D&N

I wouldn't say that the bus services between Le Havre and Honfleur are very good, and I have no experience of them whatsoever. I did however spend 90% of my working life in all sorts of public transport rolls and I have lots of experience navigating French transport websites. The best resource you are likely to find is that of the Normandy Regional Council: https://nomad.normandie.fr/lignes-de-cars It appears you want to look at lines: 111, 122 & 123 Line 123 only seems to have one trip a day around lunchtime in each direction that extends to/from Le Havre. Line 111 is a bit confusing as it's shown as 111A from Le Havre and 111R to Le Havre. The timetables aren't the easiest to navigate because they tend to cover a variety of routes. Be careful that journeys operate on the day you need them. There may be trips that only operate on market days or vary from day to day because schools finish at different times.

We've not been that way yet. We have intentions to do the littoral walk but there were rock falls last summer so we stayed clear. We did do as much as is possible from Nice to Villefranche then up to Fort Alban and back to Nice. We have some nice photos of an empty Rade. QM2 should have visited that day but diverted to Alghero due to forecasts of choppy conditions. Back to the question. I don't see anything better than is shown on Google maps and street view for the walking route (what marazul is saying). There's no obvious pathways or staircases that would get you up to the Villa quicker. Of course sometimes it's easier to go a wee bit further on a more gentle route than a really steep climb. And coming back down is less risky. I prefer going up steep concrete stairs to going down them. Visions of blood pouring out of head wounds or worse! Depending on time available you might be quicker doing a few stops on 15 or 607 in one or more directions. If there is access all the way round the coast the going will be much tougher than following the road, but until we try it out I'm not sure how far you can get at coastal level.

Villeneuve Loubet. We normally only run to and from St Laurent, and have only walked as far as T2 and back in that direction but 16 miles in a day wouldn't be an issue. It's all flat pavements. If we can easily ramble 10 miles through the Esterel with several rough climbs to over 400 metres, a walk to Nice and back would be a dawdle. We still managed a picnic at Col Notre Dame though.

You used to get the 400 direct.

I'm sure it's fine for much travel within the city of Nice. In September 2019 they stopped almost all buses from other towns along the coast and some inland from coming into the city centre. They must terminate at a tram stop on the outskirts, where passengers transfer. In practice you get a seat on a bus from outside the area, and instead of just sitting there until you get to the city centre you must alight and then stand for the remaining 20 mins on the tram that is already full when it passes the interchange stop. On the way back you stand on the tram and hope there is not too long to wait for a bus connection at the interchange point. However it may get worse. They are currently working on an extension of the tram network to a neighbouring town. But they are not extending the existing network. The new line will be self contained from the interchange point westwards to the new terminus. I fully expect that we will need to take a bus to the next town, change onto the new tramline then change again at the existing interchange. As a retired public transport professional, I have experience of most aspects of that, but my speciality was in planning. As such I hate so called integrated transport. It's primary purpose is to make life easier for the provider rather than the user. I should note that we are perfectly capable of walking or even running the eight miles each way to Nice, but that seems a bit extreme for a shopping or lunch trip. 🏃‍♂️

How uncivilised!

I used the wall mounted Samsung to view some photos on an SD card in a USB card reader. I can't remember what source was shown for that. But it did work. Presumably if you had a video on a USB key that would play. edit to add: The USB was accessed from the right of the TV. There wasn't much space between TV and wall to reach in and plug in the USB.

@BVILady Having read back posts on this thread it seems you are booked single occupancy in Queens Grill. You are considering booking the same for your son. There have been other discussions about cheapest way of getting a third person into QG and the same principle might be applied here. I think you could enquire about modifying your booking to include your son in your cabin, therefore avoiding the single occupancy surcharge in QG. You could then book an additional nearby Britannia inside cabin for your son, paying the single occupancy fee. That may work out far less expensive than having two QG cabins but would still permit both of you to dine in QG. I don't appreciate the comment about the 1950's, which may have been intended to be amusing going by the emoji used. I wasn't born until late 50s and my wife hadn't even been thought about but we dress as formally as the climate and our activity allows. We live in a Mediterranean holiday resort. If we lived in a Caribbean resort we'd still dress as formally as we could. I might get to wear my ivory tux more often.

I think I've accidentally deleted my photo of the Casino Supermarket Pizza menu in Monaco. This is one I downloaded a few years ago. I think prices are from 2019 and will have changed quite a bit. I'll need to take another next time we're there. Parts (slices) are only available if they have a full pizza cooked already

Indeed, at many of the food festivals held in our town there are servings of Peach Melba available. I would probably not have heard of Nellie Melba without the story of it's creation. I'm well prepared now for the question coming up on Pointless. 🤣 We would normally just walk up to the palace area but for the sake of keeping the pizza hot take the bus. I think it's called Fisherman's Garden, which we find quieter than Jardins Saint-Martin. I shouldn't really be posting that, it won't be quieter for long! Le Rocher is sold as some of the cheapest areas to watch the Grand Prix. I think lots of folk are surprised they just have to find somewhere to sit/stand on a hillside.

Fortunately we don't play cards! 🤣

There's no doubt that he bought it onboard. He seemed more than willing to pay for it. He started with shots but wasn't happy with the sizes. I think he and his wife/partner left the restaurant after one bottle. The only thing I don't recall is whether it was an 0.7litre or 1litre bottle. Silja Serenade being a ferry you paid by cash or card at end of meal, no cruise cards.

@marazul When were you last here?

It's 1.8 km walk from the station to HOBO Coffee (the nicest place in the Old Town). We'd never consider taking the tram that distance. We'd miss out on all the shops in Jean Medecin. Besides by the time you buy or recharge "La Carte" at the ticket machine we would be half way there. It will be more difficult for mobility impaired folk. But the bottom line is, it's a change of transport mode rather than a change of trains.

It is our local shop. Supposed to become Intermarche from April 30th. Remains to be seen how that affects prices and choice. We've done well over the years from their loyalty scheme and all the offers! At least staff are expected to stay on.

Rubber will stick to the floor. Proper ballroom and latin dance shoes have a soft suede sole and are totally unsuitable for wearing outdoors. The thin leather soles on those Barker Cheshams are a good compromise. My originals are nearly 27 years old and were refurbished once. Since then I keep them for times we get a chance to dance. I recently bought an identical pair as I don't think they make them anymore. But if you're not a hobby dancer or above it doesn't really matter.

I didn't even realise it was a port, and sorry I can't help on tours. However I like all of those wines and I've tasted some very nice Pauillacs, and by far the most expensive wine in my cellar currently is a Pauillac with drinking dates of 2026-2051. If Pauillac is the closest that may give you more tasting time! 🍷

I'm a bit puzzled by that. Nice Ville is two stops west from Villefranche-sur-Mer. There is no possibility of changing trains unless one breaks down. Journey time is usually about 7 minutes. Buses are a bit more complex. Since the current tram network went fully operational about four and a half years ago, buses have not been allowed to travel to Nice city centre. You need to ask for a transfer ticket (correspondence) on the bus that you then use for the few stops on the tram to the centre. Unless you are happy to walk from the Nice Port area to the centre. On the way back you need to buy a Ticket Azur for the tram at a machine at the tram stop (about third or fourth page of options) then hand that to the bus driver at a stop near the Port that you would need to find. The driver exchanges that for a no value paper ticket to Villefranche. We live the other side of Nice and the transport authorities have made a great job of putting us off visiting Nice with what they've done to the bus service.

On restaurants: Rue Princesse Caroline has several, some of which are reasonably priced. We have eaten at L'Escale beside the Casino Supermarket about 15 years ago and were happy with the food. The current menu seems reasonable for Monaco.

Further to comments and discussion by @marazul and @edinburgher : We normally go for a picnic in Monaco once each summer. We take: a large blue IKEA shopping bag, two old supermarket cool bags, plastic cups, some kitchen roll or paper napkins, small waiters corkscrew, some old knives and forks. We put a frozen 1.5 litre bottle of mineral water in one cool bag (might be difficult coming off a cruise ship). All that fits in a small lightweight backpack. We get off the train and walk forward (east) up escalators, then lifts as high as you can go. When we emerge follow signs for Casino Gardens & Cafe de Paris. Wander down through the gardens past casino (gambling type!) and then down hill to Port. Lots of photo opportunities there. If we get to Port about lunch time, go to Casino Supermarket and order fresh pizza. Someone waits outside and other goes in and buys a decent bottle of wine. If we spend €15 it might cost €80 in a restaurant! If it's a white or rosé buy from the fridges and it goes in the cool bag with the frozen water. If you don't have that frozen water you may find a 1kg bag of ice in the shop. They sell cool bags as well. If you can't find ice, buy a kilo of frozen peas to keep the wine cool and put them in a bin when no longer needed. If you prefer red you can miss out that bit. Buy some cakes for dessert. There is also a patisserie counter if you want something fancy but beware of buying anything that won't travel well. Collect the pizza from counter outside shop. Put it flat in a cool bag to keep it hot! Place that flat in the IKEA bag which with it's long handles allows you to keep it flat. Exit shop left, turn left, walk straight ahead on Rue Princess Antoinette (including pedestrian bit) until you reach Rue Grimaldi. Cross road to Place Ste Devote bus stop. Take a bus #1 or #2, we pay contactless with credit/debit card at onboard readers. I assume you need one each or NFC phone payment should be accepted as well. Take the bus to terminus at Monaco Ville. There are gardens facing out to sea (east) and part of Port Hercule or (south) and Port de Fontvieille. You should be able to find a wooden bench in shade, where you can dine al-fresco with much better views than most restaurants. Beware; keep the pizza flat, before the IKEA bag idea I spilt a creamy pizza sauce on the bus floor! At the picnic spot guard all your food from seagulls! And there's an ongoing issue with Casino supermarkets. The owning group has been a financial basket case for over 10 years. They are in process of selling off about 300 of their biggest stores. I don't know at this stage where that leaves the Monaco store, it might even be a franchise? But there will be some sort of store there and I'd be shocked if the pizza section with it's ovens would be removed. Lots of workers, including construction, queue up there at lunchtime. Here's a photo of a well fed and watered trio last August. My brother in law was visiting us. I do have a photo of the pizza menu but can't find it just now. And of course when you've finished the important feeding bit you can wander up to see the palace etc.

If your brogues are anything like that in post #4 or even a much heavier style as is quite common, then they are a very formal shoe by modern standards. I personally prefer a Derby fastening as I find them easier to put on and tighten securely. These are also excellent for dancing as they have a very fine bonded leather sole.

Silly of me to assume you were boarding at Red Hook! We do like avoiding luggage carousels but never know what we might be bringing back from London or Scotland, and if visiting my sister will have wine and cheese on the way there. We wouldn't intentionally travel light for QM2 though.

I've no knowledge of US Interstate flights. If we fly from here to UK on BA or Air France/KLM we'd normally book a luggage inclusive fare although they do offer hand luggage only for slightly less. If we use easyJet we pay for checked bags but it's not any more than BA. Ryanair are the same but their destinations don't suit us. Is checked luggage expensive in US? edit: If we fly to Scotland on BA it's a connecting flight and hand luggage fares are not offered.

On a Helsinki to Stockholm ferry, dining in their speciality seafood restaurant there was a very large and loud Russian man at another table being poured unmeasured glasses of Vodka. Eventually they just left him with the bottle, there was never a risk of any being left.

Not a chance! Our backpack carry-ons are full of enough evening wear to dress formally for 14 nights. There might be a fair bit of recycling though.