The Riviera (5/5-6/1979)

Saturday, May 5, 1979
Previous adventures were an understatement! Left by 8:00 taking the scenic route south through pleasant flat farmland. Then started into the mountains toward France. Just after Limone, was stopped by customs officials who checked my passport, driving permit, the car papers, and asked how much money I had. I was then okayed to drive through a long tunnel to arrive in France. Drove down through a valley to a small town where I passed through French customs. Saw mountainous France and the valley was full of those trees where it seems they got the branches for Palm Sunday.

Olive groves

Headed towards Nice to avoid re-entering Italia. Seemed I couldn't get into Nice without paying, so I skirted it and saw a beautiful panorama, but could not stop. The Mediterranean Sea is beautiful. Aquamarine near the shore and a nice blue beyond.

West of Nice

Above the French Riviera

Made my way along the coast way up in the mountains and soon arrived in Monaco - a beautiful, beautiful principality. Fantastic landscaping and I think I saw the palace and Monte Carlo. Apparently you had to pay to get into Monte Carlo and I had no French currency.

Monaco

Monaco

Then to Mentone/Menton that was also beautiful and had a casino.

Italy as seen from Mentone

Was waved through the French-Italian border, probably thanks to the Italian license plates on the car.

Mentone from Italy

Drove along the Italian Riviera where it is difficult to stop because there are no parking areas and there is heavy traffic. Some of the roads were right on the edge of the cliff. San Remo also had a casino and ferries to Corsica. I think it was this city that had orange trees along the streets, full of oranges. All along the Riviera were exotic plants, and along the section known as the Riviera di Ponente, were greenhouses in the hills. Stopped in Diano Marina, apparently a beach resort but also supposedly known for sending palms to the Vatican. Palm trees all along the Riviera.

View towards Cervo from Diano Marina

Palm trees

Gallinara Island in the Mediterranean

Continued up to the Savona area, mostly ports. Then drove into Genova/Genoa through an area reminiscent of New York City ports.

Entering Genova/Genoa

Passed through Genova to drive down the Riviera di Levante to Portofino which it seems you cannot drive through. They have a large parking lot at the "entrance" of the town. But first I passed through Santa Margherita which was beautifully lighted at night. Stopped along the road to sleep in the car for the night. But happened to be near a nightspot, so there was a lot of traffic. Slept well enough and had to use the great outdoors as my lavatory.

Sunday, May 6, 1979
Woke up at 6:00 but the sun was already high and the fishermen were out. Drove back to Portofino to photograph.

Paraggi

Portofino

Santa Margherita with statue of Cristoforo Colombo

Santa Margherita

View towards Genova from Camogli

Then drove to Genova looking for the "train up the mountain" I had heard about for a good view of the city. Did drive along some of the streets mentioned by Debora's mother. Genova is a beautiful old city once you get away from the port area.

Piazza della Vittoria

Did not find the train, but did drive up a mountain to get glimpses of the panorama.

Drove back down to Savona looking for a beach to spend a few hours. But couldn't figure out how to get on the seemingly private beaches. Ended up in a park along the shore in Savona. Because of a shortage of gas, decided to head directly back to Torino. Went through hilly farmland and made a long stop for lunch on a hilltop.

Entrance to Cherasco

Continued north and after winding down the hill from Cherasco, I hit a bumpy area in the road and suddenly noticed I had a flat tire! Which I changed, but the jack was faulty and tended  to want to twist away. Finished the job okay, but with black hands. Drove into Torino to find a castle which was a mess under repair. Took the Tangenziale/bypass around the city and took a different route out to Lanzo. Around Lanzo, people park along the road to go into the surrounding fields and woods to picnic. Wound my way up into the mountains above Grosso to come home the back way, via Corio.