The 5300km Mediterranean Road Trip :Thru France,Monaco,Italy,Swiss

 Alpine Ibex @ Aosta. Seen while trekking in Gran Paradiso National Park(Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso, as they call it), Valle d'Aosta (near Monte Bianco/Mont Blanc), close to Italy-France border.

The Vitruvian Man
wood sculpture outside
 Leonardo da Vinci museum
@ Vinci, Tuscany, Italy

Trip Summary:

Duration : 11 days from the 5th-15th of April '07

Distance covered : 3350+ miles (~ 5375 kms)
Road Trippers : Rahul, Sahina, their 5-year old kid Prithvi, and Yours Truly.
Trip Steed : '98 BMW E36 323i
Countries driven through : England, France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland

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Route Maps >>

Day1 | Day2 | Day3-4 | Day5 | Day6 | Day7-8-9 | Day10 |
Day11 [Dijon-Calais-{ChannelFerry}-Dover-London] >>

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TripRoute_Day1: London-Dover-[ChannelFerry]-Calais-Troyes

TripRoute_Day2:
Troyes-Antibes[FrenchRiviera] via Millau Viaduct

TripRoute_Day3: Antibes,
Day 4_Loop: Antibes-Grasse-GorgesDuVerdon-StTropez

TripRoute_Day5: Loop-- Antibes-Nice-MONACO

TripRoute_Day6:
Antibes-Pisa-LagoTrasimeno(Lakeside in UMBRIA nr Perugia)

TripRoute Day7: [UMBRIA]
-Lago Trasimeno/Lake,Isola Polvese/island
and Perugia town
Day8_Loop: [TUSCANY: CHIANTI countryside,
Vignamaggio (MonaLisa's village),and Siena city
Day9 :LagoTrasimeno to Vinci Town,
Torino Airport- Aosta

Day10 :Trekking in Aosta GranParadiso NP,
Drive Aosta-MontBlanc-Geneva-Dijon

[..Below..Driving through Millau Viaduct (Southern France),the tallest vehicular bridge in the world, with one mast's summit at 343 metres (1,125 ft) — slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower.]

The following text is in Rahul's words. Photos and captions/descriptions from yours truly:

Coolest moment
1. Using a Porsche 911 Turbo and a Corvette V8 as pace cars at 135mph average on the stretch between Dijon & Reims in France. At one point I glanced at the speedo and got psyched seeing 145mph (~230+ kmph). Eased off and decided that I wouldnt cross 140mph. After about 10 minutes, the 911 eased off and I overtook him by maintai

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ning my speed (~135mph). While passing the 911, I stole a glance to see who was driving and whether it was a left or a right hand drive. The guy got cheesed off with my cheeky move and zoomed past me. The ease and oomph with which he overtook at 135mph was like how I would overtake at say 80mph!!!

Hairy moments
1. nearing the end of the petrol tank on Easter sunday (8 April) and finding all petrol bunks closed in the french country side. With less than 2 litres left in the tank, managed to locate a pump in Castellane using the GPS, only to find that they didnt accept Euro currency and UK cards. Then got friendly with a french biker and filled up using his French credit card and paid him cash!!!

2. following a car into a restricted zone in St Tropez without knowing it was a restricted zone. Realized it was a restricted zone when the bollard came up and banged the car from below.
< http://www.barriers andbollards. com/Automatic_ Retractable_ Bollards. htm>
fortunately it hit the outer edge of the rear bumper. a metre and a half earlier and i would probably have lost my drive shaft and/ or differential! !!!

Impressed by:
1. The AutoStrada joining Nice with Genoa - It is one loooong stretch of tunnels and bridges across mountains and valleys. The road goes through 1km tunnel and then a 1km bridge and then a 1km tunnel and then a bridge and so on and so on forever!!!!

2. the 11km tunnel through Mont Bianco (Mont Blanc) - It is one STRAIGHT tunnel through the mountain on the border between Italy & France. Mont Bianco, I hear, is the tallest mountain in this part of the world.


3. The cities of Siena, Perugia and Nice -
Siena - In the main city vehicles other than cop cars and taxis are not allowed. The philosophy is that its for the people to live, not for cars to pollute. To add to the whole experience, we met an old Italian dude, who used to run an italian restaurant in Chelsea. he gave us the history of Siena and walked us through the best route possible into the square. Historically Siena and Florence have been at loggerheads with each other, trying to be the centre of renaissance. Fantastic!!! BTW, Siena hosts a horse race called Palio. (Now you know from where Fiat gets its inspiration,
for its cars in India)

Da Vinci on the street. 'Chalk-n-Charcoal on Concrete' version of Oil-on-Canvas. Street scene from Siena. The artist on the pavement, doing Leonardo da Vinci's 15th century oil painting, Virgin of the Rocks/Madonna of the Rocks, depicting infant Jesus.

Perugia - This is a bit of an odd ball town. There is a section of the town which is in the underground ruins of an old fort. Windowless yet swanky shops on either sides of a dark underground passage. Jazz is very big in this part of the world. I walked into a Jazz CD shop. It had this narrow door and steep dark steps leading down into an underground "nothing". I asked the storeowner where it led and he said it led to an ancient wine cellar which used to be a truscan temple before it became a wine cellar!!!

Old town in Nice - This felt a bit like the Jew town in Fort Cochin with spice vendors and fresh antique sellers!!! the promenade in Nice was like the Marine drive in Mumbai except there were topless sun bathers here. Me and prithvi spent time on the beach while Sahina & Sujith unsuccessfully tried to break into a Matisse museum ;-) The Socca we had from Socca Nisso was fantastic (and cheap).

"Le Blues fenêtre"

The Window "Blues"!;)

Antibes, Côte d'Azur / French Riviera.

I thought "Blues" was the mood!.. with the dark inside window and kind of dilapidated surrounding suggestive of it as well.

Sort of Melancholic looking lady in a reverie.. with a dress matching the "Azure" window,

.. a frame in stark contrast with the associated luxury, gaiety, frolic.. that its name generally seems to suggest.. of Côte d'Azur/French Riviera.

This was a sneaked-in shot from the street.. Had to very quickly and subtly click before she would become aware of my presence- which she did and left..
so didn't get in focus..

4. Idyllic isle of "Isola Polvese" in Lago Trasimeno with no roads and its
olive gardens
..
..
If I were to do it again, what would I do different?
Spend less time on the french riviera and more time in Italy. Dont get me wrong, the Riviera is cool. After all its where the rich go to hang out and let it all hang out. Yacht mooring charges at St Tropez harbour is apptly in the region of Euro 90,000 a week during peak season!!! the average yatch is double the size of a 3 bed house. You can see more Ferraris in front of the Monte Carlo Casino in half an hour than you would see in London in a month!!

But Italy... Italy has a raw charm. People are friendlier, food is nicer
(spicier?) and the landscape is amazing. Driving in Italy can be "interesting" . Lonely Bible suggests touring Italy on a bike and having seen the roads there, it is a FANTASTIC suggestion. The day (Friday the 13th of April) we drove from Tuscany to Cogne (in the alps) through Turin, the change in landscape was dramatic. From rolling hills, floral fields and olive gardens in Tuscany to the farmed planes around Turin to the snow covered Alps and pine trees in Cogne. Italy also has good beaches and dramatic cliff side drives along the coast, volcanoes, history, Mafia infested towns, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Alfa Romeos, Maseratis and Valentino Rossi!!!

Italy has it all. A bit like India, in some respects.... :-)