May 05, 2026
We arrived at Villefranche-Sur-Mer in the morning and had plans to visit Nice that day including a visit to the Molinard Perfume Workshop. Villefranche-Sur-Mer is a tendering port, where you must board a smallish vessel that takes you from the ship which is anchored close to the port to the dock.
Because we wanted to get our day going quickly, I had paid a small fee for priority tendering which meant we were the first group off the ship that morning. We walked from the port (Port de la Sante) to the Villefranche train station, which was a lovely, though primarily uphill, walk through the port town of about 15 minutes. There are trains running between Nice and Villefranche quite often and we waited briefly for the train, and the train ride itself was only about 10 minutes.
We had an early booking through Get Your Guide to the Molinard Perfume Workshop, where you get information a lesson on how perfumes are formulated and then you get to make a 50ml bottle of your ‘own signature scent’ from the many amazing fragrance blends/notes available. The cost of this workshop is on the pricier side, but perfume is something my daughter loves and she was really looking forward to the workshop. I do have to say that the workshop was definitely worth the cost in our opinion as we all had an amazing time - even my husband enjoyed making his own personal fragrance. One of the great things about this workshop is that you get a certificate which has a unique number and the ingredients used to formulate your scent, so that when you run out, you can re-order. You also get a discount on the products sold in the shop. The activity ended up being a great activity for our morning in Nice, as the weather was rainy.
Since the weather had cleared substantially by the time we were done the workshop we decided to explore the Promenade des Anglais, which stretches along the Mediterranean coast with many benches for taking in the atmosphere. There were many walkers and bicycle riders on the Promenade. It also had beach access. One of the other things we enjoyed was Fontaine du Soleil (Sun Fountain) featuring the Greek God Apollo with the checkerboard plaza in Place Massena.
We then decided to head to Cascade du Château (Castle Waterfall). Most of the ascent can be achieved via an free elevator ride, and the rest is a lovely and scenic walk with the waterfall and the views from above your reward.
After the waterfall, we headed back to the Nice train station to head back to port. We had an early dinner at one of the ship's complimentary restaurants, Taste which was delicious. After dinner we attended Howl at the Moon Dueling Pianos in one of the ship's bars. It was an amazing, interactive show where the audience gives song suggestions and the performers take turns on the piano (yes there were two) playing the songs with only the music in front of them on a tablet. I can not begin to explain how enjoyable this was. There were all sorts of songs from pop, country and disco from all sorts of eras.
Then it was off to bed to get ready for the Port of Livorno.
STAY TUNED FOR INSTALMENT 5 OF THE EUROPE EXTRAVAGANZA: PISA & LUCCA