Italian Out-Takes

And so we descended eventually into Ventimiglia, turned right, got lost among the routes barrieres and deviations, but finally found our way to familiar Menton, and then to the peage, and on past Nice to Antibes and our campsite for the next few days. A week or more later, I'm still saying buongiorno instead of bonjour, and grazie instead of merci.

Why Starbucks will not make it in Italy: even at the McD's in Rome you can get
a cappuccino and hot chocolate and 2 pastries for under 5E

Italian waste sorting has gotten quite complex

Click to enlarge and you will see that this is the shuttered Gluteno Market,
founded perhaps just a bit after glutens were pronounced unfit...words matter

Also perhaps not destined for a long shelf-life

One of the realities of longer-term travel is that eventually
you need to wash, and to choose which lavandaria, and to
document...

Well, it's better than simply leaving your baby in the
dumpster, as in the USA

Sic transit, Gloria

"Better a lion for one day than a sheep for 100 days"--Mussolini; at a stand at
the market at Arezzo

More my sentiment

Much to our disappointment, this turned out to be a Moonie parade; they've
really upgraded their act

Edible Last Supper?

For you, Tawana

Still processing this one...maybe as intended?

Street scene in Florence

Door handle to a laundry

Can't remember why I took this, but the image and colors still appeal

Still processing this one too

Why the Gluteno Market failed

Someone important once lived here, but we couldn't decipher...an instance of
the KISS principle

At the cafe at the Arena Chapel in Padua..."a coffee," 3 euros; "a coffee, please,"
2 euros, "good morning, may I have a coffee, please," 1,10 euro

Lago Maggiore garbage scow

Vernante, The Murals

As we walked the town, it became apparent that this was a town of murals...more than 150 of them...all depicting scenes from Italy's favorite children's book, Pinocchio. The original illustrator of the book, Attilio Mussino, lived the last years of his life in Vernante, and two locals, Bruno Carlet and Meo Cavallera, have adorned the town with murals depicting scenes from the books. We're not huge Pinocchio fans, but illustrators rarely get such attention, and it was fun to track them down and get a few pix. There is also a Pinocchio museum and several sculptures around town.

Outside the TI, which was closed, as was everything else, for May Day

"Funtana"

On the elementary school building

Vernante, The Town

I can never get enough of Italy. But then I can never get enough of France. (Or Spain, or Portugal...). There was still much more of Italy to see, but then we have an engagement, a rendezvous, in France, and needed to move on. We drove up near the top of Lago Maggiore and then crossed over and dropped down by Lago Orta and drove its length, south, stopping for May Day parades in a couple towns. Some years ago we did a couple days and a hike in the Maritime Alps and had learned of an easy, if obscure pass that takes you from the Italian Maritimes down to France, then back into Italy and the beginning of its Riviera, but eventually to Menton and the Cote d'Azur. So after Orta we drove across the great plain, the white Alps always in view on our right, past Torino, past Cuneo, and up toward the Col de Tende and the way to France. After a day of driving, a large parcheggio  in Vernante, right on the river, beckoned, and we stopped there, in the company of some other campers, with enough daylight left to explore the little town.

Nice setting; the Alps still way too cold and snowy for us to consider; quel dommage

Walking en route to a sporting goods outlet at
the far end of town...a green man  reminiscent of
ours...

Pelerin showing leg

And back the main old street, past a bar displaying the old
practice of keeping your prized liquor  under lock and key

Old fortress ruins above, Tourusela, 13th century, guarding the pass

Interesting town church

With a really nice model

Great grandma playing kick ball with great grand-daughter

Street scene

Next morning we were off to the pass, stopping for a junque/collectible store
we had remembered from the previous crossing; it was much nicer then (see
http://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2013/10/across-mountains-and-back-again.html)

Sadly, now, it was just junk

The Col de Tende pass nowadays is a 3km tunnel, one of two in this part of the
world, that is, connecting Italy and France; this one is one-way, with a
circulation alternee', and not so nicely furnished as the Mont Blanc tunnel; but
it works, and there is little traffic