Trailblazing the Cinque Terre

Rita basking in the sunshine on the way to Monteroso

First of all I would like to thank Cindy Burr and Mariya Kovalyk for convincing me to include this part of Italy in our itinerary. Both had visited the place this past summer and raved about it on their return. In fact, Cindy gave me her travel book on Italy to check out the region. After reading it, I was so impressed I went out and bought the book.

Cinque Terre means five lands and today’s villages owe their existence to Castle Towers that were erected along the coast as watchtowers to alert Genoa of a sea attack from North African and Turkish pirates. People migrated to these towers for protection and the villages grew up around them. Fishing and vineyards were how the locals made their living prior to tourism. Wine making is still a going concern and there Cinque Terre wines are highly regarded in Italy.

We took the boat to Monterossa, the furthest of the five villages from Portovenre and planned to hike the trail in one day. The boat stops at 4 of the 5 villages (Corniglia does not have sea access) which gave us a chance to see the villages from the sea. The scenery is stunning from the high rugged cliffs that drop straight into the Med to vineyards and farmhouses that seemingly defy gravity by hanging onto sheer rock faces and the natural pine forest covers most of the coastline. After a 65 minute ride we reached our destination

The hike took us a little over 4 hours and it was spectacular. The trail between the first 3 villages is the hardest as it requires hiking up rough, narrow trails which were originally built by the villagers to access their vineyards. However, you are rewarded with majestic scenery of the rugged coastline. The trail between the last 2 villages is more like a walk around Stanley Park as it’s paved and tunneled to protect it from avalanches. We picked up the boat in Riomaggiore, the closest of the villages to Portovenere and headed home for a welcome shower and dinner. We will definitely do more mini hikes in Cinque Terre as you definitely need more than one quick visit to really appreciate each of the unique villages.

Riomaggiore in the morning sun from the boat

Rita on narrow trail between Monteroso and Vernazza

Village of Manarola from the vineyards

Village of Vernazza from the TrailT

Portovenere

Old Town Portovenere and Harbor

We were a bit apprehensive about choosing Portovenere as our base to hike the Cinque Terre but after spending the day exploring the village and going on a wonderful hike, we feel this was definitely the right decision. There is excellent access by boat to all of the 5 villages from here and we will start exploring them tomorrow. Portovenere’s old village is situated between rocky cliffs and the Med with a narrow channel creating a safe harbor. It is definitely the most picturesque village we have visited to date.

The town has been around since Roman times (161AD). However the fort and village had its start in 1113 when it became part of the Genoese state. The main buildings along the harbor were made intentionally tall as they were originally used as part of the defensive wall in medieval times. At the end of town on a rocky peninsula there is a very simple but beautiful church called St. Peters which was built in a Gothic style using black and white marble in 1131. The interior of the church is very stark and your eye immediately goes to the statue of Jesus on the Cross. I felt this was definitely a place to worship God and not the wonders of Man.

After checking out the village, Rita and I went on a warm up 2 hour hike up to an abandoned fort behind the village at the top of the cliffs. It was like the Grouse Grind except there was no beer when we got to the top and no Gondola to take us back down. But the scenery was spectacular. The hike made us very hungry and we had a wonderful dinner of local specialties (Octopus salad, bean soup and spaghetti with pesto) at a small family run restaurant in the Village. Tomorrow it’s hiking the Cinque Terre.

Rita overlooking the Bay of Poets from the Castle


13th Century St. Peter's Church and Medieval Walls

St. Peters Spartan Interior

Rita about 15 minutes into hike overlooking the Castle and St. Peter's Church

Geoff and Rita about half way to the top

Tunnels, Tunnels, Tunnels

Surprise Wind Storm in the Bay of Poets as seen from our Portovenere Apartment Balcony

Woke up for the last time in France and the weather had changed for the worse. The winds were blowing and dark clouds were threatening rain. We were lucky as the weather cleared when we started heading south. We were also very fortunate as most of the journey was on the major highway system and so the journey from Antibes to Portovenere took only about 4 hours. Most of the journey was high in the mountains with the Med below. The scenery was breathtaking when you could see it. Most of the journey was through tunnels. In Italy they go through mountains where in Canada we go around them. I am sure it’s a lot more expensive to build and that is why they have toll highways. For the 4 hour journey it cost us 26 Euro (about $39Cdn). But it was worth it as driving on the smaller highways would have taken us over 6 hours. When we arrived in Portovenere our Tom Tom guided us to our new home for the week and as we were getting a tour of the apartment, a huge wind storm came out of the mountains without warning creating huge problems for the sailboats in the Bay. One boat capsized and two small sailboats were blown into the mussel farms. As quickly as it started it was over and the emergency crews quickly rescued the people in the capsized boat and pulled the two sailboats out into clear waters.

Our apartment is lovely, if you love the 1970’s!!! It’s certainly not the same standard as we had in Antibes. However, it is clean and spacious and has unbelievable views of the Bay of Poets. Tomorrow we will explore the town.

A few minutes after the wind storm everything was back to normal except the sailboats were all in the harbour

Our Living Room in our 2 bedroom apartment. As mentioned, very 1970's but its clean and spacious. Also, the view from the balcony is superb.

Nice is Nice

Rita and Nice Waterfront

For our last day of sightseeing in France, we thought Nice would be nice as it’s only about 20km’s. We knew it was a big city, but had forgotten about heavy traffic and road construction. It took us over an hour of travel time each way but the experience was worth it. Nice used to be Italian until 1860 but as Italy was uniting as one country the people were given a choice of joining France or the new country. They chose France and traded pasta for baguettes. It was also around this time that Nice started to become a major holiday destination for the Brits followed by the Belgians and then the Russians. There is a wonderful 4 mile walkway along the Med called the Promenade des Anglais (walkway of the English). It was created and paid for in 1822 by wealthy English tourists who wanted a safe place to walk and admire the view. It was originally paved in marble so the English would not dirty their shoes or have to smell the fishy gravel. We had a wonderful time strolling the Promenade and exploring the old town. It was a great way to finish as Nice has the flavors of both France and Italy.

Rita heading to a cafe in the Market Square

Rita with fig & Vanilla low calerie gelato’s

This was an amazing candy shop that has been in the same family since it opened in 1820. The interior is the same and some of the confections are original recipes. Glazed fruit is on display in the windows (pineapple, appricots, plums and oranges).

Sea to Sky Highway

St. Paul-de-Vance on top of the hill

The French also have their own version of our Sea to Sky Highway. 20 minutes from leaving the Med you are in a totally different environment of gorges, mountains and pine forests as far as the eye can see. We were headed for the Inland Riviera and a loop that included three wonderful hill towns.

lThe historical village of St-Paul-de-Vence is immacuate and is home to lots of art shops, jewelry stores and restaurants. Its motor coach parking lot had 9 buses. I counted them as we had to park their due to the car parking lots being full. At times the place felt crowded and I could not imagine what it would be like in July and August. However, there are lots of streets and alleyways to move around as well as the ramparts that surround the village. Rita and I managed to move away from the crowds and really enjoyed our time there.

One of the many alleways that hold artisan shops

The next town was called just plain Vence and was much larger and certainly had other interests than tourism to keep it going. Having said that, the old town, which was built in a circle around the old Cathedral, was very interesting and had several squares which were full of outdoor cafés.

One of the many squares with outdoor cafes

Our last stop was the smallest but Tourrettes sur Loup still kept its medieval title of city. It’s positioned on the top of a mountain and has been a defensive fortress for 30 centuries for the Celts, Romans, Barbarians and finally the French in 1387.

Toureletes-sur-loup with surrounding countryside

Geoff taking it to the street

The buildings were built almost on top of each other.

Monaco with Eze on the Side

Rita reading on the balcony waiting for Geoff to get ready

Another hot and sunny day (24c) on the French Riviera (The Brit visitors named it this but the French call the area La Cote d’Azure). Headed for Monaco. It’s actually four distinct areas: Monaco-Ville, Monte Carlo, La Condamine and Fontvieille. Monaco-Ville is the old section and has all the major sights except for the Casino which is in Monte Carlo. La Condamine is the Port area and Fontvieille is a reclaimed area from the sea that was developed in the 1970’s and has mostly apartments, restaurants and a yacht harbor. This place is very crowded, even in the middle of October. We tried all the public parking areas and they were full. We finally found a space in Fontvieille. This ended up being a good thing as it was right next to a park and public toilets which we both rushed to use!! We definitely burnt off the calories as we walked for over 4 hours discovering the delights of this very unique place. What was really amazing is that we had our cheapest cappuccinos in Monaco (1.50 Euros each).

Fontvieille Yacht Harbour from Old Town

Entrance to Old Town Monaco-Ville from Palace Square

Reflection of Casino in Monte Carlo captured inside large reflecting mirror.

On the way back to Antibes we decided to take a detour and visited a small village hanging onto the side of a mountain called Eze-le-Village which we had read about in book that Chris Jones loaned us. These days its total reason for being is tourism, but was once the winter base for the Swedish Royal Family from 1923 – 1953. Today, there Chateau is a high end hotel and the outdoor tearoom terrace offers the most spectacular views. This was where we had our most expensive coffee (6Euros each or $9.00) but worth every penny.

Eze-la-Village Old Town
One of the Medieval Buildings in Eze-la-Village

Geoff and Rita on the terrace of the Teroom at Chateau Eze

View of Chateau Eze and its Tearoom Terrace

Antibes

Rita on the seawall in front of the Antibes Old City Wall and the Old Town in the background

Our location is excellent as it’s on the edge of the old town and so we can easily explore all the historic areas within minutes from our door. We are also just across from the seawall which runs along the coast for miles. Rita and I took off for a 2 ½ hour walk along the seawall to explore the area. We made a side trip up to the lighthouse with its great views and then back down to the water following the trail along the rocky coast below exclusive mansions the locals call the “Bay of Millionaires”
We are very happy with Antibes as it is located between Cannes and Nice, but it’s not as big or as expensive. It’s also feels more relaxed and laid back than either of the other two cities. However, it does boast the biggest yacht harbor and has a special section to handle the “Super Yachts”. Tomorrow we will visit Monaco.

Geoff on Cap d’Antibes hiking trail

Rita relaxing on the rocks on the Cap d'Antibes Trail

"Super Yacht" section at Antibes Yacht Harbor. We have absolutely no concept of the money some people have.