White-Knuckle Ride on Mountain Roads of Provence!

This morning our ship pulled into the port of Monte Carlo surrounded by yachts of Saudi Arabian sheiks. Since this was the second time we had been to this port, we decided to take a private tour with two other couples to the mountain-top villages of Peillon, Tourrettes sur Loup, St.-Paul de Vence and Eze. Most of these villages date back to the 15th century and were built for fortification. It was fascinating to walk through the narrow winding streets and vaulted alleyways. All of the villages do have some inhabitants and Tourrettes sur Loup even has a small hotel that was supposedly a favorite place for Frank Sinatra. The second picture is a view of Peillon. Since these villages are all at the top of small mountains, we had to climb steep roads with many hairpin turns. Our driver was very animated and frequently talked with his hands (both of them) and would also look at the passengers in the back while talking. You can see in the first picture that Kathy Gratteau and I were the shortest in this very tall group so we were permanently assigned the front seat in the van and there was some narrow misses of oncoming cars on the narrow winding roads (which explains the title of this post).
Unfortunately the rain increased as the day progressed and we decided to skip the Casino visit when we finally got to Monte Carlo. Tomorrow, we head to Livorno where we will have a 1 ½ hour car ride into Florence. Hoping for the return of sunshine when we head to Italy. Last picture is our ship docked in the port of Monaco.