Day 315, From Cannes, France to Livorno, Italy
Like Uzes, Cannes knows how to do markets. On the Monday we left, there was a weekly flea market happening. We looked around a bit, but quickly got on the road.
We’ve done the road down the coast from Cannes to Livorno a number of times before, staying in Lucca and Rome. We’ve done the route that has you on roads clinging to cliffs, with it’s unmatched vistas. But it also takes more time and isn’t the best if you have kids who get carsick easily. This time we opted for the highway that pokes it’s way in and out of the coast, through many tunnels, and is windy enough. Through hills dotted with long rows of greenhouses, grand chateaus perched on the highest peeks, and valleys brimming with orange-roofed homes, the foot of the Alps on your left and Mediterranean to your right, it’s a feast for the eyes around every turn. I wish there were more opportunities to take pictures of what we saw, but it wasn’t possible. I did get a few from this scenic rest stop. Like many vista pictures, the photo falls short of showing breath-taking depths, colors, and distances.
We’ve done a number of trips to Italy, We’ve stayed in Lucca, Rome, Lake Como (before George Clooney made it common knowledge) and Venice. This is the first time we’ve stayed in Livorno. Our host, Massimo (of course), enthusiastically greeted us in front of the apartment building, hauled two of our bags up three flights of stairs like they were a couple of bottles of wine. Like most people in Europe, if they know English, it’s with a British accent, which is always so sweet on the ears.
The choices one makes on Airbnb are driven by photos and reviews. You enter with certain expectations which have come from a combination of the two. This apartment surpassed both, by a long shot. The pictures were accurate but didn’t do this place justice. The attention to detail is unmatched. Everything seems new, and maybe it is.
You know when a kitchen has spices, teas, Nutella, and a rolling pin, it’s well stocked. The stove is better than any I’ve ever had, and there’s a orchid on the table. Even the bathroom has everything from fingernail polish remover, a hamper, and women’s wash. These little things make it feel so homey, especially when you’ve been on the road as long as we have. 
I was meticulously clean, none of the linens or towels were tired, the mattresses seemed new, comfortable couches with fully stuffed pillows and lap throws–all details we no longer take for granted and appreciate. 
The apartment was a little cold so we called our hosts to see how we could turn on the heat. He not only sent a text or email how to do it, but came right over. Apparently it’s illegal to have your heater on past April 15, that’s one law broken, and the maximum you can set your thermostats to is 21, so that’ll be the second one broken.
This town has some beautiful canals with many smaller boats parked in them.
Drying from quite a few windows were baby clothes. 
We walked to find a restaurant, which you wouldn’t think would be difficult. But this is not a huge tourist town, and there aren’t an abundance of restaurants in our neighborhood. We ended up oh so lost, wandering in, what we figured out later, was a bit of a wiggly circle. We got a suggestion from a very kind man at the grocery store for a small pasta place. Perfect. When we found it, there were no other customers to be seen, which is never a good sign. The fact that they had no red wine, normally would have been a red flag of sorts, but we were too tired and hungry to get up and forage for a different place. I ordered fish, which they didn’t have, so I went for the most basic thing that they should have, tagliatelle bolognese.
When the pasta came out you can tell it was freshly made, and no exaggeration, it replaces the pasta I had in Venice in 2002 as being the best I’ve ever had, anytime, anywhere. Cali and Paul thought so, too. Madi still prefers her own recipe where she controls the spices.
We had walked so far to find the restaurant, on streets that are not laid out on a grid, we were quite lost. Usually we have a couple of cell phones with us, but somehow we’d left the apartment with only mine, and I had very little battery. We do what we sometimes do, count to three and everyone points in the direction where you think home is.. Sometimes we are all pointing in different directions, this time we were mostly unanimous. Before we had gone too far, we consulted my phone which had maybe a search or two left in it before it died. Turns out we were all totally turned around, and pointing away from home. I was skeptical at first that we had put in the correct address, but we headed the way the blue arrow pointed us. We walked back through the beautiful streets with our bellies full and happy. If you’re going to be lost somewhere, this is a beautiful place to do it. Turns out we were close to home. This means we will be returning to our favorite little restaurant soon.
