The harbor of Antibes is known for having the largest harbor in Europe (around 2,000 moorings). In addition to the regular moorings, it has a special section for the largest of the large yachts. We looked up a few of the yachts we saw there and one, the Pelorus, is the 16th largest in the world at 377 ft with 2 helicopter landing pads and was around $300 million when it was built in 2003. Another one, the Alfa Nero, has a swimming pool and is for sale currently for $190 million. It was quite a sight to see these yachts all lined up, many of them getting serviced and cleaned by crew members.
For variety (and we thought for a quicker trip home) we drove east from our rental villa towards Nice and through Monaco, Italy, then north to Switzerland. We took a small detour off the autoroute into Monaco, the second smallest country in the world. The only smaller country is the Vatican. They speak French in Monaco but it has been occupied over the centuries by Italy, Germany, and France. It was beautiful with old buildings and the royal palace perched on a high peninsula overlooking the sea. We didn't stop for any gambling or bank business, although we did have trouble finding our way out of the country after finding the exit towards Italy closed- for no apparent reason.
Driving along the Ligurian coast of Italy towards Genova was beautiful. All the hillsides were terraced for grapes or olive trees, as well as with lots and lots of green houses. It was a contrast from the coastline of France which was filled with vacation homes and apartments rather than agriculture. We drove north through the foothills of the Alps, which had recently been crowned with their first snowfall. The Italian rest stop where we ate lunch was a culinary delight of panini, pizza and gourmet risotto. Travelers could stock up on artisan cheese, sausage and a variety of chocolates as well. We cruised past Lake Como and the across the border into Switzerland towards Lake Lugano, another beautiful mountain lake. Although we had heard of traffic jams going into the Gotthard tunnel, we had no idea what was in store when we came upon a line of cars slowed to a crawl. Three hours and 3 km later, we finally reached the traffic light giving us the go ahead for the 19 km long tunnel. One fortunate thing about the wait was our position near a rest area... we were all able to take turns running in to use the restroom or to get snacks. After over 1.5 hours of waiting (so slow at this point we were stopped with the car turned off and everyone standing around) I asked the driver of the car behind us if it was normal. He said yes although it seemed a little bit more that day. As we were chatting a couple of ladies in the car next to us joined in and I was reminded how Switzerland is such a gifted country with languages. In France we were hard pressed to find someone who spoke any English, yet in Switzerland most people speak at least 2 or 3 languages fluently. We know a few people here who speak five languages well!
Darkness settled in after the tunnel so we missed the fall colors we had hoped to see along Lake Zug and Lucerne. One advantage to a nearly 12 hour drive is you have plenty of time for reading. We finished reading "The Wind in the Willows" out loud, which the kids really enjoyed. Zürich was a welcome and familiar sight when we arrived around 8:30 pm. It made me realize how much we've gotten to know of the area and the language. When we arrived many things seemed so foreign, but now compared to France and Italy, Switzerland felt a little bit like home.
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| Last days in France |
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