Saturday 31 January 2009

Day 4, 2/04/08: oooohhh, la France

Because the day started with 35km/h averages in Italy riviera and the time in Monaco also delayed things a bit more, the schedule was getting tight. Besides that, start and stop driving maybe was not the best for the car. This is why i skipped visiting Nice, Cannes, Toulon and Marseille.
Instead, 200km of french paid highway (4 times) and no sightseeing at all. I would like to reach at least Montpellier. Already in Montpellier, i was almost causing an accident when i was cutting right and didnt saw (badly regulated mirror and luggage covering all the back) that there was a car there. Luckly it was just a close call.
Because i got lost while crossing the city, i saw a little bit more of it than i was counting. And it looked a very interesting city to visit on a next opportunity, as well as all the region of the Languedoc. The day finished in Béziers, after crossing a beach area (during the night) where i parked/slept somewhere that i dont even recall any more. Only 600km on this day (2400km in total).

Day 4, 2/04/08: Monaco

THIS IS MONACO!!!!


Shortly after entering France, Monaco is there, stuck near the sea with mountains behind it. If i would have to define Monaco in one word i would say: bluff. Honestly, i was not expecting much of it and it really looked ugly to me (way too many tall buildings and spread in a not organized pattern). And ok, you can see great cars (i saw a Porsche Speedster....or a replica) and luxurious hotels, but there are also a lot of normal medium class buildings and not so glamorous areas.
As for doing part of the track of the F1 circuit, from what i could identify, the most obvious part was that famous set of tight curves. As you check on the picture, my performance was below expected due to the bus ahead.