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Menton, which was once the wealth of Monaco - because of its lemon exports, decided to secede & became part of Sardinia apparently. (Deprived of it's main source of income Charles the first of the house of Grimaldi decided to introduce gambling to all but the Monagasque citizens - a rule still in place today - smart guy! Monaco is $100 richer from Libby!) It came back to France at some point & it's lemon industry is still thriving - the limoncello is divine - as are the tea towels, t shirts, essence, dolls, placemats, all sorts of body products etc etc. It has a lovely 'Vieux Ville'- old town, as do all the towns & a really good vibe with a long beach promenade & rocky beaches. Di & Brian decided to meet Libby & Marty after their swim & thought they'd sit in the little bar called 'Biblioteque" overlooking the beach - imagine Brian's deep disappointment to find it was a pop up library, bookshop & reading space with comfy chairs & shady areas & NO beer! There were some great sculptures around the beach made from various materials including old nuts & bolts & car parts which drew much chin stroking & discussion from the welding group (Slags - Glenn Brian & Marty)
The next day The Hills Angels reformed (Brian, Di, Marty & Libby) hiring 50cc scooters & heading up the serious mountains (compared to Ferguson) - we were never in danger of exceeding the speed limit & were even overtaken by bicycles coming down hil!. We went to St Agnes one of the 'Plus Beaux Villages de France' a designation given to several of the small picturesque villages for their quality heritage value. As we wound our way up the narrow twisting road, often under the soaring infrastructure of the motorway, catching our right calves in blackberrys as we tried to give the cars lots of room, we could see St Agnes perched just under a treeless rocky outcrop almost at the top of a rugged mountain. All higgeldy roofs, steep walls & a church spire clinging together for protection from the invading hordes. Nowdays its the tourists. Actually we were pretty scary, we sounded like overpitched mosquitoes verging on heart failure as our valiant little scooters struggled up the switchbacks at full throttle! It was very cool & quiet with steep, stepped, stone laneways & vaulted passages, window boxes & shutters. We ate lunch looking down a terraced gorge to Cap Martin. Poor Brian was horrified when offered a platter of raw dead fish, octopus, prawns & squid!
Our next stop was Gorbio, an even more beautiful hilltop town, slowly being restored with some render & murals & a wonderful art space exhibiting colourful paintings & sculptures. It had a rooftop terrace looking down to Menton & the sea over a mosaic church steeple & the classic terracotta tiled roofs.
Meanwhile back at the boat, our crew were cleaning, shopping (3 trips to the supermarket - 2 for beer, wine, elusive dry ginger ale & water) & cooking, so glad we have them so well trained!! Trish & Paul did go to St Michele's Basilica which they were overawed by as one of the best they've seen. (I'm think they were very blessed having done all that work!)
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