Road Trip To Italy From Spain

Time to pack up Gretchen (our van) and head to Italy. ROAD TRIP!!

We said our goodbyes to Spain in Figueres as mentioned in a previous post and made our way to our new temporary home in Lucca, Italy. We stopped for a couple of nights in Nice, France. We thought we would have more energy for this part of the trip, but we took the day in a our lovely hotel Le Saint Paul and rested. I thought this hotel was perfect with our sea view from our room, and the staff were very friendly.

We did have a little fuel in the reserves and took time for a stroll by the harbor. We had a tasty lunch at the Club Nautique. The food was very good and view of the sea even better. We could see a sailing school with their small boats take a group of kids out for a lesson. It was so cute to see them all in a row and we could hear them laughing as they headed to deeper waters.

Traveling through Monaco the next day was such a treat. I needed a stiff drink after the drive through the city and I was not the one driving. The streets were narrow and twisting. People there must think crosswalks are for the weak and we were dodging people, cars, motorbikes, and police officers. Brad did an amazing job and we only got turned around a couple of times.

We took our time in the Musée océanographique de Monaco. The museum is in a beautiful building on a side of a cliff with incredible views from each floor. It had an aquarium, museum, and displays that were exquisitely put together. I enjoyed how they used the architecture and design of the building to invite the participant to explore each floor.

We enjoyed our short afternoon in Monaco. I can see why this is a major destination for people around the world.

Our next stop was in a little village in Valle di Vado, Liguria, Italy. We stayed in a sweet little home that we shared with the host. Donatella and her husband Michele have a very small place but we felt so at home with a nice fire, an amazing dinner, and very chill cat. Michele is a professional chef and I think we had our best meal there. I felt like we had an authentic stay with a very kind host.