Marseille, Monaco and more
Motive, means and opportunity. An urgent need for Mediterranian sunshine; holiday time to burn (use it or lose it!); and a brother with a place in Monaco. I took the opportunity for a five-day trip to the Riviera - a strip of beautiful rocky coast and attractive mediterranian towns along the French and Italian coast.
I flew into Marseille airport, which lies some 25 km outside the city. Fortunately, the shuttle service was fast and efficient, and I soon found myself in the city centre. Marseille's old town was largely demolished by the Germans during WW2, but there are still interesting old buildings (plus a set of rather odd trees outside the hotel de ville). The old harbour, supposedly where the original Greek settlers came ashore, was sunny and bustling; small fishing boats bringing their catch ashore, and selling it there on the quay from stalls. I met up with Alistair and we tried some of the (very tasty) catch too, in a neighbouring seafood place. After lunch, we drove up to the basilica on the hill overlooking the harbour, which provided spectacular views overt the city and the surrounding coast, including the prison island, Château d'If - made infamous by Alexandre Dumas's Count of Monte Cristo.
From Marseille, we followed the coast road east. The views were spectacular, with cute towns surrounded by rocky peaks and cliffs - especially impressive along the coast near Saint Raphael. After a tasty dinner in Monaco that evening, I also took a wander around Monaco to see it at night. An impressive collection of boats and cars; lamborghinis and ferraris abounded, as did 100ft superyachts!
On Sunday, we decided to take a drive to Eze, a nearby village perché; and then over the Italian border, to a pleasant, rather sleepy small coastal town called Sanremo. The sky was overcast, but the cloud was fairly high, so after a pleasant Italian lunch we decided to drive up into the mountains. We took the road north from Ventimiglia, along the Roya river valley. It didn't take long to get into mountains and gorges, and we soon started to see patches of snow. At the top, we went through the Tente tunnel and popped out in Piedmont - and back in winter, with feet of snow. We stopped at Limone Piemonte, a ski-resort-village just over the border, and had an excellent Italian hot chocolate.
The next morning, I explored the small hilltop town that is old Monaco. This, perched on top of a rock, consists of the royal palace, the cathedral, museum and aquarium, and a suspciously tidy and toy-town-like alley network of tourist shops. While the aquarium was interesting, the scope of the rest was rather limited, so in the afternoon I took a train up the coast to Nice. The old town here felt much more real and alive, and wandering around it was quite peaceful, despite the rain that had blown in. The view from the top of the hill above the old town and port was also pleasant, though the weather ensured that it wasn't particularly photogenic.
The next day, with much improved weather, I headed out to catch a train west along the coast to Antibes. Unfortunately, the SNCF had other plans; they'd decided to play France's national sport: la greve. With no trains running, I decided to explore the countryside around Monaco instead. In beautiful sunshine, I followed paths up the steep hillsides, though woods and scrub, to a nearby village named La Turbie - a curious mixture of a postcard-cute old village and completely uninteresting new. From there, the path went out along a ridge and uphill to la tete du chien - a peak hanging over Monaco, giving one of the best views for a long way - east to Italy, west past Nice and Antibes, all backed by rugged hills and faced by the azure sea.
Later, I had a look around the comparatively little - and rather more attractive - harbour at Fontvieille. The old town of Monaco is perched above it on its cliffs, giving a pretty impressive view at sunset. I also got a good view of Monaco's heliport in action; the classy way to arrive in town!
Having packed quite a lot into a few days, time to head home. We got the train to Cannes for lunch at an excellent Spanish place, followed by a wander around the shorefront and past the site of the Cannes Film Festival. After that it was back on the train, winding its way through the countryside of Provence back to Marseille and hence back to not-so-sunny England.
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