Ciao San Remo
It doesn’t take long to drop down through the Alpes-Maritimes from Comps-Sur-Artuby to the busy French Riviera, and the vertiginous descent will stay with you for a long time. There are a variety of ways, but you’ll enjoy the small D2211 through the higher plains and then wiggling down via the Col De Vence.
We paused for a moment in St. Paul De Vence to catch a glimpse of the art at the Colombe D’Or Hotel . Former guests, including Matisse, Miró, and Chagall, who have all left their legacy on the walls (literally) in exchange for a night at the inn, or a few good meals. It's a-must visit and is worth booking ahead.
After a wonderful lunch with friends in Monaco and a glimpse of the Bacon exhibition across the road, we drove slowly through the rest of the French Riviera on the main busy road along the sea, through Menton, and then over the border into the Italian Riviera towns of Ventimiglia and San Remo. As subtle as the EU border might have been, the difference between the French and Italian sides was immediately apparent, not just in the architecture but also in the volume of chat on the pavements.
A glimpse of Bacon...
San Remo, the premier gambling town of the Italian Riviera, is a buzzy stop for a night. We stayed at the Hotel Sylva, a grand old 19th century high-ceiling building, with views over the town to the ocean from the large room balconies. We did have a strong urge to rip up the beige carpets on the grand marble stairway and take away the little ribboned bunnies on the counter as we arrived. But decor offences aside, we really do recommend it for a night (book early for good deals).
View from our room
We quickly headed to San Remo’s old town, La Pigna, for dinner at Il Mulattiere. La Pigna is tiny, fully inhabited, founded in the fourteenth century, and looks like it hasn’t really been touched since then. It can only be explored on foot, and has a panoramic view of the opulent 19th century city around it from the top gate. Our friendly taxi driver showed us the view while proudly explaining the history of the town, and walked with us halfway into the old narrow streets to make sure we’d find our way. We had a precious dinner of local traditional dishes at this family run spaghetteria. Eating here is sure to make you feel local where you are and the bubbly mama'esque owner and her family will make you just as happy as we were to be in Italy. We highly recommend a visit to this insider find.
We didn’t gamble or shop for clothes in the smarter parts of San Remo, although there is plenty of that available. But early the next morning, we went to the San Remo indoor food market and had one of our most memorable morning espressos at the market café. The stalls were all still opening revealing irresistible fresh ingredients, zuchinni flowers, all varieties of basil, fresh focaccia and pasta, melting gorgonzola dolce and buckets of buffalo mozzarella. We ran around quite overcome, the first customers of the morning, chatting to everyone. It was our first morning in Italy and we felt it.
Full of market joy, we headed for the beach for a swim, which felt (to us) a bit like a car park on the sea. This didn’t seem to deter the bronzed older ladies heading down for their early swims, and the regular visitors deep in dialogue while setting up their loungers for the day.
In the end, our first and only swim in the Mediterranean was the perfect start to our challenging day journey on curvy highways through endless mountain tunnels past Genoa to our beloved Gargnano.
