Along the French Riviera there are many colorful villages on the sea. Right before the border of Italy, there is an orange and pink town called Menton that is famous for growing lemons. In and out of history it has been a part of Monaco, but it’s now part of France.
The day I went to Menton, I’d been planning to take the train to other small villages and maybe to Ventimiglia, the first town across the border in Italy and the last town on the French line. When the train got to Menton, an announcement was made that there were issues on the rail so we had to get off there. My fate was decided. Menton it was.
I walked through town to the water and meandered along the perimeter of the sea along paths and a harbor and a bastion (small fort). The views of the colorful town on a hill were gorgeous against a sunny blue sky. Then I made my way into the village. I wove my way through small passages and picturesque doorways to the top, sometimes turning a corner into another gap between buildings with blue sea hitting the orange walls. Stunning.
At the top, I walked around a cemetery then left the old town to walk back down to the sea through residential neighborhoods. I came across another train station and thought I would try to take the train across the border to Italy, but then I saw a lot of border patrol entering another train and remembered that I forgot my passport at the hotel (whoops). Sometimes in the EU, passports aren’t checked and I usually don’t like to have mine on me in case I get pickpocketed. But this didn’t look promising.
I left the train station and walked back to the water. There was a sign that said the border was 1,000 meters away, so I strolled closer to see if I could just walk into Italy (for the hell of it). But no, more border patrol. Fair.
I went back through town and the train station to head back to Nice. The train leaving Menton was delayed and when I finally boarded, I got a text that it would be the last train of the day, many hours before the usual end of service. I realized that if I had gone to Italy, I likely would have been stranded there.
The universe did not want me going to Italy that day!! It worked out, Menton was lovely.
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