Day 4 - Mirepoix to Genoa via Monte Carlo

Monday 8 September 2009

Awoke early to a glorious late summer day, managing to set off around 8am towards the Cote d'Azur. Smooth steady progress along the autoroute was matched with an ever soaring outside temperature, all the way up to around 30c. The absence of any air con except the fresh air variety meant that we were soon sweating away like Swedes in a sauna.

As lunch time approached and we were getting seriously dehyrated and peckish we saw the welcome signs for that inexpensive Riviera stop off of Monte Carlo. The old Beast lurched down the hill and we parked right on the front of the marina, 342 miles covered since setting off.

First stop of course was to point Percy at the Porcelain, which we did at the cleanest toilets this side of my Mum's house. You could have eaten your lunch off the floor there. I am sure Fatrat would have done just that if I had not reminded him of the over zealous nature of Monaco's constabulary.

We wandered around the marina area admiring the delightful little dinghies and cheap boats dotted in the bay:

We then settled down for the obligatory al fresco drink on the waterfront and passed an idle hour or so watching the assorted international totty stroll by.

Then, having extracted the Beast from the underground diamond encrusted vault normally referred to as a car park by taking out a second mortgage and pledging all viable organs to the state of Monaco, we set off for the Casino. Lacking the courage and infinite resources to park up and go in we amused ourselves with a video drive by in front of the main entrance - Getting some very strange looks in the process!

Reluctantly we left Monte Carlo around 4pm and headed into Italy on the snaking coastal motorway, arriving in the port of Genoa around 7.30pm. We found the Hotel Europa easily enough but the tiny entrance to the car park took several goes to get through.

After a shower we hit the town in search of sustenance and some night life, only to find the town as lively as a camel sale in Greenland. We did eventually stumble on a single square which seem to have crammed in it all the open restaurants and student population of the entire city. It was by then quite late and we wolfed down the simple meal of pasta washed down by an overpriced rough Sicilian red.

Total mileage in the day - 458 and 1,282 overall. Beast held up with no issues at all.