Day 235 (Sunday)

As predicted by the weather forecast we woke up to a gloriously warm sunny day and had breakfast on the terrace wearing t-shirts. We had planned to do a 5km walk today from Menton to Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and it was difficult to know what to wear as it was so warm yet we know that as soon as the sun goes behind the mountain the temperature really drops. Huw settled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt putting his hoodie in the bag and I decided on knee-length leggings, a pretty summer top and espadrilles, putting long leggings, a cardigan and socks in the bag. It was so exciting to set out for the day not wearing socks in January! We caught the bus to Menton, which took about 45 minutes and when we were driving through Monaco I worked out that it was 35 years ago that I first set foot in there – how old am I? When I was in my early 20s I camped in a camping ground on a hill outside Menton and I was bit disappointed that I didn’t recognise anything.  We headed down to the beach and it was great to see so many people out and about and sitting in beach cafes.

  

There were a lot of people sunbathing in their cozzies while other people were walking along the promenade in their winter woollies. This one family made us laugh, they had stripped down to their cozzies and were using a parasol – really? It’s warm but it’s not hot.

By the way parasol is a French word for an object to keep the sun off while parapluie is an object that is used to keep the rain off.

We walked the length of Menton’s beachfront to Roquebrune- Cap-Martin and then found the coastal path (le sentier littoral).

Day 235 Menton beach view

It was quite fascinating to see this really bent tree being supported; I love the way they really care about their trees and plants etc. and how much they really look after their coastal paths.

 

And this has to be the biggest rubber plant in the world!

The coastal path was as lovely as ever but it wasn’t quite as stunning as the one around Cap Ferrat or the one from Villefranche to Nice but it was gorgeous nevertheless.

I loved these winter colours

As we reached the end of Cap-Martin revolting Monaco came into view.

Whoever thought it was a good idea to build so many repulsive high-rise buildings in such an amazing location?

I have no idea what this building is or was but what a spot.

 

There was quite a lot of climbing up and going down but it wasn’t too tough, that was until we came to this little nightmare.

It wasn’t obvious what it was until we were on it…

It was a footbridge suspended from a vertical rock wall and Huw named it the wall of death. There were lots of people on it and we had a particularly slow Italian family in front of us. I can’t remember feeling so uncomfortable in a very long time. The bolts holding that footbridge looked as small as the bolts you’d attach a bookshelf to the wall. I’m sure it was totally safe but I hated it and I vowed that I would never walk over it again, two minutes later we had to walk over another one with the same Italian family in front of us!

 

As we approached Roquebrune beach we watched all the hang gliders sweep across the bay to land on the beach.

 

We were hoping to find a café in the sun where we could have a well-earned beer but alas this was not to be, everything was shut for the winter. Again, how can they call in winter when the sky is this colour?

We went and sat in the sun sans beer for half an hour or so and it was wonderful.

Two ladies arrived in their running kit and we were gobsmacked when they started stripping down to bikinis and actually went for a swim. It’s lovely and warm but swim? Madness!

It was quite a trek from the beach up to the train station and when we got there we were very surprised to see eight armed police standing on the platform. We can only assume that they are there to look for illegal immigrants trying to get into France from the nearby Italian border.

  

We caught the train to Beaulieu as Huw wanted to avoid the walk from Villefranche station home so we got off at Beaulieu and caught the bus from there. As we approached Villefranche we were amazed to get stuck in a traffic jam.

We saw a few traffic jams in the summer but why on earth was there one on a Sunday afternoon in January?

As the bus went past La Regence Kevin and Angie waved at us from inside the bar. I seemed rude not to pop in to say hello so we did just that. We had two small beers and caught up on the local news and I got this great photo of another 2CV for my poster.