We were on a Mediterranean cruise and called at two ports on the Riviera; Monaco and Villefranche.  We (a group of six who met online) hired Sylvie as a guide for both ports of call.  She was a pleasure to deal with before the cruise.  She asked us what our specific interests were, made suggestions as to what we might like to see and gave clear instructions as to where to meet her, payment arrangements, etc.  Her English is fluent and good.  Her van is clean and new.

Our first port of call was Monaco.  She gave us a tour of the palace area, including the cathedral where Prince Rainier and Princess Grace are entombed.  We saw the changing of the guard at the Palace.  We then drove to over the border into Italy for lunch .  Sylvie made reservations for us in San Remo at a restaurant which had very good food.   She also speaks Italian fluently, by the way. Along the way she pointed out various places of interest.  We were to go to Eze after lunch but there was rather heavy rain.  She suggested that we could go to a perfume factory, but we decided to return to the ship.  

The next day we were at Villefranche, the port for Nice.  Sylvie took us to a vantage point where we could see the Nice harbor, by the homes of Elton John and Tina Turner.  Then we went to downtown Nice and spent time at an open air market which had beautiful flowers and other items for sale.  It was a market for the locals and not designed particularly for tourists.  Then we continued to Cannes and saw, among, other things, the site of the film festival, and the beach area.  We had lunch at another wonderful restaurant Sylvie picked out.  After lunch she took us to a medieval town, Haut de Cagnes, near here home.  It was a village in the mountains that has not changed in centuries.

We had a wonderful two days with Sylvie and I would recommend spending time with her especially as opposed to an excursion run by the cruise line.  With six people, it cost about the same as an excursion from the line but was personalized and much more enjoyable.  It was a great introduction to the French Riviera.

I had thought the cost for the private tour and drop off at our river cruise ship was a bit expensive. But in retrospect, it was well worth it.  Not only were we able to squeeze in an extra great day of tours visiting and learning about the history of a number of really neat places west of Nice, it was just great spending the day with Sylvie.  A very enjoyable day with an easy to talk to, knowledgeable, and efficient tour guide.