Live from the Viking Heimdal; 10 May 2014 - South of France

[CelticMutt]

Sad day to leave the Viking Heimdal and the crew – many of home have become actual friends!

We were ready for our bus to Nice at 9 AM but with baggage handling and a bit of a late bus we didn't start off until 930. The bus trip is scheduled for 2 1/2 hours with a half hour layover on the way. Some pleasant scenery on the way so the bus trip was not all that bad. The problem came in at checking in 34 people at le Meridien all at once. A suggestion here for Viking would be to do something to expedite this check in process. Perhaps we could check in while on the ship and the information to be faxed to the hotel. About 40 minutes waiting online but we were informed that our rooms were not quite ready. We elected to kill some time by having lunch on the rooftop Le Terrace restaurant. The food was actually very good and the rooftop views just can't be beat. After a leisurely lunch be returned to the desk to find our rooms ready. (Note that in Nice meals are all leisurely. Americans tend to get a bit jumpy about the comparatively slow pace of service but my suggestion would be just to sit back enjoy the excellent food and think like a Frenchman errr ... French person!)

The Le Meridian is an extremely well-placed hotel right on the promenade des Anglais which is right across from the beach. Rooms are small, but well appointed and all of the Viking assigned rooms were court-yard facing. We were all offered a €45 per night upgrade to ocean facing rooms but most declined. With our schedule so far (writing this on Monday) we've stayed very little time in the room.

After lunch and unpacking we did our own exploration of the old town in Nice. There's also a jazz festival going on – one that occurs in Nice every year about this time – and this offered some extra excitement on our extended walk along the Promenade des Anglais. This is an incredibly beautiful city with remarkable views and charming streets almost every place you look. We were looking forward to fall exploration on the following day.

Diane, our local tour guide at the hotel, offered some suggestions as to restaurants for dinner. We decided on one of them – restaurant di Piu – that was an excellent choice and is situated right alone Promenade des Anglais about a five minute walk from the hotel.

It was a long day and we were happy to retire to our very comfortable beds.

To your health!

Bill

[CelticMutt]

Hi,

Woke up for an early breakfast at Le Meridien. The included buffet breakfast is very good. Breads are wonderful - esp. baguette and croissant. Great coffee au lait!

As per the the venue itself, the hotel is pretty good. Room was just OK, but the location is arguably the best in the city. (As an aside, Viking-scheduled rooms face the rather unattractive courtyard. We were offered an ocean-facing room for an extra €45 per night. Not worth it IMHO because we spent so little time there, but c'mon, Viking; we just spent a poopload of money on the ship and the extension. Step up for your passengers and spring for the better rooms!)

Boarded the bus at 9AM for a combined coach and walking tour of the city of Nice. This was a great tour! The bus took us to St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox church - sadly under renovation - that became a bit of a political hot button because Putin basically claimed that it belonged to Russia (I guess someone spoke the Russian language at some time in it! Oops political commentary!). And actually he was legally found to be correct in his claims of ownership. Beautiful structure even if surrounded by scaffolding.

The bus then climbed a set of hills to the Franciscan Monastery gardens in Cimiez. Beautiful place and a great view of the city.

Down the hill into the old town for a walking tour. This was a great opportunity to get an overview of this part of the city which we then made use of in the afternoon for a more in depth look. Our guide pointed out the highlights during the walk through this beautiful city including the open air food market which is closed down at dusk to make more space for the myriad of outside option restaurants that also line the street. She left us off in one of the many city squares and we continued on our own.

Our first stop was the Caste Hill. Castle Hill is the site of the original settlement of Nice and the ruins are cool, but it's the views that are the real draw. We took an elevator up (on the Promenade about a ten minute walk - left coming out of the Le Meridien - and walked down. There's a restaurant up there and public restrooms, but it's the view that's the draw.The

views are splendid! We walked around the entire park and visited the two cemeteries and the waterfall on the way down.

We then were ready for lunch and scouted out an out of the way outside cafe where it looked like only locals were eating. What a find! It's called Chez Mêmêre located at 6 Rue Francis Gallo, Old Town, Nice - telephone is +33 4 93 62 48 46. Local food wonderfully prepared. 3 course lunch for €19.50 and well worth the price. Sorry, Viking; although the food on the ship was excellent, this was the best meal we had on vacation! Also the french fries are the best I have ever had; bar none! Something to do with their fluted cut and the heat/composition of the oil. Do stop here!

We continued on through Vieux Nice and stopped at St. Rita's Cathedral, one of the most famous in the city as well as the Palais Lascaris -- 15 Rue Droite. This is a 17th century dwelling that is 4 homes bought and joined together by a wealthy family. Free entrance and a must stop for anyone with an interest in music or history. They have a collection of antique musical instruments that's fascinating! Open 10 to 6 but closed Tuesdays.

We continued to walk the side-streets - about the size of alleys just drinking in the history and ambience of the city. Simply beautiful!

Arriving back at the Hotel at about 5:30 footsore, but thrilled. (Plus my back held up for 8 hours of walking; yahoo!)

We dined that night at Restaurant Le Québec located at 43 Rue Massena. Phone: +33 4 93 87 84 21. It's about a ten minute walk from the hotel and is an eclectic mix of foods attributed the city of the same name.

Some souvenir shopping at the ton of local shops on the way back to the hotel. Whew; what a great day

Okole maluna!

Bill

[CelticMutt]

We booked a private, all day driver/tour guide through Diane, our Viking Host at Le Meridien.

This was one of the highlights of our trip! We were (luckily!) assigned to Mira Guchan Mclean, the Managing Director of the tour group, friend-in-france (http://www.friend-in-france.com; telephone: 0033 (0)6 99 16 22 33). Mira is an owner-manager so she generally no longer conducts tours herself, but as there were a total of 4 groups going out she pitched in herself and we couldn't have been more delighted! She picked us up at the hotel in a very comfortable van that seated the six of us with room to spare. We had Mira for the day (9-6) and could have made our own plans, but relied instead on Mira's recommendation, since she was so knowledgeable. She basically already had in mind all the stops we wanted to make and then some! (She's a transported Brit, who married here and has lived in Nice for 12+ years. Nice to have no language difficulties whatsoever!)

Our first stop was at Antibes, the Nice marina for a look at the mega-yachts - like a couple that had to bee 200 ft+! I'm a former boat owner, well one with a boat that could easily fit sideways one one of these behemoths, so needless to say I was impressed and somewhat in awe of these beautiful vessels. We were told that the biggest can take up to $5 million a year just to maintain!

From there we proceeded to the Village of Saint Paul, an ancient walled city about 8 miles inland. Beautiful if a bit touristy since many of the old buildings have been converted to shops, but a good stop for lunch and a bathroom break.

From there we went to Èze (Eza in Italian) another hill top village poised high overlooking the Mediterranean is famous worldwide for the view of the sea from its hill top. Walt Disney loved the spot and bought property here also encouraging friends to do so. We walked around town - steep roads though! - and visited some of the shops but the real highlight was the small Chapelle de la Sainte Croix which dates back to 1306.

On to Cannes where the annual international film festival was well under way. Due to the overwhelming crowds all we could do was drive through the downtown area, but we got to see the red carpet and all the film signage and hype. Very cool!

Our final stop of the day was the principality of Monaco. Mira drove us all through the country - not hard since it's about the size of Central Park in NYC! We were even able to drive the majority of the Grand Prix course, due to be run next week. They were setting up the grandstands and perimeter protection, so the ride was very unique. Then on to Monte Carlo Casino. We went inside, but most of us chose not to gamble since they were charging €10 just to enter the casino! We preferred to explore outside along with the Bentleys Rolls and Mercedes! We also walked into the Hotel de Paris across the street just to explore (and were promptly expelled! (Riff-raff that we are!) On to the a walking tour of some of the other Monte Carlo highlights. We saw the Oceanographic Museum & Prince's Palace and then on to the Monaco Cathedral, the cathedral in which Grace Kelly was married and is buried. Her tomb is behind the altar. We finished with a walk through the Prince's Gardens and some spectacular views of the city and harbor. Ride back to the hotel to say goodbye to Mira after a great day!

Because we were beat and had a pretty good lunch at Le Terrace (Le Meridien's 9th floor restaurant) we decided to eat in their lobby version of same. Mistake! Limited tasteless menu. We wanted more than a burger and salad and therein we erred. Good for lunch; abysmal for dinner!

To the room for packing and an early turn-in. Tomorrow's gonna be a long travel day!

A sia saide!

Bill

[CelticMutt]

Finishing up and this will be quick.

We had booked our flight back to Newark leaving from Marseille thinking that the drive along the coast would be nice. We didn't go that way, instead heading inland along the major highways. We could have booked out of Nice and saved ourselves a 2 hour ride. (Nice airport is 5 minutes from the hotel!)

We flew home on Lufthansa through Munich. Point in fact: Lufthansa beats the crap out of US airlines! We flew in on United. Lufthansa has free drinks, superb attendant service, better in flight entertainment and great bathrooms. The Airbus we were on had 5 large loos downstairs, with waiting for up to 10 people just for economy class. Not too shabby!

Flight home was uneventful except our driving service diver had a bad back and couldn't lift our bags. My poor wife had to help out as I'm still recovering from a pretty bad disk extrusion.

Anyway, I'd strongly recommend the Nice extension. So much to do, see and taste. You won't regret it!

I'm happy to answer any individual questions. Better to query directly via e-mail because I'm not a Cruise Critic lurker except when we're planning a trip. I can be reached at wm*roberson@comcast.net (replace the * with a period).

To end this I'll return to the exquisitely French, À votre santé!

Bill

[Tyskie]

Thanks so much for your review, I must say it was very interesting. I was looking at "City of Lights" - Prague to Paris. Have you done this ? Or has anyone that has been following along done this? I like the idea of staying in France and doing Normandy on our own. Thoughts from you seasoned travelers?

[FuelScience]

Thanks so much for your review, I must say it was very interesting. I was looking at "City of Lights" - Prague to Paris. Have you done this ? Or has anyone that has been following along done this? I like the idea of staying in France and doing Normandy on our own. Thoughts from you seasoned travelers?

 

We did the Cities of Light a few years ago on the Viking Sky and loved it. The scenery on the Moselle and middle Rhine is spectacular. You might also consider the Rhine Rhapsody that Viking will offer beginning next year. It will go from Paris to Basel. So instead of ending up in Nuremberg and busing to Prague you end up in Basel. We were not as impressed with the scenery along the Main and the Rhine Main canal as we were with the other parts of the cruise.

 

FuelScience

 

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruise-destinations/europe/rhine-rhapsody/2015-paris-basel/index.html

[Tyskie]

We did the Cities of Light a few years ago on the Viking Sky and loved it. The scenery on the Moselle and middle Rhine is spectacular. You might also consider the Rhine Rhapsody that Viking will offer beginning next year. It will go from Paris to Basel. So instead of ending up in Nuremberg and busing to Prague you end up in Basel. We were not as impressed with the scenery along the Main and the Rhine Main canal as we were with the other parts of the cruise.

 

FuelScience

 

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruise-destinations/europe/rhine-rhapsody/2015-paris-basel/index.html

 

Thank you! I'll look into your suggestions :)