We left the Merano course and drove all the way to Savona. A stunning drive through Northern Italy and we made good time. Everyone amazed at the number of tunnels, massive motorways suspended on bridges and the speed on the autobahns. Although we did get jammed in a Sunday night, end of weekend traffic mayhem at a motorway intersection, for nearly one hour, near Lake Garda, the drive took just over 5 hours.
We kept thinking we would stop for food but all roadside cafes packed with people so we arrive at the pre booked hostel, very late after driving around in circles looking for it. It turned out to be up a massive hill and some kind Italian who we had stopped to ask directions said ’wait 5 minutes and I’ll come back with my car and you can follow’ I guess cheap was for a reason- it was in the wops and looked like it had been a sanitorium. The redeeming feature was the pizzeria next door that stayed open for us and was tasty and cheap.
We all had a good nights sleep despite best efforts of the boys telling scary stories, to wake to a minimal breakfast- a plastic glass of coffee, a couple of biscuits and a pre packaged croissant. Pretty average and hardly enough for the boys.
On our way about 8.30am, although long , it was an easy drive with lots to look at. First stop Monaco and although parking a major problem we found a spot, probably illegal down by the super yachts and oohed and aahed as we checked them out. Back on the motorway and we tried to find the beach at Nice but ended up at the airport so kept going. We were tourists at Carcassone and it was a great stop. Just wandered around the 12thC Medieval castle before hitting the road to Foix to arrive about 7.30pm.
Our hosts Corrine and Andy, 3 year old Kai and 3 dogs and 1 cat are really hospitable. The house is on a hill above Foix and we have 3 bathrooms and all have a nice bed and there is garden with BBQ and pool so will be self catering for the rest of the week. Went out tonight as supermarkets closed , checked out the course, which looks a bit like Kawerau. The old town of Foix looks interesting and has a castle on the skyline.
Costs are quite horrendous- spent over 80E on road tolls today and about the only thing cheap to eat is pizza which is not good for athletes and non athletes waistlines. I tried a local cassoulet on a set menu which was nice but quite heavy for summer.
We have a booked training session tmoro at 3.45pm and will have a reccy at 10am just to get the feel of the water. We have the Swiss and Slovaks in our group . K1W and C1 race Friday with C2 and K1 men on Saturday, again with 20 in each class advancing to semis on Sunday.
Photos are a mix of trophies, Monaco , scenes at Merano, castle at Carsassone and one of the team in Foix tonight with castle on a hill behind.
1 comment:
Love the photos, so envious, pouring all day golf canx. People sy NZ'ers are helpful but can't imagine they would be as helpful as your Italian- great. I remember all those tunnells I think we counted 104. Jane looks very glam with the yaghts in the background. Take care
Love Gma Poppa
Post a Comment