As we approach the tail end of our trip, there are lots of tired kids and tired parents. I started to notice more kids having meltdowns and several parents having meltdowns as well. There was one mom crying hysterically, upset with her kids on the tender leaving the ship this morning. Luckily, it was not me, but I know the feeling!!!
Last night was the Pirate Party. We dressed the kids in their pirate costumes for dinner. There was pirate training and face painting after dinner in the kid's club. Before dinner, we had photo opportunities and autographs with Captain Hook, Smoot, and Captain Jack Sparrow. Chip and Dale and others were also in pirate costumes. At 10 p.m., the dance party and show started on the outside deck. There were games, dancing, our photos on the big screen, etc. Then, Mickey rode down on a zip line from the top of the ship's stack down to the stage. I was not feeling great for the person dressed in a Mickey costume who had to ride a zip line in the dark on a moving ship. The party ended with fireworks. Joy. That was a real treat. Then, an outdoor buffet. We were exhausted and headed back to the room.
The morning we arrived in Villafranche. It was another port where we needed to ride a tender to get to shore. The tender in Villafranche was much nicer than La Spezia. Villafranche is a beautiful port and our ship pulled in with a very good view of the town, outskirts, and mountain cliffs surrounding us. The French Riviera is breathtaking and so unique.
Due to our extensive travel and touring over the last few days, we had no set plans for this visit. We slept through breakfast, got lunch on the ship, then headed to town. Many people traveled by bus or train to Nice or Monte Carlo. The boys were really not up for a very adventurous day, so we just winged it. Outside of the port, there was a small train ride you could take around town. The cost was 6 Euro for adults and 3 for children. It left every 25 minutes. We were excited for the train ride, since we really did not know what we were going to do in town. The train took us around town past the Citadel, the pier, harbor, and up the hill into the upper part of town. We were able to get the feel for the town and if you listened very carefully, the guide was speaking English with a very heavy French accent. Scott thought he was speaking French. After our tour, we walked the streets and up to some of the streets higher on the cliff. The boys counted the steps (almost 100 steps up at one point in our treck) and I attempted to go in several of the shops. Shopping with the family does not really work, but we got a sense of the pretty, quaint town. We purchased a few souvenirs and went to a cafe.
Scott ordered a cappuccino, me a double espresso, ice cream for the kids, and two crepes - one savory and one sweet - Gran Marnier and one veggie. It was actually called "ratatouille." We enjoyed the view of the boats and several huge yachts in the harbor, walked around some more, then headed back to the ship. The journey was about three hours and very relaxed. We had some sun and a little spring breeze. There was a small beach that you could walk to if the weather was a bit warmer.
Tomorrow is Scott and my ten year anniversary and we have dinner reservations at the nicer restaurant called Palo. Our waiter brought us an anniversary cake tonight at dinner and they sang to us. After dinner, the kids went to the super hero party at the kid's club. Scott and I walked one mile around the ship and went to the show. It was a tribute to Walt Disney. It was a mixture of movie films from the Disney archive with Walt, the movies and creation of the parks, and singing/dancing.
Tomorrow is Corsica. We received notification that our planned excursion was cancelled - the Train Tour - due to technical difficulties. We will explore a bit on our own and maybe go to the pool if the weather holds up.
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