MONTECARLO OR BUST – FRANCE’S RIVAL TO WHITBY

Monday 24th September

We travelled from Cognac via Bordeaux and Toulouse to Carcassonne, the medieval walled city which out-rivals the Cheddar Gorge for money spending places.

Then on Tuesday 25th September we headed for the French Riviera and the Mediterranean. Ah! the memories of a misspent youth, idling the summers away in Cannes and Nice. We had almost forgotten the endless parties and the night one of us nearly fell overboard into the harbour at Monaco. Nothing had changed, though no-one remembered us. We took the familiar route to Menton, through Monte Carlo and Monaco and booked into our usual hotel. A pleasant 24 degrees evening temperature, was sufficient for a walk along the beach and dinner at our favourite restaurant. And who was that setting the fashion in Cannes?

Driving through France has been relatively easy although we have had our moments. The road signs are very good although occasionally we turn a gauche instead of a droite. Let’s hope our new found driving skills work in Italy.

Wednesday 26th September. They certainly needed to.

Kerry was the appointed driver for our coastal trip to La Spezia in Italy. Four hours of viaducts and tunnels, unbelievable engineering, and astonishing coastal buildings greeted us at every turn. If the road signs did not change, we could quite easily believe we were driving around in a circle for four hours.

The shops in Italy close for siesta between 12.30 and 3.30, so after a short siesta of our own, we went for an Italian evening stroll, minus credit card!

On Thursday 27th September we walked the famous Cinque Terre trail from West to East. A great experience and quite hard work. Starting from Monterosso we had a marinara lunch in Vernazza, coffee and cakes in Corniglia. We caught the train to Manarola, because the path was closed, then an easy stroll along the promenade to Riomaggiore. ( Val and David see photo of Colin missing our little Cheshire walking mate)

Friday 28th September.

Back into the Mazdarrati, we headed south down Italian route A1 as far as we could in five hours. We made it to Cassino just North of Naples. All you historians will know about the famous WW2 battle in Cassino. I knew a little because my Uncle was wounded there and was sent home to recuperate after 4 years away in the war. We re-lived some of the horror at a very graphic exhibition at a recently opened historical centre. To balance the history, Kerry felt a great need to put something back into the community, and bought a pair of genuine Italian leather outdoor shoes. The Italian economy should now survive. Tomorrow we drive to meet Chris, Laura, Libby and Daniel in Positano.