After we left La Grande Motte we headed along the coast to reposition ready for the Monaco Yacht Show. Fortunately we decided to do this with a day in hand. We rolled into Menton and wound our way up the narrow hairpin bend mountain road to the Municipal campsite we had used last year. I caught sight of a sign on the way indicating no camping cars, but thought it was due to us picking a narrow town centre road courtesy of the Satnag, which lead us to the mountain road which is the only access.
When we got there, after causing a minor jam on the way up, there were tents everywhere, no motorhomes, no caravans and a couple of small camper vans. I went to reception. Sure enough we were banned. Apparently courtesy of the local prefecture. I would guess due to the difficult access.
Sacre bleu! Now what? We knew from last year that there is no other campsite close to this. I asked the owner at Menton and he said got to the Italian border area.
After sweating our way back down, back through Menton centre, along a short bit of motorway, all around Ventimiglia centre (even worse due to the nature of Italian driving) and up another mountain road – 2 lane at least this time – we found a campsite. By then it was too late to go anywhere else. Within minutes the mozzies were on me and we had to shut ourselves in. On that basis, plus the 10km ride down to Ventimiglia which would be required on the scooter to get the train to Monaco, we decided to go back to France the next day. There was also the issue of some weird showers – mixed sex but with nowhere within the cubicle to hang a towel let alone some clothes – all hooks were outside the cubicles in the corridor……mmmm OK I suppose if you are a voyeur/exhibitionist.
We ended up in Cagnes sur Mer, about 30km west of Monaco, but the site was just 1.5km from the train station – much more practical when balancing 2 sample cases on the scooter with us. We were also a short but very steep scooter ride from the old town, Haute Cagnes, centred round a small chateau and a pretty square with views across the surrounding hills and a fabulous restaurant – best rack of lamb I think I have ever had, all pink and melty, and superb home made dauphinoise potatoes – food heaven!
The train ride to Monaco was 40 minutes. Well it was the first time, it kept increasing each day due to works on the line or somesuch, but it worked, we got there and the show went well. It did mean we couldn’t have dinner with our French colleagues who were staying in Menton, but as they don’t even go out until 830pm in some ways that was a relief!
With the show over, we checked out one more possible campsite up the valley north of Menton for future reference. The road was even more twisting and turning than the Italian one, and the campsite was not great. We were thinking about access with a trailer and the Harley for next year – well it’s not going to happen there!