A beautiful morning saw us make a coffee stop in Cannes where we were planning on following the trail of celebrity handprints, but most of them were included in an area being set up surrounding the conference centre and were not accessible. We bought crepes to go with our coffee and ate them overlooking the marina. Then back into the van and to lunch in Nice.
Al found a couple of lunch options from “Where Chef’s eat” and although the first one was closed the 2nd did not disappoint. La Rossettisserie, Nice is a small restaurant (at this time of year, I believe there is a nearby dining room for peak times) where you pick 1 item from the 4 meat options and 1 option from the accompaniments. I had roast pork with ratatouille while Al had roast veal with mashed potato. The walls are covered in the comments of grateful customers. Al declared it one of the best meals he had ever eaten.
Roast Pork 
Roast Veal 
Next stop was Monaco, here we found a lot of renovation work to the extent that billboards with images of the sea blocked the view to the actual sea because there was building work on the shore. Even the world famous street racing circuit for the grand prix had been dug up, presumably to allow for resurfacing before the race later this year. We were able to recognise and photograph some of the iconic landmarks and to get into the marina to admire the yachts and superyachts. We had a drink in a marina facing bar before trekking back to the van and heading for Italy
From La Ciotat to Monte Carlo we had mostly followed the coast road (although the sat nav was fighting us on it) which meant that we hugged the cliffs and mountains, going up and down on winding roads to get into and out of each coastal resort. Al was doing all of this on the other side of the road in a right hand drive van. Crossing the border was less of a marker than we anticipated. I sat with passports in hand as we entered a tunnel in France and emerged in Italy, unsure of what checks, if any, there would be from one Schengen country to another and the answer, none at all.
We arrived in Bordighera as the sun was setting. We had booked our hotel, Astoria, during the Monte Carlo stop and we were pleased to find that once again, we had a balcony. The hotel was fairly central so we popped to a bar to consider our options and were pleased to have aperitivo* delivered with the drinks, ah Italy! Al had found the details of a restaurant up the hill and after a steep climb we found it in the back streets. Ristorante Magiarge specialised in wine, so we treated ourselves to a bottle and ate their tasting menu, the food was fantastic .
