Genoa to Nice

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Monday 26th October
We were awake early this morning so our bodies clearly will take a day or two to adjust to the end of daylight saving that came upon yesterday as of yesterday.We had told our hosts that we would be down for breakfast at 8.30am but we were really ready for it an hour beforehand so we had to fill in a bit of time.
We decided to take the SP1 along the coast rather than bother about the motorway which bypasses all the seaside towns that seem to run into each other along the coast.Genoa took a bit of time to clear as the road initially ran close to the commercial area of town and then past the port.
An interesting sight that we had not noticed before in Italy was that outside many of the pharmacies were machines dispensing Durex condoms.We guess that if the pharmacy is closed you can still get your protection!!
As we cleared Genoa and there were less buildings blocking our view to the sea we could see that the European yellow haze was back again on the horizon.This was not so evident in places like Cinque Terre but with more industry going on around the larger cities we guess it was inevitable to see it come back.
Again the rail line ran between the SP1 and the sea making our view out to sea obstructed until the rail switched to the other side of the road and our impression of the seaside moved up a notch.
We made steady but slow progress through the seaside towns and after the city of Savona,where the Italian Riviera is reputed to start, the buildings and apartments close to the seafront became a bit flashier and more expensive looking.There were some scenic lookouts at Spotorno on either side of the bay in which the town sits and we took a break to admire the view.
We reached Loano a bit after midday and noticed a bakery as we drove through the centre of town so stopped in to buy our lunch with the idea of stopping at the beach and enjoy the sunshine.
We have been so used to feeding parking meters in Europe that I didn’t even bother to check that I didn’t have to feed the meter between 12.30pm and 2.30pm until it was too late and the €0.50 had been gobbled up!!I should have realised that everything(well almost)closes down at or soon after 12.30pm for the Italian siesta and so the parking is free for those not in their beds or whatever the Itialians do during this time.
The beach wasn’t too bad and we guess that it would be a popular place in summer but this afternoon there was just us and a couple of locals getting some sun.
Siesta time means that we could make faster progress as the traffic volume falls right off.Near Cervo there was another chance to take in the beach and coastal scenery from lookouts on both sides of the town as the road climbed around headlands.
Although we didn’t have that far to go to our destination we decided to join the A10 motorway at Imperia as we still had to negotiate our way to our hotel after passing through the large city of Nice and we need to remember that it now gets dark at 5.45pm and we prefer to find our hotel in the light.
After having been driving the coast road for most of the time down at sea level we had to wind our way up the hillside to reach the toll road that has been constructed well up the hills to be well away from the houses and population
We have spent most of our drive on the western coast of Italy from Rome on the SP1 and in fact our journey from that city totals over 700km.
The Italians are certainly great road builders when they want to be,even though they don’t maintain their lesser roads that well,and this motorway just carries on at the same level with tunnels taking care of any hillsides and towering viaduct bridges the valleys/ ravines that are in the way.We guess that the building of a tunnel or a viaduct bridge means that the road probably gets built a lot faster than trying to build the road around a cliff face or dropping it down and back up the other side of a ravine/valley.
It was a completely seamless crossing into France although we did have to pay our toll for the distance we had travelled up to the border. It wasn’t long and we were passing the turn off to Monaco,a place we will go and visit for the day while we are staying near Nice.
We were aiming to find the D6098 which runs alongside the Nice/Cote d’Azur airport as this would give us access to the road up to the settlement of Le Gaude where our hotel is located.
We had a little bit of drama at the toll booth as we exited the motorway where there was just a basket to collect the toll fee.We had the right money,€2,but the coin stuck to her moist hand as she tossed the coin towards the basket,it missed!!Luckily for the BBA the coin fell to the ground without rolling under RR and she quickly got out,recovered the coin and tossed it into the basket and we were on our way.Not sure what the cars behind us thought but no one tooted.Perhaps the locals have seen this sort of act happen often.
The toll road had taken us around the back of Nice and we came off it following the signs to the airport expecting the D6098 to come into our sights.However all we came upon was a spaghetti junction and after doing a circuit of a roundabout and not finding the directional signs we hoped for Gretchen decided it would be best if we went to the airport to gather our thoughts and see if we could get some instructions from the information desk to help us out.
€2.40 later for the car park space and information from a very helpful French woman at the info point in the airport and we were on our way.This time it all fell into place and a sign for Le Guade was right in front of us.
There is a noticeable roadside difference between Italy and France and that is the French are a lot more careful in disposing of their litter and this is more obvious on hillside roads like the one we drove up to the hotel.
The hotel is located about 9km up on the hills on the southern side of Nice.It is a 3 star establishment and has a small kitchenette so apart from our toaster we have all we need to make our dinners and breakfasts for the next 3 days.

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