From France into Italy
...or from Côte d'Azur to Cinque Terre
March | 2022
The first stop was in the Marina (Centre Ville) in Cannes. Poor James pulled the short straw again and stayed with the bikes whilst Steffi went off to get her picture on the Croisette in front of the Hotel Carlton. Not an easy task, as all the access to the beach is only via beach clubs, but nicely asked at one, the mission was accomplished :-)
After that, we drove in lovely sunshine and 14C all along the coast. Nice is such a beautiful town, so that is now on the bucket list for a long weekend somewhere in the future. For our lunch we found a nice spot just before Villafranche-Sur-Mer, pulling into a little bay. Just parking, we realised the memorial. It was the one for the fatal accident of Grace Kelly (Grace from Monaco).
Whilst we had our picnic up there, the clouds started more and more to come in ... :-(
The next touristic stop was Monaco. We did our stop in the Marina and then Steffi did her little momentum-photo tour. Ah, and by the way, we managed to be here for her birthday!
As fast as we were in Monaco, we were out of it as it is such a small "country".
We carried on along the coast towards Italy, still hoping for the weather to change, well at least not to start raining as we would like to do again wild camping. It was not meant to be! Around the border crossing, it started to rain more and more, so the decision for a hotel around Imperia was done! Pulling into a petrol station, to get depressed by the price of €2.05 per litre 95 petrol, we booked a small private hotel in Imperia.
Along the SS1, the traffic was absolutely crazy! The scooter drivers are real Kamikaze-driver! Going through these towns at rush hour didn't help too! Steffi is not very keen on lane splitting, but like that, we gained some kilometres! Driving in the dark, rain and not knowing the road was not really funny, but finally, we got to the hotel. The last challenge was a short hill of 15% inclination ending directly in an S-curve. Steffi nearly stopped in the garage of a family as she thought it was the backlights of James's bike ...
Andreia, the son of the Agriturismo La Quercia was super helpful and very welcoming to us!
After a nice hot shower, we had for dinner; a plate of antipasti with some homemade Focaccia, delicious! As we had very good wifi Steffi could catch up on the administrative part of our journey - until late at night!
The next morning Steffi’s wrist alarm woke us up at 8am! We have slept like fallen trees! As we were suddenly desperate for some rest, we spoke to Alberto, the owner, if we could stay an extra night. No problem, if we do not mind the noise of a birthday dinner party in front of our window. We didn't! Today it is only a stroll into town for some laundry and then just chilling!
After a good rest, we left this lovely little hotel refreshed and headed towards the mountains. In Alto we finally found a little café for a cafe latte to warm us up as temperatures were only around 6C, brrr! We carried on little backroads to Colle di Capraina which was up on 1400m. There we had a fantastic view over the snow-covered mountains. The next high mountain we passed was Colle di Casotto. There you could see all the ski pistes coming down. Here it was really cold with -4C!! As we passed already lunchtime we drove via Mondovi back towards the coast.
For the night we found a spooky place; an old military post in the hills above Savona. Still totally equipped with our biking gear we climbed around that complex; not easy with enduro boots ;-)
After that, it was time to pitch up the tent. Whilst James set up the tent, Steffi went to find some firewood as it started to get freezing cold again - and it was nearly night. James (already changed) was just about to cook his dinner and Steffi just started only to get her "bed" ready as the Carabinieri came. They told us nicely that in Savona wild camped is not allowed. We explained the situation and she showed us on GoogleMaps a place that is apparently open.
After they drove off, we discussed the situation, but we will have to move. We think it was also for our own security. They must come overnight regularly for check-ups as an eerie place. So we had to pack all up and drive back for about 25km towards Imperia! Finally, we found that official camping place (so far about free camping!) and we had to pitch up our tent in the dark! As it was now so freezing cold, we went directly to "bed".
The next day it was coastal day, mainly along the SS1. In the traffic of Genova, we lost each other. Steffi took a wrong turn, as the last indications of James crackled up on the intercom. When she got a place to do a phone call, we arranged to meet at the parking off McD. Steffi struggled to see the screen of her phone in the sunlight, so she ended up going over a massive bridge along the marina. When she exited the first possibility, she suddenly heard the familiar voice of James through the intercom - Halleluja, we have united again!
So we carried on along the SS1 through Genova, battling with the MSD (mad scooter drivers). We both got shouted at by the MSDs that the speed limit is 50km/h. We were too slow for the MSDs!!! Can you believe it!
Our next stop was Portofino for our picnic lunch, but we couldn’t drive into the centre. Instead, we had it on the beach Baia di Paraggi, just outside of Portofino. From there it was not far to La Spezia, where we had booked accommodation for 2 nights, that we could do a bit of sightseeing in Cinque Terre. Our BB for the next two nights was in an old school complex that is owned by the church. We couldn’t really work out what it is, but it must be a nursing home as well as a kindergarten. When we arrived the whole yard was full of playing kids/youngsters. We had to cross their basketball field (match) for our parking place ;-)
For dinner, we went to have our first Pizza in Italia, which was very delicious! Unfortunately the house wine too - Steffi was a wee bit tipsy; and next morning with a wee hangover!
In the next blog, you will find out if the cleaning of the spark plugs is the solution...
Places | Cities:
FRANCE: Cannes, Antibes, St. Laurent-du-Var, Nice, Cap d'Aix, Villafranche-Sur-Mer
MONACO with Monte Carlo
ITALY: Latte, Ventimiglia, San Remo, Imperia, Andora, Alto, Ormea, Garessio, Pamperato, Frabos Soprana, Mondovi, Ceva, Savona, Noni, San Martino, Varrazza, Genua, Sori, Rapallo, Portofino, Mattarana, La Spezia
Driven km | Trip:
Total: 2735 km
Maintenance | Breakdown:
SuperTenere started to run not smoothly, so James cleaned the spark plugs (were black!); send a request on a Yamaha SuperTenere forum for solutions.
Health issues:
./.
Special thanks to:
Alberto and his son Andreia for their super warm welcome at Agriturismo "La Quercia" at Imperia and finally Ms Sunshine to send us blue sky!