise ship. For us, in a country we’ve never been in before on a continent we were exploring for the first time, it was a no brainer to book through the ship and have the security of having the ship wait for us should we get delayed. Many of the cities we were visiting were hours away from where we docked (Florence, Rome and the Amalfi Coast towns in Naples come to mind. Athens is a bit closer to the pier at Piraeus but still a 30-40 minute drive away) and we spent a small fortune on this trip to begin with, so we weren’t willing to take the chance of booking with an independent tour company and getting left behind. Not on our first trip, anyways.

We weren’t entirely sure what we wanted to explore in Cannes, but this tour of Grasse and Saint-Paul-De-Vence sounded intriguing:

Take time to smell the roses, literally, on a guided tour of Grasse, the Riviera’s most fragrant town, followed by a visit to a walled medieval town. Aromas of jasmine and roses greet you as you arrive in Grasse, capital of the French perfume industry. You’ll visit one of two iconic perfume factories and learn how fragrances are created. Then travel to St. Paul de Vence for a walking tour through an historic medieval village.

I like perfume. And flowers. And we weren’t sure what to expect of Saint-Paul-de-Vence but our experience in Monserrat taught us that sometimes the best experiences are the ones we come into with no expectations.

So we headed back to the pier not really sure what we were in for, but very excited to find out. We met up with our tour guide for the day, Lucie, and led onto what was quite possibly the cleanest tour bus I’ve ever been on as we drove through Cannes on our way to Grasse.

Lucie was quite the historian and regaled us with facts of Cannes and Grasse as we drove through the countryside towards our first stop, the Galimard Perfumerie. I looked out the window with rapt fascination – I’m always interested in the everyday life and landscape of other cultures and countries.

Grasse is small town with a population of just over 50,000, known best for its perfumeries. In fact, Grasse is widely considered to be the world perfume capitol and we passed more than a couple on our way to the Galimard Perfumerie.

I was expecting something a little…grander…when we approached Galimard. A small, unassuming building stood below a small, unassuming sign on the side of the road.

Lucie led us inside to meet with our guide for the perfumerie tour, Veronique. I wasn’t entirely looking forward to a guided tour because guided tours of small spaces aren’t really my thing, but Veronique was witty, engaging and her tour of the perfume-making process and the Galimard factory was truly fascinating. And she had the most amazing, radiant skin. Seriously. Numerous women in our group were asking her what products she used (Galimard products, naturally) because her skin literally glowed.

The tour culminated with a smelling session inside the factory store. I don’t think anyone left without a purchase, and I couldn’t tell if it was because Veronique was so good at making everyone want to take home a piece of the Galimard factory or if it was because everything just smelled so good. Probably a little of both. There are certain things you buy in certain countries. In Italy, you buy leather. In Turkey, you buy carpets. In Greece, you buy coffee. And in France? You buy perfume.

After we’d completed our purchases, we headed back on the bus. We drove off to our next destination with a small bottle of perfume that Lucie had handed out as we departed (compliments of Veronique and the Galimard Perfumerie as a token of our visit) and the ability to distinguish between toilette, perfume and parfum.

Little Town, It’s a Quiet Village

After our stop in Grasse, we had a short drive to our next stop for the afternoon, Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

Saint-Paul-De-Vence is a medieval village (one of the oldest in the Côte d’Azur, as a matter of fact) that is known primarily for the art museums and galleries that live on its streets. One of the most known pieces of art influenced in Saint-Paul-De-Vence is a painting by Marc Chagall, and a replica sits at the vantage point it was painted from.

Because Saint-Paul-De-Vence is a medieval village, the bus had to park a ways away and Lucie took us on a guided walk up to the entrance.

So Lucie’s walking us up to the entrance of this medieval fortress and I’m looking around thinking to myself “This is nice, but…” There wasn’t anything really remarkable or special about it…until we entered through the stone wall into the village.

My earliest exposure to anything France was in 1991. I was six years old and Mom took Stephanie and I to see Beauty and the Beast in the theater during winter break. Beauty and the Beast was always one of Stephanie and mine favorite Disney films. We’d watch it anytime we had a snow day. And in one of the first sequences of the movie, Belle is wandering through a small French town. In some ways, that’s what I always kind of hoped France would be like – these charming cobblestoned towns with small restaurants and bookshops. And that’s what Saint-Paul-De-Vence was like – a small, literally hidden (by tall stone walls) treasure, rich in culture and charm. Art galleries and small boutiques lined the narrow streets and everywhere you looked, there was something new to see. Lucie set us free for an hour or so of free time once we entered the village and we wasted no time strolling the steep streets, stopping in shops and taking pictures, grabbing gelato and taking more pictures. Everything was photoworthy. It was unbelieveable. I immediately deemed it one of my top ten favorite places I’d ever been, and we were only on our first port day.

Our meeting place was back at the bus, so we were careful with how we spent our time. We picked up sweets at La Cure Gourmand (a sweet shop we highly recommend – they have locations all over France) and grabbed some gelato before trekking back to the bus.

Lucie had impressed on the group the importance of being on time – with the film festival going on, they were anticipating some heavy traffic going back towards the pier and the last tender back onto the ship would depart at 5:15 pm. We made a prompt departure from Saint-Paul-De-Vance and, thankfully, didn’t experience too much traffic on our way back – we made it back to the pier by 4:45 pm.

There was a long line to get onto a tender, but it passed quickly, and we scored some primo outdoor spots at the front of the boat.

The tender ride back was just as smooth as the tender ride there, and we were back in our stateroom fifteen minutes later.

A Fancy Farewell to France

Our first port day was also our first formal night. We didn’t have a ton of time to get ready because we had My Time Dining and we weren’t sure what the lines would be like, so we took advantage of the extra counter space in the room to all get ready at the same time. Since we didn’t have a balcony to take our obligatory formal night photos on, we headed out to the promenade, where it was super bright, super windy and we got super awesome pictures like this one:

Squinting is the new smizing.

Thankfully, we didn’t have any wait for a table and we were seated immediately. Before I get into talking about our dinner and the food pictures and all of that, I want to take a moment to discuss one of the highest points of our cruise: the service of our dining staff. Though we had My Time Dining, our first night in the dining room, we were seated at a beautiful table next to the window, with the serving team of Lloyd and Pawan. The level of service they provided set a new bar. They are the dream team. By night two, they knew our names, they knew our preferences and over the course of the week and a half we were on the Vision, they became almost like family. If there was no table available in their area? Lloyd would come serve us anyways. And with every course he served us, he brought a little something extra – an extra starter to share. An entrée he personally enjoyed. A dessert we had to try.

We thoroughly enjoyed the food in the main dining room throughout the week – it was consistently prepared well and thoroughly delicious. And after so many Carnival cruises, the options were a nice change of pace from the option’s we’re already so used to. Formal night was no exception – the filet was a little dry but otherwise delicious. The Roman Vignole Salad was so good that I contemplated asking for a second one. And dessert? 10/10.

Basket of Bread

Traditional Lobster Bisque

Oakwood Smoked Chicken Breast

Roman Vignole Salad

Simple and Classic Caesar Salad

Double-Boiled Chicken Consomme

Carved Filet of Beef Tenderloin

Roasted Duck

Double Strawberry Cheesecake

Bittersweet Chocolate Soufflé

Sky High Lemon Meringue Pie

After dinner every night, we’d head out to the promenade to sit out and watch the waves, watch sailaway and if it was late enough, catch the sunset (Mediterranean sunsets are spectacularly stunning). The fresh air was always the perfect compliment to a heavy meal.

After we’d strolled the length of the deck a couple of times and Cannes was a speck in the distance, we headed to the Centrum Lobby for the Captain’s Reception. Where Carnival has all but rid itself of all formal night receptions, Royal Caribbean still offers a celebration in the lobby, complete with a toast from the Captain. Servers made the rounds with glasses of champagne and we grabbed a couple of seats as Captain Lis addressed the guests to thank them for sailing on the Vision of the Seas. She also mentioned the storm from the night before and referenced using the stabilizers, which may or may not have been in regard to a rumor that kind of swept through the ship’s gossip mill that Captain Lis didn’t believe in using stabilizers.

After Captain Lis introduced the senior officers and everyone raised a glass, it was time for the first aerial show of the week. While the entertainment options on the Vision can be limited, they make the most of what they have. Throughout the week, they’d put on short aerial shows in the Centrum Lobby, where the dancers would perform aerial tricks high at the top of the lobby ceiling. The first show was Chandeliers and though short (~4 minutes or so), it was amazing to watch these performers move so freely so high in the air on a moving vessel.

A new friend was waiting for us when we went back to the room to change out of our formalwear, with a fresh Compass detailing our arrival information for Florence and the evening’s activities.

We headed out to the shops to check out the souvenirs they put out for Cannes and we just kind of wandered around for awhile. We ultimately decided to skip the headliner show and unpacked everything we hadn’t finished unpacking the day before and got our things ready for an early morning in Florence.

Into the Woods was playing on the big screen, so we headed up to Park Café to grab a snack (Late night nacho bar? On point) and then we relaxed with the movie, a perfect ending to a near perfect day.