The Cabes in ITALY!

Since we had a long holiday weekend last week, we headed to Italy with the Pages. Wednesday night we drove 6 1/2 hours to Genoa, Italy. Originally the plan was to go to the aquarium in Genoa Thursday morning, then drive the extra hour to our resort in Bonassola, Italy. However, earlier in the week, I received an email from the resort letting us know the road would be closed from 12:00-6:00pm. Matthew and I decided to skip the aquarium and get to the resort before the road closed and spend the day at the beach instead. We drove for an hour through tunnels and on these crazy, twisty, basically 1-lane roads. About a 1/2 mile from the resort (at about 11:00am) we were stopped by a police officer and told (in Italian) the road was already closed. He told/gestured for us to turn around and drive back on the crazy, twisty, 1-lane road. I was scrambling on the GPS trying to figure out where we could go for the next 6 hours until the road opened back up. The road was closed because of the Italian equivalent to the Tour de France. We drove down to the next little town, Levanto, which was packed because it was the only town that didn't have road blocks leading into the town. After driving around for about 20 minutes trying to find a parking spot, we walked into the town to find a place to eat. The main street was blocked off for the race and we noticed a woman wearing shorts that looked like a Texas flag, so we walked over and saw that her son had written with chalk on the road "Ciao Lance!". Lance?!? Yes, Lance Armstrong was in the race. That day was a time trial, but still, it was Lance Armstrong! So we quickly grabbed a sandwich at a cafe and situated ourselves near the finish line ready to grab a picture of Lance. I took a few pictures of some of the riders until another American couple stopped beside us with a time sheet. They told us Lance had started 16th from the back and it would be several hours until he road by! Matthew and I decided to head down to the beach. For 10 euros we rented beach chairs and decided to spend the afternoon on the Mediterranean. The road finally did open and we got to the resort about 6pm. We met up with the Pages for dinner at the resort's restaurant, and after the kids went to bed we hung out on the Page's balcony drinking wine and playing cards.

After all of the time spent in the car Wednesday and Thursday, we decided to stay at the resort and hang out on the beach Friday with the Pages. The resort's beach is a private beach with big boulders creating a cove-like feel. Unfortunately the stretch of Mediterranean we were staying on is not known for sandy beaches. Instead the beaches have more of a pebbly/rocky terrain. On the one hand, you don't get all sandy, on the other hand, when you walk instead of sand getting between your foot and flip-flop, you get little rocks. Ouch! The water is crystal clear, and the most gorgeous shade of blue I have ever seen...and it was freezing! The freezing water didn't stop the kids though! Josh didn't even hesitate before running straight into the surf! For lunch we drove back into Levanto with the Pages for real Italian pizza. Matthew and I spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. We made ourselves go swimming, even though it took a lot of will power to get all the way in.

For dinner, we headed into Levanto once again. There was a fresh air market being held in the middle of the town. Vendors were selling everything from locally made olive oil to Italian leather wallets and belts. We ate at an amazing restaurant. Matthew and Freddie splurged and ordered the lobster, which our waiter fished out of the tank and brought to our table for their approval. The first course pastas were excellent, and the fish in the second course was fresh and delicious! After dinner Matthew and I found a gelaterie. Italian gelato, YUM-O!

Saturday, Matthew and I wanted to explore the Cinque Terre, which is just south of Bonassola. The Cinque Terre is a group of 5 villages along the Mediterranean. The area has been declared "a patrimony of Mankind by UNESCO". The villages are inaccessible by car. The only way to get from village to village is by train, boat, or by walking the trails that connect all of the villages. I had read lots of reviews on the various trails. Frommer's Italy 2008 says, "some are relatively easy, but others require the endurance of an Olympic athlete." When planning our day of exploring the 5 villages, I decided we would hike from the first village, Monterosso, to the second village, Vernazza (even though that particular trail was described in Frommer's as a "strenuous 2-hour climb on a narrow trail that's not at all well maintained"). Surely they are just exaggerating, right? WRONG! After just a few minutes of an easy incline, the trail started going straight up-hill. There were rocky stairs carved out of the mountain. The trail was very crowded and I felt like we were playing the hiking version of Leap Frog. Someone would stop (when there was actually room to move over enough to stop), and we would pass, then we (ok, ok, I) would have to stop, and they would pass us. When hikers came from the opposite direction we would have to lay ourselves as flat as possible against the cliff, while the people carefully slid past. There was nothing to keep you from tumbling off the path and down the rocky cliff that went down to the ocean. At some points, the trail was so narrow Matthew's feet barely fit. At one point, his foot did slip off the the side of the trail and their was a line of gasps from me and all of the hikers behind us that saw it!

Taking a break before the next up-hill climb. If you look past Matthew (up and to the right) you can see hikers ahead of us on the trail.

Looking back at where we started...waaayyyyy back where the blue umbrellas are on the beach. And we aren't even half way through the hike at this point!!!!

About half-way through the hike, looking at our destination, the village of Vernazza (the little cluster of houses just past that first ridge).

Luckily, the second half of the hike was mostly downhill. As we approached Vernazza, the views were breathtaking. Although you could only take your eyes off the trail for a second (remember there wasn't much room for a mis-step). We arrived in Vernazza and sought out a place to eat lunch. After eating, we walked through the village for about 25 minutes, then headed back to the dock area to catch a charter boat. The boat took us along the coast past the next two villages of Corniglia and Manarola. The boat stopped at the last village of Riomaggiore. This was my favorite village because of all of the colorful boats everywhere. From Riomaggiore we decided to take the trail back up to Manarola. Unlike our first hike, this was a very gentle, paved trail. After exploring Manarola, we got on the train and headed back to Levanto where we had parked our car.

If you are heading to Italy anytime soon, the Cinque Terre is definitely worth a side trip! Watch out for the busy seasons though, because even in May, there were a lot of tourists!

The Month of May

In addition to the weather warming up and beautiful flowers blooming everywhere, living in France during the month of May has a lot of advantages. The #1 advantage? Holidays! The month of May has a lot of French holidays, which equals days off of work for Matthew and me! May 1st was the French version of Labor Day and May 8th was World War II Victory Day. May 21 is Ascension Day, but since it falls on a Thursday, the french "Faire le Pont" (make the bridge) and take off Friday as well. It is not even an option to work on these holidays, Michelin tells the employees they are not allowed to work.

On Friday May 1st, we had the Pages over for an early Cinqo de Mayo dinner. Saturday, Jen, Sophia, and I headed to Ikea. After Ikea we went to an Emile Henry outlet store that another expat told us about. Emile Henry is a french brand of ceramic cookware. In the US it is only sold in a few stores, such as Williams Sonoma and Crate and Barrel. In the US, Emile Henry products can be very expensive, but we were told the outlet prices were excellent. I bought a big, dutch oven, type pot that can be used on the stove or in the oven. As I am typing, I have the french classic "coq au vin" simmering on the stove top in my new Emile Henry pot. I was able to buy the 6.3 qt oval pot for 58 euros. When we got home from the outlet, I googled what the same pot would cost in the US, and it sells for $200+!!!!

Last night we went over to the Pages for a delicious lasagna Jen made. The Italian theme of our dinner last night is a great hint at what is to come when we go with the Pages to Italy in a week and a half! Since there is no school on Wednesdays, Thursday is a holiday, and then Friday is a "faire le pont" day, we are taking advantage of the long weekend and going to the Cinque Terre area on the Italian Riviera.

Today Matthew and I headed to Vichy, a town that is about 45 minutes from Clermont. Vichy is known for the mineral water. In the 17th century, Vichy's mineral water attracted the Paris Haute society, and the city has kept its sense of elegance even today. In the middle of town there is a great park that has a beautiful arched covered walkway that runs around the perimeter and even continues across a street to connect to a nearby sidewalk that runs in front of many sidewalk cafes and boutiques. At the end of the park is a big glass building that contains rows and rows of fountains with taps where you can sample the different types of water. For about 20 cents you can buy a plastic cup from a vending machine and sample the different water. Because it was a holiday weekend, the building was open, but there was no one there to let us into the middle area where the majority of water fountains were located. We only tasted from one fountain, which Matthew thought tasted salty...I got more of a bubbly taste (if there is such a thing as a bubbly "taste"). Unfortunately it was drizzly most of the time we were in Vichy, and most of the stores were closed. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful city.

Although May has lots of great things going for it, there are also some downsides to living in France during the month of May. So far this month, we missed Matthew's mom's birthday (May 3), Matthew's little brother, Mike, graduating from UGA today, and tomorrow neither one of us will be able to give our moms hugs on Mother's Day tomorrow. Luckily, Matthew's parents and brother will be here in a month for a 2 week visit!