Day Fourteen: Driving to Italy

We sadly said good-bye to St. Remy de Provence, our lovely villa, and its charming proprietors, Mme. Mauron and M. Dietrich. It was truly hard to leave it behind. Here are some final photos of Provence:






The drive to Italy was gorgeous and long! We stopped for lunch in Antibes near Cannes where I took a special photo for Susan. Right before entering Italy, we stopped at a gas station/rest stop. Here are the views:

Looking in one direction:



And the other:



Yes, that is Monaco. Get some gas, a water, maybe some Nutella and cookies for the kids. Tra-la.

Here is a view from the window in Italy:



Much of the drive was along the rocky coast, through at least 30 tunnels. Most of the rugged hillsides are terraced and growing olives and flowers. We then cut up into the mountains and headed into Piemonte. We had some trouble finding our little town of Bonvicino which doesn't even appear on a map. We called the agent who after an animated conversation in Italian with what sounded like a dozen highly opinionated people, she told us what to do: turn by the sign by the church in Dogliani and follow the signs to Bonvicino. A problem: there are at least five churches in Dogliani. Argh. Finally, at 9 p.m., exhausted and starving, we arrived. What an amazing place. I will take pictures today. We dragged in our bags then drove back down the mountain to Dogliani where we had pizza at a little family run place where a table outside just happened to be set for seven people.