15 April 2016
Bonjour et bienvenue from Nice

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Hello, and welcome aboard from Nice on the Côte d’Azur of France, the Azure Coast.

At the same time,  we bid arrivederci and safe travels to guests leaving us here.

Nice is a handsome seaside place, somewhat surprisingly France’s fifth largest city. (First is Paris, then Marseille, Lyon, and Toulouse.)

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The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Nice, built by Czar Nicholas II of Russia in 1912 when the South of France was a favored gathering place of European Royals

We’re headed off on a cruise to some of the most culturally rich ports of France and Spain.

Midday tomorrow we are due to arrive in Saint-Tropez, one of the playgrounds of the rich and famous but also a place with a fascinating history. After then we visit Marseille and then Sète in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, a place with a distinct identity of its own within France.

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After then, its due south out to sea to Alcudia on the Spanish island of Mallorca in the Balaerics. From there west to Valencia, and then this cruise ends in the spectacular port of Barcelona.

I hope you’ll join me here for photos and observations each day.

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Not an itsy-bitsy spider, but a large piece of art climbing the walls of the Citadel in Calvi, Corsica 

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