Becky was feeling a little stronger today than yesterday, but still not ready to climb a mountain. And since most of the cool stuff in France is on top of a mountain (ok, ok… maybe just big hills), we looked for more activities that would keep us close to home and be accessible by bus or tram. That settled us on the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, which Becky had seen on a previous visit but Chuck had missed out on because he was wearing shorts that day and the sign said visitors must have their shoulders and knees covered.

This time, Chuck wore pants (which many of you know is kind of a big deal for him) and we managed to catch a bus and make it to the cathedral around 10 am. Chuck had checked online to confirm that they only held mass on Sundays so that we wouldn’t get there and find out they were in the middle of a service. We entered the sanctuary to find many visitors (some in shorts and flip flops) in some form of worship. We thought perhaps morning prayers and found a quiet place in the back to sit where we would not be intruding. Becky started to notice that nearly all of the women were wearing head coverings. She had taken her hat off before coming inside out of respect and started to wonder if a hat was better or worse than no head scarf. Eventually, a few other female tourists came in who also were not wearing head scarves which helped her feel more at ease.

The “morning prayers” turned into a full fledged service of sorts (we later discovered that they have liturgy most weekdays at 10 am), with a priest singing and a choir somewhere in a loft unseen harmonizing their responses. The acoustics in a domed cathedral of this sort are indescribable. It was such a moving service, even if it was all in Russian (we think) and we had no idea what was being sung. It was also interesting to observe a church service so different from what either of us grew up with, where the majority of the parishioners stand for most of the service and there’s a lot of crossing and kissing of religious relics.

As the service ended, we slipped out the back of the sanctuary and down to the crypt/museum for an informational movie about the cathedral that was perhaps more information than we had bargained for (and certainly quite a bit longer than we planned). Overall, it was a great visit, even if the experience wasn’t what we planned for the morning.

We caught the bus back to old town, snagged a bite for lunch, and settled in for an afternoon sieste. We woke up relatively refreshed and so headed back out for a stroll around old town and a quick stop at the Fragonard (parfumeur) shop so Becky could stock back up on her favorite fragrance, which sadly has been reformulated and now smells almost nothing like the previous formula. She’s currently evaluating a sample of the new formula and it’s starting to grow on her, but change is hard.

We made a stop for ice cream at Fenocchio, one of our favorite haunts on a previous visit (Chuck got caramel and speculoos while Becky tried lavender and vanilla) before heading on along the Promenade for the port. We found a nice shady bench to sit for a while and watch interesting people and pigeons. One subject of observation was staggering around, missing several toes. We’ll let you use your imagination and decide whether we’re describing a person or a pigeon.

We ate at a nice restaurant with a view of the port. Unfortunately, the sun was behind a cloud when we chose our table on the sidewalk and we failed to anticipate just how warm it would be when the sun moved out from behind the cloud. The food was delicious, but the rosé got warm very quickly and we didn’t stay long after we finished our meals. We strolled back down the promenade, through old town, and are settled in for the night.

Today’s Highlights

• Breathtaking vocal harmonies echoing through a beautiful domed Russian cathedral (Becky is still a choir kid at heart)
• A solid nap
• Cool sea breezes along the Promenade
• Ice cream from Fenocchio
• Dinner with a view
• Not getting pick-pocketed

Tomorrow’s Proposed Adventures

• Perhaps a visit to Antibes and the Picasso museum
• Hopefully not getting pick-pocketed