VII - The Riviera!

DAY 13 - DAY 15 - 25 SEPTEMBER - 27 SEPTEMBER

We followed the Route Napoleon toward the Sea. The route is called this because, when Napoleon landed here after escaping from Elba, hs cried "Arrest me or follow me!", and he marched on Paris along this route. Or so they say.

That particular road, N85, winds up heading toward Cannes and Antibes. Both are lovely places, but our return flight was from Nice, and so we took the fork at Barreme on N202, and just followed the signs to Nice. Again, it was a lovely day for driving, and before long we were toodling into Nice. Naturally, I wanted to head right for the Mediterranean, so we did.

You get to the Mediterranean and turn left and keep driving. And keep driving. There are cars in front of you and cars behind you, and not a single parking place in sight. We went along the coast through all the towns, including Monaco and Monte-Carlo, and we wound up in Menton. I had previously sort of made reservations at a place in Menton, so by a little reckless driving I managed to find a parking spot and get the little ticket on it before the gendarmarie could clamp me. We tore the car apart to find the paperwork (got it!) and then to find a phone to call and see. Found a phone booth ... sorry, no coins or credit cards. Hmmmmm. Well, off to a little store where I was told "Non. Tabac." OK - find a tabac (tobacco store?). There's one. Get a phone card, back to the booth. Figure out how to dial (Leave the zero in? add another one? country code?). Finally got through.

"Do you have space?" "Of course. I remember you. Come on up." "Up?" "Directions?" "Oh, just go to the City Hall and turn right. Keep going, you'll find us." Sure we will.

Rather than just rush around, we decided to unwind a bit (we still had an hour or so on the parking ticket) and look around. From what I could see, Menton can be thought of as Nice Lite. It has a casino, lots of neat little shops in the pedestrian-only tourist area, plenty of restaurants and other food places, outdoor cafes, hotels of all sorts, and even a few museums. The weather was still holding as gorgeous, so we walked down a block to the shore. I was taken aback at the absolutely deep blue color (azure) of the Mediterranean Sea. It was spellbinding.

But, it was starting to get late (sundown was especially lovely), so we got back in the car and hoped we could find our way to Villa Gazzano. There was a large map posted near the Casino, but it turns out it wasn't that accurate. I headed toward where I thought I could turn, but we suddenly found the road closed off to car traffic, and we had to make a quick turn to the left. We found ourselves face to face with the City Hall, which was exactly the landmark I was looking for. So, I turned right (the street marking is hopeless for trying to figure out where you are) and we almost immediately began climbing - on a road that was barely a lane-and-a-half wide. Wheeee! I finally got there ... it was quite a way up the hill.

Villa Gazzano is a very charming little villa, located on the hillside overlooking Menton and the Mediterranean. I was told that is was built by Sr. Gazzano. It boasts a capacity of four guests, each with their own room with bath. The rooms open onto a court/balcony with tables and chairs, overlook the rest of the villa, and the pool. I could easily imagine myself spending a nice week or more here. In fact, the other guests were Brits and they were indeed here for a couple of weeks. A little 'fridge in the laundry room kept us all well supplied with beer.

Without boring everyone with details, we spent Thursday and all day Friday exploring. There is a flea market, sidewalk cafes, lots of stuff to do, and we did everything we could think of. Spotted a number of neat hotels, pretty much all of which are on the web and have reasonable prices. Maybe next time ...

All good things etc., etc. We were scheduled out of Nice airport around noon, and we were told the trip was about 45 minutes on the motorway. So, our plan was to eat breakfast and then head off. After breakfast, I asked Mme. Gazzano which credit card she would prefer. To my horror, she replied "Oh, didn't they mention it? We don't take any cards. We're too small. Cash only." Panic city. I had about 60 euros in my pocket. I was about to run down to the ATM in town, which I was pretty sure would cause us to miss the flight, when I asked, "Do you take checks?". She said, "Yes, as long as they're in Euros." Whew! I quickly dug out my checkbook and wrote out a check. She took the check and the money and bid us au revoir.

I had enough change left to make it through the toll booths, and I still had to fill up the tank, but that could be handled with a credit card ... I hoped. At any rate, we were on our way to Nice airport.

[This message has been edited by BigLar (edited Nov 29, 2003).]