Menton

Jackie Annals……………..Genoa?
Yes, I know it is a rubbish joke.

At 6.10am, the tannoy burst into life to inform us that we would be docking at 7.45am. Every 15 minutes she reminded us of the same information. Jackie got up at 6.30am for a shower & I got up at 7.10am by which time the cleaners had knocked on our door twice.

It wasn’t until gone 9am, that we started disembarking. More chaos ensued, because vehicles were pointing in both directions. We actually had to make a 3 point turn to get off. We headed for the nearest McDonalds, but there was no place to stop, let alone find a parking place. We headed on to another McDonalds, but again there were zero parking spots.

We gave up and headed to our intended destination, the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno. Without looking - any idea what music connection it has?

We located it fairly simply, but again trying to find any parking place seemed impossible. We cruised the backstreets for at least half an hour, before finally finding a suitable spot, which was also free!

We walked to the cemetery and found a popular little cafe outside for breakfast. Two coffees, a croissant and a buttered focaccia (as eaten by all the locals) cost just €5.

Around 10am, we finally entered the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was monumental. The below 5 paragraphs I have copied and pasted from various websites.

‘The Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno is an extensive monumental cemetery located on a hillside in the district of Staglieno of Genoa, Italy, famous for its monumental sculpture. Covering an area of more than a square kilometre, it is one of the largest cemeteries in Europe. Other references say it is the largest Cemetery in Europe.

The strong British influence in the city of Genoa in the late 19th century is reflected in the separate British Cemetery at Staglieno which contains the graves of British and Commonwealth servicemen from both the First and Second World Wars. There are 230 from the First, (during which period there were 3 British military hospitals in the area) and 122 from the Second. The latter, buried in a plot designed by architect Louis de Soissons, were mainly garrison burials or reburials concentrated from other cemeteries.

Photographs of two tombs in the cemetery are featured on the covers of records by the English band Joy Division. The Appiani family tomb, sculpted by Demetrio Paernio c. 1910, was used on the cover of the album Closer. A grieving angel on the Ribaudo family tomb, sculpted by Onorato Toso also c. 1910, was used as an alternate cover for the 12" version of the single "Love Will Tear Us Apart". Both photographs were taken by Bernard Pierre Wolff in 1978.

Other references include:-

“One of the wonders of the world”. With these words the great Ernest Hemingway described the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno, a real open-air museum, today considered one of the most important and fascinating in Europe.

“Our last sight was the cemetery, and we shall continue to remember it after we shall have forgotten the palaces”. (Mark Twain)’

Back to me:-

I was obviously particularly interested in visiting the Appiani and Ribaudo family tombs. The cemetery was almost overwhelming and I failed in my research to identify the exact location of those two tombs. I was keen to still see the whole cemetery, so we marched around trying to miss nothing. Unfortunately we had no sunscreen or water and soon the beating sun took its toll.

Jackie also tripped up on some steps, hurting her hands and knees again, but apparently I wasn’t sympathetic as I told her that she was a clumsy so and so. I had my very own fallen angel, but apparently not grieving.

Jackie’s favourite aspect of the cemetery was when we accidentally ended up in a path behind the functioning crematorium. We walked around the front, where we saw funeral undertakers delivering coffins to the crematorium. We outstayed our welcome, particularly as I got caught trying to take photos, but we saw the crematorium staff removing the metal bolts then pushing the coffins into the furnace.

I was getting more than a little bit frustrated that I couldn’t find what I was looking for, when suddenly we accidentally found the Ribaudo family tomb of the Grieving Angel, I was chuffed to bits to have found it. After several photos from all angles, we continued.

We found Appiani family tomb shortly after and I was able to tick off another chapter in my I-spy book of album cover photos. Satisfied that over a period of 2.5 hours, we had covered pretty much seen everything of interest in the cemetery, we made our exit and returned to the car.

We set the SatNav to Menton, just over the border in France. The fastest route was on the A10 toll road which was 109 miles in distance taking just over 2 hours or on a road avoiding tolls which took over 5 hours. It was a no brainer!

The dual carriageway was notable for the number of tunnels that we passed through. I have read varying numbers from 78 in Wikipedia to several websites referring to 110 tunnels between Genoa and Monaco. Either way it was a hell of a lot and soon the novelty passed. It was a strain on the eyes, repeatedly being blinded by the sun or peering into the gloom of the tunnels. My sunglasses didn’t know whether they were coming or going!

Two hours later, we paid the toll fee of €21.10, then passed into France and immediately drove down into Menton and to our posh…ish hotel, Hotel Mileade L’Orangeraie. We were allowed to check-in early and we parked our car in their private car park for €9.

‘Menton, the last French Riviera town before you reach Italy, is one of the Côte d'Azur’s most blissful stops, with an enviable microclimate affording more than 300 days of sunshine a year, lush botanical gardens, ample sandy beaches, a compelling Old Town, and plenty of restaurants and hotels with prices lower than in a number of other Riviera towns. Although it may be lesser known than Cannes and St. Tropez, Menton has deep experience in tourism—it was one of the Riviera’s earliest resorts, attracting English (including Queen Victoria) and Russian aristocrats in the late 1800s’.

After dumping our bags we headed out on my second walking tour of the day. Our first stop in the hilly, medieval old town was the Basilique Saint-Michel, with its 18th-century bell tower, and the ornate facade of La Chapelle des Pénitents-Blancs. Outside were a theatre group performing some sort of play (in French).

We then walked down to the busy beach and took a stroll along the promenade for about a mile in the blistering sun and still without sunscreen. Jackie started to lose her sense of humour. We finally turned up from the seafront and through the attractive gardens of Les Jardins Bioves.

Now very thirsty we scoured the surrounding area near our hotel and eventually found a little non-touristy bar with a couple of old men sat outside. Perfect. We ordered 2 large beers followed by 2 more. I went up to pay with my €20 note. I nearly choked when I saw the bill for €34, forcing me to hurriedly whip out my credit card to pay. Thieving French Bastards!

We returned to the hotel for a shower and a bottle of fizz, then went out in the best clothes that we had with us for a proper anniversary dinner. Sod the cost……..well within reason!

We had identified 2 restaurants that we wanted to eat in. The first was a posh burger restaurant that did steaks, but they only had a table free for an hour. We weren’t going to be rushed. The 2nd was L’Orangerie, which had a free outside table for two.

We both opted for the €39 three course Plat du Jour together with a bottle of not so cheap white wine and a bottle of sparkling water. Jackie chose a seafood mousse followed by duck with cherries and sweet potato purée followed by a Peach Melba. I chose the duck terrine, followed by roast pork and ratatouille followed by chocolate fondant with peach. It was a stunning dinner and better than we could have ever hoped for. The wine was gorgeous and the ambience was improved even more so by a fantastic female singer singing well known English songs in French. It was the perfect evening, kindly paid for by Dominic, Jackie’s stepdad.

Song of the Day - Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division.Read more