Italy

Last weekend, we opted to not take the 10 hour bus ride to Paris and rented a car to travel east along the coast instead. The first stop was Monaco (maybe a 30 minute drive from Nice), a very beautiful place that I would only return to if I had some money in my pocket that I needed to get rid of. We stopped near the water where people dock their yachts and we visited the holiday fair that was taking place. We ate a Nutella crepe and some fries and took a ride on the Ferris wheel.

Since we didn't have the funds or connections to rent a yacht for the day :) we decided to continue on to Italy. We realized we were hanging out in the "ghetto" neighborhood as we were leaving and the appearance of women in furs increased. Davis stopped on the coast in Ventimiglia and asked the locals where we should go. They recommended two villages: Dulce Acqua and Apricale.

Apricale is an ancient village that consumes an entire hillside. You have to park outside of the village and climb hundreds of cobble stone steps to get to the highest point.

It was eerily quiet and cats were everywhere (Frenchies and Italians LOVE kitties). Residents also had these strange cat gates on their front doors. We stopped to have a drink in one of the bars and there was a picture of a cat on the wall.

The wine was delicious and cheap. Davis, of course, was speaking butchered bits of Italian in no time. We were going to eat in the village's Michelin rated restaurant but decided we were not hungry enough to enjoy it. Apricale is one of the most charming places I have ever visited. We want to take Bieke, John, and Leonard here when they visit.

We drove further into another village that I don't remember the name of. The roads were one lane, super dangerous, and scary. The town was so small but we managed to find a little cheese shop owned by a nice woman (the cheese maker). She sold us half of a huge block of delicious cheese for only 10 euros. There was also a little restaurant that the locals spoke fondly of. Healdsburg fam: this woman was Italy's Gia Passalacqua. Too funny. We didn't eat here either because we still weren't hungry. We stopped at a store to buy some Italian pasta and then headed back towards Nice.

We stopped in Dulce Aqcua to have some (very bad) Italian food. So far Italian food here is nothing compared to the Italian food at Scopa or Diavola in Cali.