Summer 2005: I wanted to go to India, but at that time I only had 2 weeks of holiday so I had to divert to a place easily reachable by car, also because, as usual, until the last second I didn't know what to do, where to go and this time even who to go with.... Bello and Ivano went to Sardinia-Corsica to join Puddu, Ravenna and another 10 people, and I really had no desire to join a big group. Fortunately at that time I was in touch with a dear friend of mine from Rome, also without ideas, so we agreed to spend a few days together. We met on the evening of Saturday 6 August at the station in Genoa. She arrived by train and I by car. Destination: the French Riviera.
Day 113 Aug 2005
SAVINES LE LAC
This is the day when "my" princess and I said goodbye to each other. She took a train early in the morning from Barcelonnette (a place in the French Alps). We reached this place after a nice little trip. At first we went to St. Raphael, then passed through St. Tropez (where we lasted less than an hour), Le Lavandou and Hyeres, and then arrived in the wonderful Camargue. We visited beautiful Arles with its amphitheater and its arena, where we also spent the night at the Auberge de Jeunesse on Avenue Foch.
The following day, after visiting Van Gogh's bridge, we first crossed the whole marshland on the western side, reaching Saintes Maries de la Mer, and then on the eastern side following the Rhone, passing Salin de Giraud, where after going through real mountains of salt we found ourselves on a wonderful beach!!! Stunning!!! I can't find words to describe it!! We spent the entire day here, where we camped along with other "gypsies." Away from the Camargue, after a brief visit to Nimes, we went to Avignon, the historic city of the popes. A beautiful city surrounded by walls... it resembles our Lucca a little. After leaving Avignon we headed toward the French Alps, with one last night spent at the Auberge de Jeunesse in Savines le Lac, the place where my career as a climber began.
Amphitheatre of Arles
Day 214 Aug 2005
NIZZA
I spent Saturday, August 13, in the company of a Spaniard passionate about the mountains whom I met at the hostel in Savines le Lac. With him I reached the summit of a mountain and spent the night camping in the Parc National de Mecantour (a beautiful experience, but how cold I suffered!!!!). After leaving my new friend I headed toward Nice, where my cousin Alberto was waiting for me, since he had joined me because he didn't know how to spend Ferragosto.
Nimes
Day 318 Aug 2005
CUNEO
This is the day when in the morning I left my cousin at the station in Cuneo.....With him, after a nice Ferragosto spent in Nice, where we stayed in a very shabby hotel in the Algerian quarter, and after a day spent around Barcelonnette, I found myself in Cuneo, where we settled into the only campsite in the city. Cuneo is really a cheerful city.... we felt good there... there are even some beautiful girls...
Beach in Nice on Ferragosto (mid-August)
Day 421 Aug 2005
AOSTA
I woke up on the morning of this Sunday while I was sleeping alone in my Polo in the parking lot of a shopping center in Aosta. On Thursday morning, after saying goodbye to my cousin at the railway station in Cuneo, I headed toward Pinerolo and then took the road leading to Sestriere. This well-known mountain resort was devastated by ongoing construction work. The preparations for the Turin Winter Olympics have degraded the entire area... I continued on, crossing the border again through the Moncenisio pass, stopping at the Lac du Moncenis of the same name, and then ending up in Lanslebourg. Here, after about an hour, I managed to find the hostel where I settled in and where I met, besides one real lunatic and some families, the Italian lookalike of Bin Laden (a Milanese goldsmith who was in these mountains to ride the famous Tour de France passes by bicycle).
I spent the next two days with him. The first day we were on the highest pass in Europe (Col de l'Iseran), climbing the mountain of the same name, and then in the evening we settled in at the hostel in Bourg St. Maurice, where while we were having dinner we were the center of everyone's attention. We met 2 nice girls from Paris with whom we stayed up until late at night.. The following morning we went to the nearby Adventure Park with the 2 French girls and with other people from the hostel who followed us. In the afternoon I said goodbye to everyone to return to Italy, and to my surprise Marco (the Bin Laden lookalike) followed me. So we crossed the San Bernardino pass with our 2 cars, and after a stop in Morgex, where he took a bed at the hostel, we headed toward Aosta, and in the evening, after watching Inter triumph over Juve in the Italian Super Cup, we partied in a club...
Among all the places I have mentioned in this little trip of mine....I recommend to anyone who has never been there to visit, always within the limits of time and possibilities, the beach after Salin de Giraud in the Camargue!!
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