April 9, 2022 - Monaco

There was a particularly pretty display at the breakfast buffet.

Monaco is our last port of call before we arrive in Rome.  Harbor of Monaco.

We have been here before, so we decided on shore excursions that took us outside of Monaco.  

The drive to Villefranche was via the middle road where we saw the village of Eze in the distance.  We had visited this charming hilltop on our previous visit to Monaco.

 

This restored shoreline castle is now a home.

Villefranche turned out to be quite picturesque and is nestled in a bay.

After parking we headed out to explore.  We stopped briefly at the castle…

and then walked down to the waterfront in the old section of town.  It sits right on the waterfront and is very pretty.

The tour took us through the narrow streets.  The town is on a hillside so many streets were actually pedestrian stairs leading up the hill...

and included the Dark Street…a section of street under the buildings that allowed residence to shelter when under attack. 

The little church, Saint Peter of the Fishermen, beside the waterfront.

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More Villefranche sur Mer
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Then it was on to the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild Estate.  It was a privately owned estate built by Baroness Beatrice de Rothschild in early 1900's.  She died childless so donated the estate to the French Academie des Beaux-Arts and it and the gardens are now a museum.  The exterior is pink (her favorite color) and is rather ornate.

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More Rothschild Estate Exterior
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The first floor of the interior has a large center room with a gallery circling the room from above,

a large salon with a huge “bay window” overlooking the Mediterranean,

a couple of rooms displaying some of her porcelain collection, and her bedroom.  The adjoining bathroom had all of the various fixtures (shower, toilet) in separate little rooms so that it didn’t look at all like a bathroom.  The upstairs had a couple of guest bedrooms and great views of the gardens and the sea.

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More Rothschild Estate Interior
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The gardens were very large, covering much of the hilltop.  There are seven separate gardens…

with the formal French Formal Gardens being closest to the house.

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Video of fountain
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More Rothschild Gardens

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The estate sat on the top of a hill on a peninsula.  Consequently, the views from the estate, both of Villfranche on one side and Saint Jean Cap Ferrat on the other, were great.

We saw a bit more of Saint Jean Cap Ferrat on our way to the ship.  

All things considered, this was a great shore excursion.