The team flew down to Nice on Sunday evening, ready for an early Monday morning start. We started off by getting the train to Monaco and spending the first part of our trip following the Formula 1 circuit and appreciating all that Monaco had to offer. From designer shops to clifftop views, sports cars to yachts, the Monte Carlo Casino to the countless restaurants and bars – Monaco really is the playground of the rich and famous.
Just after lunch we jumped back on the SNCF train back to Nice where we visited some of our hotels that we have for the Rugby World Cup 2023. We then made our way up to the Bellanda Tower where you can get great views of Nice from the airport to the city centre. This was 200 plus steps, but the view was worth it. We then roamed around the port seeking somewhere for dinner – of which there are a host of eateries to choose from.
Tuesday morning, we hopped on a train first thing to Cannes, where the weather seemed to pick up and the city did not disappoint. We started with breakfast where we had croissants and coffee before making our way up to the Chateau de la Castre. This is where the very visible Cannes sign is situated that looks over the city. Again, this provided great views that gave us a chance to take in Cannes in all its beauty. With time running out on our stay here we had a roam around some of the streets to see what sort of shops were on offer before one last quick visit to the port and then onto our next destination for the afternoon.
Tuesday afternoon and we arrived in Toulon where we were greeted by our host and shown around the city centre, port and finally to the famous Stade Mayol, which has been home to some of rugby’s elite, both past and present. We were then left to our own devices as we went to explore some of the hotels in the area and enjoyed the sunset by the port. We finished the day by going to the Les Halles de Toulon in central Toulon. This food hall catered for everyone’s tastes, offering up vintage wines, cheese, freshly cooked seafood, pizzas, breads, meats and indulgent sweet treats – we were pleased for the 10-minute walk back to the hotel and needed some well-deserved rest.
Wednesday, and it was another early start as we made our way to the beautiful city of Marseille. Prior to our visit the team had our preconceptions about Marseille, but we were pleasantly surprised that this city was far different from what we expected. We met up with the Marseille Tourism Board who gave us our day tour of the city which saw us experience the public transport around the city, whilst visiting the city centre, stadium and going all the way up to the Basilica which gave a 360-degree view of Marseille which was a sight to behold. Despite being a very busy day, we also got to see the outside of the museum and the art district on our way back to the port, which was a super experience and can easily be missed if you are not aware of it. It’s well worth a stroll. At the end of the day, we said our goodbyes and moved on to Avignon for the night.
Thursday morning two of the team got up early to go and see the sunrise from the top of the Palais des Papes and had an explore of the surrounding grounds of the palace. Once everyone was up, we went for crepes for breakfast and continued to explore around the city, seeing where every cobbled road may take us. At one point we did end up outside of the surrounding wall of the city and did get to take a closer look at the Pont d’Avignon, the age-old half bridge still standing strong after the other half was swept away and destroyed in a storm.
Lunchtime and we were off to Lyon, where we had a meeting with one of our suppliers which unfortunately meant that we were not able to experience a vast amount of what Lyon had to offer, other than the public transport system, which was very good. We did also manage to fit in a quick hotel visit which left us reassured that our Rugby World Cup fans would be happy in Lyon.
Friday, time to go home but not before a quick trip to Paris. Early morning train from Lyon to Paris meant that we started the day off at the Remix Hotel where a lot of fans travelling with MSG will be staying. Once we had done a check that we were happy with the hotel we moved onto doing some site seeing via the public transport. Starting off at the Louvre, we walked up the Champs Elysees enjoying the views of the Arc de Triomphe as it got ever closer, whilst we passed the shops of Dior and Louis Vuitton on our walk. We could not finish our trip in Paris without of course going to see the famous Eiffel Tower. The team thoroughly enjoyed this week, but we did have some tired legs by the end clocking up over 75km walked over the five days. France is going to be a great destination for the Rugby World Cup, and we hope you all enjoy it as much as we did later this year.
Find MSG Rugby World Cup packages here
Sam Wood | Customer Experience Travel Coordinator
