Today started out great, with a blue sky and a blazing sun - perfect weather for a walk. We opted on a walk near the Italian border, starting from the picturesque village of Castellar, located just a stone’s throw away from Menton.
The walk started from a parking next to the strangely named “Voie de La First Special Service Force” (I’m guessing that’s the military unit which liberated Castellar during World War 2?), climb steadily up towards the Plan du Lion. Much to our surprise, parts of the footpath were actually covered by ice and snow! Once up on the plateau, we sat down for a well-deserved lunch (these walks seem to be more difficult than they used to be – must be old age or something?), basking in the sun and enjoying the fabulous views over Menton and Castellar (we could even see the snow-tipped peaks of Mercantour in the distance).
From there we carried on up to our destination – Mont Carpano, at the lofty height of 773 meters. Once there, we had the opportunity to take in both the Italian and French Riviera, and mountains – Mont Carpano is actually situated on the border between France and Italy. The views were once more magnificent. From there on we had an easy walk back down to the village. We spent a good half an hour exploring the village – a typically picturesque little place.
Then we jumped back into the car and headed back home, to fresh up for the evenings activities – the Nice Carnival! Once ready, we jumped on the train, and headed down for our dinner rendez-vous with the Finnish lot at Hippopotamus (Sami was there with Pete and little Jasmine). We were somewhat dubious about the choice of restaurant, but in the end I was quite happy with my steak – not bad at all... We were actually lucky to even get a table – the place was absolutely packed (in fact Hannu and his family had to dine elsewhere...).
Our stomachs filled, we then headed up to Sami’s Famous Penthouse suite – for what was to sadly be our last visit (as Sami was heading back to not-so-sunny Oulu a couple of days later). From there were had a great view over the Carnival action, taking place on Place Massena. Hannu and his clan joined up for the champagne aperitif.
After a while at the flat, the kids got impatient, so we went out to Place Massena to check out the action from close range. We really had a great time – this kind of thing always brings out the little child in me (or something like that...). The highlight was, once again, the fearsome dragon we already saw last year... We then continued the festivities at Sami’s place – until it was time to catch the last train home. The farewells to Sami were tearful indeed...
Days on the Cote d’Azur really don’t get much better than this!
The walk started from a parking next to the strangely named “Voie de La First Special Service Force” (I’m guessing that’s the military unit which liberated Castellar during World War 2?), climb steadily up towards the Plan du Lion. Much to our surprise, parts of the footpath were actually covered by ice and snow! Once up on the plateau, we sat down for a well-deserved lunch (these walks seem to be more difficult than they used to be – must be old age or something?), basking in the sun and enjoying the fabulous views over Menton and Castellar (we could even see the snow-tipped peaks of Mercantour in the distance).
From there we carried on up to our destination – Mont Carpano, at the lofty height of 773 meters. Once there, we had the opportunity to take in both the Italian and French Riviera, and mountains – Mont Carpano is actually situated on the border between France and Italy. The views were once more magnificent. From there on we had an easy walk back down to the village. We spent a good half an hour exploring the village – a typically picturesque little place.
Then we jumped back into the car and headed back home, to fresh up for the evenings activities – the Nice Carnival! Once ready, we jumped on the train, and headed down for our dinner rendez-vous with the Finnish lot at Hippopotamus (Sami was there with Pete and little Jasmine). We were somewhat dubious about the choice of restaurant, but in the end I was quite happy with my steak – not bad at all... We were actually lucky to even get a table – the place was absolutely packed (in fact Hannu and his family had to dine elsewhere...).
Our stomachs filled, we then headed up to Sami’s Famous Penthouse suite – for what was to sadly be our last visit (as Sami was heading back to not-so-sunny Oulu a couple of days later). From there were had a great view over the Carnival action, taking place on Place Massena. Hannu and his clan joined up for the champagne aperitif.
After a while at the flat, the kids got impatient, so we went out to Place Massena to check out the action from close range. We really had a great time – this kind of thing always brings out the little child in me (or something like that...). The highlight was, once again, the fearsome dragon we already saw last year... We then continued the festivities at Sami’s place – until it was time to catch the last train home. The farewells to Sami were tearful indeed...
Days on the Cote d’Azur really don’t get much better than this!
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