Margaret and Mary opted to spend several hours waiting in Riomaggiore to catch a direct (slow) train to Ventimiglia rather than having to drag their bags on and off several trains. They should have also opted to sleep in but unfortunately didn’t manage that. We saw Carol and Larry off, then went over to the main strip for a nice relaxed breakfast, then we spent a couple of hours sitting in the wifi spot waiting for our train.
The train to Ventimiglia was quite uncrowded but was also without any services such as restaurant car or snack wagon. There were lovely views of the coast and beachs in between many tunnels. Surprisingly, after a 4.5 hour train trip, we pulled into Ventilmiglia almost exactly on time. There were only a few platforms so we had no problem finding our next train within our 16 minute connection time. Initially the train was not too crowded, we were sharing a car with a number of Australian and other travellors, though many moved as they realized ours was a 1st class car.
Things changed quickly when we reached the station in Monaco at around 6pm (rush hour in Monaco), all of a sudden our car felt like Skytrain at rush hour. It took some fancy work and a few bruised toes to navigate our large suitcases through the crowded train aisle.
On arrival in Villefranche-sur-mer we attempted to navigate our way to our hotel with only the assistance of a Rick Steves “map”. Mary took several navigational walk abouts but we had to resort to calling the hotel to manage to locate it. Note for future – close on google maps is not necessarily close and google maps does not show elevation. (The hotel clerks comment when we advised him of our location “you will need to climb”). After another navigational sortie and after climbing several blocks (in a roundabout fashion to avoid having to climb streets of stairs) we found the Hotel Riviera.
Our first impression of the hotel was a slightly upscale East Hastings SRO, the impression was not improved by dark hallways, old red carpet and chipped plaster walls. Mary had been sold by the description of a lovely terrace overlooking the bay – the terrace was lovely, the attached room ….. not so much. It was a “lovely” orange attic garret. After the initial poor impression faded we noted that we did have working air conditioning and a tv (with only French stations) and the sheets were clean. We were also lucky that the suitcase lift did function all the way to the third floor so we didn’t have to carry our bags up the narrow winding stairs. Margaret thought the elevator did seem to complain over much while transporting her bag.
Mary had been battling a cold all day, she had made an investment in some Italian Ibuprofen/cold flu capsules and a wise investment in a six pack of Kleenex. Circumstances called for a bracing toddy of the miracle cure Sporer Orangen-Punsch. Margaret also had a preventative punch to ward off any incipient cold virus. Definitely the punch had more medicinal benefit than the cold capsules, so Mary had a good night’s sleep. The effects of the punch lasted well into the following afternoon. I am sure that another dose this evening will result in complete recovery from any cold virus.
By morning, our impression of the hotel was improving, we opted not to partake in the 10 euro breakfast at the hotel but ended up spending 6 euro for coffee, croissant and yoghurt so the hotel breakfast was probably a good deal.
Villefranche-sur-mer appears to be the discount Cote-d'azure, there is a long strip of beach at one end of town and that must be the attraction for most people as there did not seem to be a great deal else in town . We woke far too early as the shops were only starting to open at 9am. We wandered down to the beach, the water looked really lovely on a very warm morning, but our suitcases are already overflowing without trying to squeeze in beach towels and umbrellas. We toured the Citadel with its Museums of impressionist/surrealist art and many figurative statues of women. There was some kind of conference going on in the Citadel, we arrived just as they were partaking of their midmorning refreshment break and we got to admire the tables that had been set out for their luncheon break.
After admiring the art and the gardens of the Citadel, we took the walking path around the Citadel to Port Royal de la Darse. On seeing the Rick Steves recommended Hotel de la Darse near there, we were feeling even better about our more centrally located hotel. We had beer and a salad at the local favorite marinaside café. It was definitely the place to go for the locals (I suspect it was the only place to eat in Port Royal).
After a relaxing lunch (sometimes slow service is appreciated – on those days that you have nothing better to do), we wandered back to the old town and toured the few clothing and post card shops that were there. We viewed the lovely Saint-Michel church and paid our fee to view the small but intricately decorated Chapel Saint Pierre. The entire interior and the front of the chapel had been painted by Jean Cocteau in 1954-1956.
