Day 5: Cannes, France

The second port of our Western Mediterranean cruise stopped at Cannes, France. Because the dock in Cannes is too small to accommodate large cruise ships, we had to tender to the port. Basically this means that the cruise ship will stop within a 5-10 minute boat ride away from the dock and use its life boats to ferry passengers to shore.

Since we weren’t really interested in a day trip to Nice or Monaco, we opted to stay in Cannes and explore the town on our own. A 3 hour walking tour with the cruise ship would’ve $55 per person, so we decided to DIY it!

Cannes was one a small fishing village, but is now a glamorous and expensive seaside town that’s considered one of the social hubs of Europe. It’s the host to the International Film Festival as well as a popular vacationing spot for celebrities.

Our first stop on shore was the Marche Forville market, a covered food market that’s open daily from 7:30am to 1:00pm. It’s a great spot to shop for fresh produce as well as food souvenirs. We had some delicious baby bananas and mini strawberries and picked up some homemade olive paste to take home.

After snacking at the market, we headed through the Le Suquet (Old Town) area and up to Notre Dame d’Esperance, which is located at the top of Suquet Hill. The walk up is filled with stairs, so definitely pace yourself!

Right next to the church is the Musée de la Castre, or Castre Museum. The museum is located in the ruins of an old medieval castle that belong to the monks of Lérins. It now hosts collections belong to the city of Cannes with primitive arts from the Himalayas, Tibet, the Artic, pre-Columbian America, Asia, Africa, and the Mediterranean. The museum has a medieval tower that offers a 360 degree view – if you want to climb 109 steps! In my humble opinion, it really is worth it, even for those of us who don’t like heights!

The Old Town offers excellent souvenir shopping opportunities as well as restaurant options. We walked around for a few hours before stopping for a very late lunch at Café Bohéme, located close to the water. They’re one of the restaurants that continue serving throughout the day, as some restaurants in Cannes stop lunch service around 2pm. Their lunch special is to die for! An appetizer + entrée is about 18€, which is a steal when you see how big the portion sizes are. None of us finished our meals! I had a very delicious smoked salmon appetizer, followed by the fish of the day with a plate full of steamed sides.

Dessert was at Amorino, because we just had to see if there was a difference between Europe and NYC. The end result? They are definitely more precise about the flower-crafting, which resulted in a prettier flower. Maybe it’s just me – or maybe it’s just because I’m in Europe, but it definitely tasted better too!

Stay tuned for our next day!