Top 12 things you might need on a "Lovely" walk around Cap-Ferrat - July 19, 2010

Senne's Summary: Went to the beach, beat Steve in cards, got lost on a very LONG walk!

Well it started out as a terrific day. Steve went down to the village and got some food and supplies. He brought back a very yummy bread with cheese and olives that we ate for breakfast.

Then, we went down to the beach… did a little swimming, did a little sunning, did a little reading… drank a diet coke and had a yummy ice cream treat! I LOVE that kind of day!

Next Steve made us a nice little lunch with a variety of things he picked up at the little grocery store, and then we played our card game. I WON! Hee hee hee! Now Steve has to be called the inappropriate name that we made up until he beats me again 😉 (We should probably just stop playing!)

Happy about going on a lovely walk.

After this, I thought it would be nice if we went for a walk. The lady we rented the apartment from (Shelley), left us instructions for a "lovely" walk around Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. I thought that sounded like a good idea. So Steve put the directions in his Itouch, we put on our flip flops, and headed out.

Still pretty happy. It isn't so HOT now!

 The first part of the walk was lovely. We actually ended up in the town of Beaulieu, which is a nice town. We saw a LOT of yachts… very expensive yachts. We actually saw a little place advertising yachts to buy or rent on a monthly basis. Steve took a picture of the most expensive one we could find. 630, 000 Euros to rent for a WEEK. To me that is just sick. You could single-handedly save a small country from demise with that much money. When I get that much money (Plan A: Lottery, Plan B: Steve becomes Poker Hotshot) I’m going to go on vacation AND save a small country!

So we realized we made a wrong turn somewhere (we weren’t suppose to get to Beaulieu) and started heading back the way we came… this is where we made our fatal mistake… we found where we made the wrong turn… hey let’s check it out we thought… (we should have gone back the way we came)

This is about when we met the couple walking the opposite direction
that had never even heard of Villefranche...uh oh...

We start on our very lovely walk around the peninsulas of Cap-Ferrat. To be fair it was absolutely beautiful. We saw some beautiful villas, yachts, rock formations, ocean, etc. We both were enjoying it at the beginning. I didn’t expect the walk to be so long, and kept thinking we would see Villefranche when we got around the “next corner”. So we trucked along for hours (it didn’t just seem like hours… it WAS hours), and it was starting to get dark. (Don’t worry Senne, it was safe… the people in this neighbourhood were probably more afraid of us, then we would be of them 😀… plus Steve fights best in bare feet.)

!

Yep, that's the moon, and a very unhappy girl who wore her flip flops on a too long walk!

Somewhere we made a wrong turn and ended up in the neighbourhood of the rich and famous. Beautiful giant villas. We used our excellent detective skills and followed the road that we saw the occasional car go down. It’s definitely dark now and my feet are killing me. We see a little hotel, and Steve goes in to ask directions. Luckily the nice man speaks English and tells Steve how to get to Villefranche, only 45 more minutes… sigh.

Eventually we made it home… after looking at google maps I suspect that we walked at least 20 km. I think we would have enjoyed it more if we knew for sure we were going the right way and weren’t going to be wandering all night in the streets of France. (Oh and if I had reasonable shoes on!) (and if I had something to drink with me)

When we got home I had a big drink of water, and a little drink of diet coke and climbed into bed. Steve went out and attempted to find himself some food (he was STARVING), but apparently at 11:30 at night you can only get dessert in Villefranche. So he had some ice cream and came home.

Just as a tip for any of you thinking of coming to Villefranche and going on Shelley’s “lovely” walk, here is a list of things you might need to bring (we made this up in the last hour of our "lovely" walk)

1) Running shoes or hiking shoes (from experience I can tell you… do not wear flip flops… I repeat DO NOT WEAR FLIP FLOPS!)

2) Water and diet coke (there is no place to purchase any drinks once you leave the town… which happens to be right at the beginning of the walk)

3)  A map (If you dont bring one with you, at least look at one before you leave… we didn’t... )

4)   A flashlight (so when it does get dark you can entertain each other by making scary faces so you forget how much your feet hurt)

5)   Food (if not to eat, then to sell to other hikers along the trail so you can raise enough money for cab fare home)

6)   Medical Kit (in case you take a spill on the rugged terrain… or worse fall down the cliffs)

7)   Satellite phone (so you can call for helicopter evac. if necessary)

8)   Your French phrase book (so you can ask people if you are going the right way, and so you can understand their French directions). Important Note: Directional signs are of no use in a language you don’t understand.

9)   A sleeping bag (In case you started too late and just can’t find your way. Or perhaps you decide you are sick of walking and just decide to camp out until morning. No tent needed. This is not Canada. The sleeping bag is for underneath you, this place is very rocky!)

10) Flares (This is only helpful if someone will actually come rescue you.)

11) MONEY (then you could buy food or take a taxi. Or perhaps use your money to go to the bar instead of going on a lovely walk.)

12) A wheelchair… better yet a motorized wheelchair… better yet a motorized scooter…better yet a car :) (or maybe a speedboat… then you could just hop off the path into your boat and zoom around home to Villefranche)

When all is said and done, let us say, that in this case, "lovely" was not the word I was using to describe this experience :)