One of the biggest advantages of being in Europe is, well,
that it is so close to the rest of Europe! Just a couple of hours after take
off from a cool Gatwick we disembarked in a hot Nice on the sunny Med coast. We
met up with Richard and Jane, NZ friends of our new host Sue. Coincidentally
they were travelling on the same flight as us to meet up with Sue before going
on a European road-trip with her (while we mind the shop). As we hadn’t met
before we were lucky they spotted the “Kathmandu” labels on our luggage and
recognized fellow kiwis abroad.
Travelling by train along the coast of France is very
interesting. The trains are mainly double-decker ones, but as we had big bags
to lug around, we stayed below. Relatively cheap (compare to England!) and very
smooth, they would have been an ideal way to travel along this coast if it
weren’t for the fact much of the trip was through tunnels! The coast is so
mountainous that one moment you’re beside the sea in a town looking at the
expensive contents of the local marina, and looking ahead at the wonderful
buildings coming up and then you’ve passed it all in darkness. Monaco? Well,
that was an uninteresting underground station! San Remo – ditto.
After the grey north everything changes down here. The buildings
are now red and yellow with the big clay tiles. Colourful flowers and trees
everywhere. Lots of graffiti around Nice. Small cars only, interestingly mainly
French and Japanese, even in Italy.
We were met at Taggia-Arma station by Sue who first transported
Richard and Jane up to her house in her little red Micra, then us. To describe
where we’ve found ourselves would be first to say that Taggia-Arma
is a relatively modern beach-resort town. Behind it are steep hills with the old part of town (Taggia) up the valley. The hills are heavily wooded with lots of terraces growing olives, flowers, and fruit and veges. Sue’s place is several kilometres up a goat track. I’d like to call it a road and it does start out as a windy, sealed single-track, but deteriorates to gravel and rock, a ford, and is so narrow the Micra touches bushes on both sides at once. And that is when it isn’t a sheer drop off one side! At one point a bend requires a three-point turn to negotiate, followed by backing back into the corner to get a run up and flooring it as it is so steep. There are so many twists and turns and other tracks heading off we have no idea how we will find our way home once we have to start walking it alone. I’m hoping to get a GPS reading on my phone so we can navigate via Google Maps.
is a relatively modern beach-resort town. Behind it are steep hills with the old part of town (Taggia) up the valley. The hills are heavily wooded with lots of terraces growing olives, flowers, and fruit and veges. Sue’s place is several kilometres up a goat track. I’d like to call it a road and it does start out as a windy, sealed single-track, but deteriorates to gravel and rock, a ford, and is so narrow the Micra touches bushes on both sides at once. And that is when it isn’t a sheer drop off one side! At one point a bend requires a three-point turn to negotiate, followed by backing back into the corner to get a run up and flooring it as it is so steep. There are so many twists and turns and other tracks heading off we have no idea how we will find our way home once we have to start walking it alone. I’m hoping to get a GPS reading on my phone so we can navigate via Google Maps.
Sue’s place is at the end of the track, though there are
several other properties nearby. Only a few are lived in, for most the owners
just come up during the day to farm. Sue’s property is a series of terraces
help up by large stone walls. It contains numerous olive trees and other
fruiting trees along with a good garden. The buildings are all stone, built in
1878 but refurbished on 2005 and modern inside. And there is a lovely modern
swimming pool too.
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