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BB0917
: BOOTboys
Encore!
This
was not originally intended to be a BOOTboys
trip. But when Margaret decided she was unable
to accompany me to Menton, the prospect of five days
alone painting walls didn’t entirely seem like fun so
I enquired if any BOOTboy
would like to use her flight ticket? I was delighted
when Pete responded to the challenge.
Thursday
28th May
Arrived
early evening and had an excellent pizza at the Vesuvius
in the Place du Cap after an evening stroll along the
harbour wall.
Friday
29th May
We
caught the bus to Gorbio where we took a team picture
under the old olive tree, in exactly the same place
as the one in BB0836.
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Gorbio
A
typical Gorbio passageway
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Team
Picture, Gorbio
The
creche
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After
an exploration of the old town and examining its Santon
creche, we followed the GR52 to St Agnes- the reverse
of the route taken on BB0625.
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Farewell
to Gorbio
Pete
on the trail
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St
Agnes comes into view
Sweet
Peas on the trail
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Lovely
countryside but, as largely uphill, it was not surprisingly
a little more taxing in the strong sun.
The
view from Le Rigi
We were
therefore ready for lunch at Le Righi, where we sat on
its balcony with stunning views from the highest village
on the littoral down to the Menton coast.
A
climb to the old castle is mandatory for me when at
St Agnes. I was pleased to find that it was fully
open again after the restoration work. What a
viewpoint.
The
view from the old castle
Sadly
the Maginot line fort was not open so we carried on
along the GR52.
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The
path down to Monti
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St
Agnes from the rear
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The
path meanders down through lightly wooded hillside before
emerging at Monti. We contemplated continuing
to Castellar but thought we had had enough for the day
so opted instead to drop down to Haut Carei where we
caught the local bus back into town.
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The
stream crossing rest point
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Menton
by night
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Dinner
on the seafront at the Exocet. Excellent fish!
Then viewed Menton by night, the church, as ever,
looking magnificent.
BB0917a
| Distance
(miles):
|
Ascended
(feet):
|
Descent
(feet):
|
|
8.0
|
2,270
|
3,225
|
Saturday
30th May
This
really was a working trip as the photo of Pete in his
elegant gear proves! The apartment wall was painted
and then I took Pete around the old town plus the cemetery,
naturally paying respect to William Webb Ellis. Lunch
at the Balico was a very good Omelette Mentonnaise.
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Peter
the painter
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William
Webb Ellis
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We
had arranged to meet Jilly of Menton Daily Photo fame
that afternoon. One of my favourite places in
Menton is the Annonciade and I had suggested to her
some time back that the climb to it, along the Chemin
de la Rosarie with its Stations of the Cross, could make
an appropriate set of pictures for her website. Do
visit it; it is far better at portraying Menton than
the town's official one.
It
was interesting watching her at work, photographing
all sorts of things and people en-route, often from
strange angles. What I had thought were Stations
of the Cross, however, didn’t make too good a subject.
For some strange reason I failed to photograph
any of them so those interested will have to see them
on Jilly’s blog when published. They are small booths, a little
like sentry boxes, with each station title illustrated
on the inside by a Jean Cocteau style artist. Jilly
recognised who had done them but the name escapes me now. However,
the illustrations are behind a protective grill so don’t
lend themselves to being photographed. Also, several
of the exterior of the booths had, sadly, been despoiled
by graffitists. Menton is nowhere near as bad
as many places for this pathetic anti-social behaviour
but there has been a fresh outbreak. The mayor is determined
to crack down on it and force the offenders to clean
it up. If Pete and I had our way, these brainless
idiots would have to do it with their bare hands. And
acid. That would discourage them.
Notwithstanding
the graffiti, it is a pleasant climb up the Chemin de la
Roserie, past interestingly decorated buildings and
some attractive gardens.
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Detail
from a frieze- click on picture for more
Approaching
.....
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Passion
Flower
.....
the Annonciade
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Atop
the small hill stands the Annonciade. Not only
is this is a lovely viewpoint but I find the grounds
to be so peaceful. The church itself is very simple,
with some fine stained glass windows- I particularly
like the dove- and an attractive crypt with a small
chapel.
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The
Annonciade interior
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The
dove
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We
(i.e. Jilly because she speaks the language) discovered that I had been quite wrong
about the Stations of the Cross- the booths represented
the Mystery of the Rosarie. Broadly similar in
concept but covering the whole of Christ’s life.
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The
crypt chapel
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The
view past the fraternal hotel
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Behind
the Annonciade is a large building that used to be a
hotel approached by a steep funicular railway- more
like a lift really. Sadly that is long gone. I
thought the building was a convalescent home for one
of the French unions but it now seems to be more like
a fraternal holiday centre.
It
was good to see Jilly again and Pete enjoyed
meeting her. She is quite a character.
I
can’t remember the name of the restaurant where Pete
and I dined that night but it is the one on the left
had corner at the front of the Place du Cap- seems an
Italian family run business and the pasta was good.
La Terrasse? Tasty escalope aux herbes.
Again
we enjoyed a nightime stroll around the port.
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What
had been happening?
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The
port by night
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Something
had been happening on the quay, but we chanced on the
party just as it was winding up and couldn't work out
what had been going on.
Sunday
31st May
After
painting the terrace walls, we set off for the day’s
main event in Menton- a “Vide Jardin” that I had seen
featured in the local paper. A Vide Jardin is
a bit like a car boot sale (without the car) but focussing
on plants and items for the garden. It was the
first time Menton had had one. Or rather, it would
have been had it existed. We saw the "no parking"
signs warning people that their cars would be towed
away but no one paid any attention to them, no towing
away was going on and more importantly there was a not
a single pot or plant or person selling them to be seen.
The whole thing had been postponed to September,
Jilly later told me in an e-mail!
We
decided to walk along the coastal path to Monaco, starting
with the promenade down to Cap Martin. Lest any
unkind person
thinks that we chose this route because we were dirty
old men ogling exhibitionist young ladies lying near-naked
on the beach, let me report that there has been an outbreak
of modesty on the French Riviera and gratuitous forbidden
fruit were in very short supply! It is simply
the quickest way to the Cap!
Menton
from Cap Martin
The
journey around the rocky headland of the Cap it proved
to be rather further than I had estimated. We
eventually reached Cabbé where there is a small
beach café with a grossly inefficient waiter.
The Leek tart was worth the wait. When it
arrived I presumed it had been microwaved but the crusty
pastry said otherwise- freshly baked in the oven. Excellent!
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Click
to see how to reach this house at Cabbé
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A
serene Princess Grace
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We
continued on our way to Monaco, slightly confused by
a path closure that forced us to go via a prohibited
bit of railway land.
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Monaco
was still in recovery mode from the Grand
Prix and many of the seating structures
and crash barriers were still in position.
After
a quick visit to the Casino and the Sky
Mirror
(see also this
Van Gochian night
shot)
we dropped down
to the harbour. It was threatening
to rain and when we chanced upon a bus back
to Menton we dashed for it, successfully.
Reflection
of the Casino in front of the stands
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Reflections
of two BOOTboys
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Monaco
harbour with some modest boats
That
night I took Pete to Le Touareg, a Moroccan restaurant
that is almost universally regarded by our friends as
their favourite restaurant in Menton. The tagines
did not disappoint, nor did the tapas that preceded
them.
Evening
in Menton
BB0917b
| Distance
(miles):
|
Ascended
(feet):
|
Descent
(feet):
|
|
9.1
|
951
|
926
|
Monday
1st June
Our
plan for the day was again to go to Gorbio but this
time to follow the GR52 in the opposite direction to
La Turbie. However things soon started to go wrong.
The first clue was that the guardien was nowhere
to be found in the apartment block. Next, several
of the shops and cafés were shut. We arrived
at the bus stop but the ticket office was closed, I
paid no attention as I already had a multi-journey ticket.
But when the 10 a.m. bus didn’t turn up I began
to wonder if it might possibly be a fête day.
How
to tell? I had a bright idea. Phone a friend.
Jilly. She should know and has the merit of understanding
and speaking English (she is English). I got out
my phone but was surprised to find my battery was flat.
Pete got his out but was not surprised to find
that he had no credit left on it. So I was forced
to speak to a local. Fortunately the old gentleman
understood my bad accent and me his. Yes, it was
a fête day. Sunday timetables. No
chance of Gorbio to La Turbie.
I
rapidly concocted a Plan B that would take into account
the weather forecast of rain by early afternoon. We
would take the high road into Italy along the Boulevard
de Garavan with all its fine old villas.
I
have a distinct memory of this Italian border post.
On our first visit to Menton in 1969, we decided
to take a walk into Italy. As we had no luggage,
the Italian border guard was deeply suspicious and asked
us how much money we had on us. £17 pounds,
I told him. He was not impressed and thought we
were vagrants and likely to be a burden on the state.
He marched us into the Capitano’s office and explained
why we had been detained. The Capitano just laughed
and said “£17? That’s millions and millions
of lira! Come on in!”
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The
Italian border post
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The
Italian border guard's washing
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These
days no one is challenged and we crossed through to
the hamlet of Grimaldi Inferior (so called as perched
even higher above it is Grimaldi Superior). In
1969 this area seemed very seedy in comparison with
the smart French side of the border. Nowadays
it is quite upmarket with its stunning cliffside views.
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Menton
from the border
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Millions
of cacti
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We
found a steep footpath down to the bay, past greenhouses
with more cacti in them than I have seen in aggregate
in the whole of my life!
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Don
as seen by Pete
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I
don’t know the name of this little bay but I do like
it as a contrast to the French beaches. It is
a relatively undiscovered, pebbly cove with what probably
were once fishermen’s storage huts on the shore, now
used as beach huts. The sun was shining and there was
no sign of the promised rain. Just the place to
have our sandwiches before returning to Menton along
the slightly hairy coastal path.
OK.
I confess. Just the place also
to have a little snooze. I hoped to
capture Pete nodding but he beat me to it!
|
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The
beach below.....
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.....
Grimaldi Inferior
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There
was a Vide Grenier near the Garavan marina- this really
is a car boot sale without the cars- but we didn’t find
anything to interest us.
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The clouds were starting
to build up. It got darker and darker and after we reached
the apartment we could hear the thunder rolling round
the hills whilst the lightening got nearer. Then
it started to rain heavily. For a full ten minutes!
Back
to the Place du Cap that night, this time to La Provence
to round off our culinary experiences with another decent
meal. Tasty Assiette Provencal for starters. Can’t
remember my main course but it was good!
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Menton
port on a stormy evening
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BB0917c
| Distance
(miles):
|
Ascended
(feet):
|
Descent
(feet):
|
|
6.6
|
629
|
629
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Tuesday
2nd June
We
had a quiet morning preparing to depart then ate our
sandwiches on the stone jetty opposite the casino.
Panorama
from the jetty
Our
travel disasters continued. We set off in good
time for the airport bus only to see it depart without
us, 15 minutes
early. At the bus stop I checked the time table.
Horror of horaires! They had changed the bus times.
In all the time we have been coming to Menton
the airport bus times had never changed yet they always
had insisted on giving me a new timetable when I bought
the tickets at the airport. This time they had
changed the times only two weeks previously but hadn’t
bothered to let me know.
I
thought it would be interesting to get to the airport
by train. We still had plenty of time in hand
so the 40 minute wait for the train was not a problem.
It was incredibly busy between Villefranche and
Nice but quietened down at the station for the airport
St Augustin. So far so good. I knew it was
a bit of a trek to Arenas to pick up the navette- the
airport shuttle bus that runs between terminals. But
I couldn’t find the navette stop. We did find
the stop for the bus from Nice. They seemed regular
so we waited. And waited. And waited and
waited. I could feel the tension rising along
with my blood pressure as the thought of missing the
flight grew. It was only a mile or so to the terminal
but it was a baking hot day and we had left it too late.
We were desperately thinking of trying to find
a taxi when at last a bus arrived and took us to the
terminal.
From then onwards, fortunately, it was
a smooth journey home. We had missed some spectacularly
good weather in England but I did enjoy the view from
the motorway across to Coniston Old Man- the setting
sun was backlighting the whole of the lake district
with a deep pink glow. Spectacular. It’s
very nice to go travelling but it’s so much nicer to
come home. Someone should write a song about that.
Don,
2nd June 2009
If you want to comment on this report, click on
.
STATISTCS
|
BB0917
|
a:
29th May
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b:
31st May
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c:
1st June
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Total
|
| Distance
(miles):
|
8.0
|
9.1
|
6.6
|
23.7
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| Ascended
(feet):
|
2,270
|
951
|
629
|
3,850
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| Descent
(feet):
|
3,225
|
926
|
629
|
4,780
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| Key Features:
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GR52,
Gorbio, St Agnes, Monti,
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Menton,
Cap Martin,
Monaco
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Menton,
Grimaldi
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| Comitibus:
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Don,
Pete
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BB09147a
BB09147b
BB09147c
If
you have Memory Map on your computer, you can follow
our route in detail by downloading BB0917a.
BB0917b,
and BB0917c
For the latest totals
of the mileages, heights and Lakeland Fells Books Wainwrights see: Wainwrights.
If anyone wants to claim other peaks, please let
me know and I will submit them to the adjudication committee!
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