Departure Campsite: Camping du Parc, Pre St Didier, Italy (N 45.76153 E 7.00614)
Destination Campsite: Mare Monti, Sestri Levante, Italy (N 44.26387 E 9.44222)
Distance: 207 miles/333 km (today) 1166 miles/1878 km (total)
After waking up and showering, I took a stroll around the site taking photographs and found a pathway going up the mountain behind the site leading to the town we visited last night. When we paid up at the campsite reception, the guy was very friendly, shaking my hand as I left. We enjoyed our stay at this site, the only downside being there was no pool. We would certainly stay here again if in the area.
We started on our drive South to the Italian coast, splitting from Simon to make the journey a little easier. We arranged to meet up in Genoa, but the traffic was a real nightmare. There seemed to be nowhere to park (especially for a high vehicle) and there were scooters everywhere, weaving in and out of the traffic. Apart from eating lunch in the van alongside the road, we decided to give Genoa a miss and drove on to Portofino. We would love to have spent some time here, but the traffic was even worse than in Genoa, and the roads narrow; so we moved on again, this time away from all the bustle to a place called Sestri Levante. We grabbed two pitches at the Mare Monti campsite and then drove back to a Co-op in town to meet Simon and show him the way to the site. We left the kids playing in the pool at the campsite and took the opportunity to do our supermarket shopping at the same time.
The campsite was good, with a fabric mesh sail providing much needed shade. Hard standing gravel was not so good for a tent, but fine for us in the van. Cars were parked in every conceivable place, though, and it was a bit of a problem maneuvering through the campsite at times. The guy handling our check-in had a pleasant easy going manner. There was no real shop at the site, but they did have a cafe. The toilets were a mixture of hole in the floor and pans (not unisex) and shower cubicles were along the back of the building. You press a button on a control panel and all free showers displayed a flashing red light. You then press the button under one of the red lights and then go into that cubicle. You get a maximum of 4 minutes water, which you toggle on and off by pressing a button inside the cubicle. A flashing light warns you when your time is nearly up. The system actually works quite well.
In the evening we went in to Sestri Levante to look around the Riva beach area, where the kids, Ali and Simon went swimming. There was some sort of festival going on (perhaps for a political party?) and parking wasn't easy, but we did manage to find a place. We spent some time looking around the various market stalls. It was a good evening.
Destination Campsite: Mare Monti, Sestri Levante, Italy (N 44.26387 E 9.44222)
Distance: 207 miles/333 km (today) 1166 miles/1878 km (total)
We started on our drive South to the Italian coast, splitting from Simon to make the journey a little easier. We arranged to meet up in Genoa, but the traffic was a real nightmare. There seemed to be nowhere to park (especially for a high vehicle) and there were scooters everywhere, weaving in and out of the traffic. Apart from eating lunch in the van alongside the road, we decided to give Genoa a miss and drove on to Portofino. We would love to have spent some time here, but the traffic was even worse than in Genoa, and the roads narrow; so we moved on again, this time away from all the bustle to a place called Sestri Levante. We grabbed two pitches at the Mare Monti campsite and then drove back to a Co-op in town to meet Simon and show him the way to the site. We left the kids playing in the pool at the campsite and took the opportunity to do our supermarket shopping at the same time.
The campsite was good, with a fabric mesh sail providing much needed shade. Hard standing gravel was not so good for a tent, but fine for us in the van. Cars were parked in every conceivable place, though, and it was a bit of a problem maneuvering through the campsite at times. The guy handling our check-in had a pleasant easy going manner. There was no real shop at the site, but they did have a cafe. The toilets were a mixture of hole in the floor and pans (not unisex) and shower cubicles were along the back of the building. You press a button on a control panel and all free showers displayed a flashing red light. You then press the button under one of the red lights and then go into that cubicle. You get a maximum of 4 minutes water, which you toggle on and off by pressing a button inside the cubicle. A flashing light warns you when your time is nearly up. The system actually works quite well.
In the evening we went in to Sestri Levante to look around the Riva beach area, where the kids, Ali and Simon went swimming. There was some sort of festival going on (perhaps for a political party?) and parking wasn't easy, but we did manage to find a place. We spent some time looking around the various market stalls. It was a good evening.
