Grand Genoa

October 31, 2026 / fgrtommo / 1 Comment

Our last stop on our trip along the French and Italian Riviera was this grand old city of Genoa. Having just gone back through my holiday photos, I realise now that I took far more pictures in Genoa than in any other of our stop-offs; there is just so much to see and admire.

There are the palaces, many of which have become museums and art galleries. There are mazes of Medieval streets (the ‘Caruggi’), multiple squares and imposing public buildings. There are spectacular views from the hills above the city that are accessible by a lift and funiculars. And there is the port where many of the old warehouses and harboursides are now full of restaurants and bars and where a film-prop galleon (Roman Polanski’s Neptune) is berthed prominently harbourside.

We had a very full 48 hours in Genoa. It’s a busy, gritty city packed with things to see. It’s a city that seems comfortable with its somewhat faded grandeur. It appears to be preserving, restoring and exploiting it for tourism as well as posterity.

The Palaces

Most of the famous palaces are in Via Garibaldi and our family hotel was conveniently located between that impressive street and the railway station. As soon as we left our hotel, having stashed our luggage in our room one more time, we started to pass palaces. One such is now part of Genoa University (below).

*^{Genoa University (Palazzo Dell’Universita)}*

Opposite is Palazzo Reale which, like many of the palaces, was built in the mid-17^th Century. We peeked in but pressed on and by the time we had arrived in Via Garibaldi, it was clear that we were in a very special town centre with a myriad of medieval, baroque and renaissance buildings in almost every direction we looked.

*^{Buildings On Our Way To Via Garibaldi}*

We saved entering the Via Garibaldi palaces until our second full day in the city. Three of the main palaces make up the Strada Nuova Museums and can be visited with a single ticket. Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Tursi are magnificent Baroque/Renaissance buildings comprising over 75 rooms. The whole is an incredible UNESCO site of history and art.

Palaces in Via Garibaldi

Palazzo Rosso is as red as its name suggests. When built, most of the internal terraces and stairwells must have been open to the elements. Significant repairs were required following damage during the Second World war and then further restoration was undertaken that was completed in 2022. This has enclosed the terraces in glass so the vistas are still evident but the art works in the building are fully protected from the weather.

The principal rooms themselves are largely empty of furniture but almost all are decorated ornately. The ceilings, in particular, were incredible in room after room. Many of the walls are now devoted to displays of Italian and Flemish art, much of which was collected by the families that lived in the building until it was donated to the city in 1874.

*^{Some Of The Ceiling Paintings, Palazzo Rosso, Genoa}*

The top floor of the palace is perhaps the most interesting. It was a retreat for some members of the family during the 19^th century. Then, as part of the post-war renovation, the floor became a self-contained apartment and the living quarters of the Director of the Civic Museums, Caterina Mercardo, and home to her own art (subsequently donated to the city). The apartment was designed by Franco Albini and then, following use as offices, was fully restored early in 20^th century. It’s low ceilings and the mundane functions of rooms such as the bathroom and kitchen act as a great counterpoint to the huge rooms of the rest of the palace.

The Top Floor Apartment, Palazzo Rosso, Genoa — ^{The Top Floor Apartment, Including Some Mid-20th Century Furniture And Function, Palazzo Rosso, Genoa}

Palazzo Bianco is opposite and is, indeed, predominantly white. Like Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Bianco has been renovated and transformed from a huge residence into an art gallery and museum. I enjoyed the art here rather more than I had in Palazzo Rosso but there is just so much of it that I couldn’t focus on it all. Instead, I spent time in the terrace garden which was very pleasant in the sunshine.

Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Rosso From Its Terrace — *^{Palazzo Bianco and (Top Right) Palazzo Rosso From The Palazzo Bianco Terrace Garden}*

Adjoining Palazzo Bianco is Palazzo Doria Tursi. This too has been renovated earlier this century and now is a museum for art, coins, ceramics, violins and more. The central courtyard of this palace is particularly beautiful.

Later in our first day, we visited Palazzo Reale which we had passed by earlier. This too is amazing, especially the Hall of Mirrors, the Throne Room and the courtyard at its centre. The garden is undergoing repairs and the views from it are impaired by modern buildings and the massive, elevated harbour road. Nonetheless I’m very glad we fitted in a visit.

Palazzo Reale Hall OF Mirrors, Throne Room And Terrace — *^{Palazzo Reale Hall Of Mirrors, Throne Room And Terrace}*

The Caruggi, Cathedrals and Squares

The Medieval streets separate the large, detached palaces and residential blocks in the Old Town and provided access for the rich merchants and aristocracy to the port. This complex of streets is called the Caruggi.

The blind corners and tight alleys lead to small squares with churches (we visited Chiesa di Santa Maria Maddalena), art and craft shops, and small cafes. Rat traps are prevalent but we only saw one rat. The area is intriguing but we declined traversing the Caruggi at night.

Chiesa Di Santa Maria Maddalena

Beyond the Via Garibaldi and the Caruggi are a number of squares. Piazza San Lorenzo contains the Cathedral of San Lorenzo which is very calming and beautiful as most such cathedrals are, but which also offered unusual and welcome views from a balcony above the nave and outside on the roof.

The nearby Piazza Matteotti was also impressive with the Palazzo Ducale on its northern side. A busy street leads from here to the eastern and originally Medieval gate to the city, Porta Soprana, and some monastery ruins.

Cloister Di Sant'Andrea — *^{Cloister Di Sant’Andrea}*

It was here that we first noticed a preponderance of what appeared to be St George’s Cross flags. It seems that England shares the St George’s Cross with cities across Northern Italy and it is the ensign of the Republic of Genoa. Wikipedia helped out and says ‘King Richard the Lionheart, passing through Genoa in 1189-1190 to embark on the Third Crusade wanted his ships to benefit from the protection of the Genoese fleet. The English Monarch paid an annual tribute to the Doge of Genoa for this privilege.’ This was interesting to us given the current fuss in England about flying the flag……

From Piazza Dante (which was adjacent to a spectacularly large moped parking area), we walked back north to Piazza De Ferrari which is the largest square in the city. This is surrounded by a mix of old and new. It was in one of the side streets here that we found a restaurant Jane had identified through her contacts on Instagram as our favoured place to dine that night: Trattoria Rosmarino. The restaurant is aligned with the Slow Food Movement which Jane has been following. Our meal there, and the accompanying service, was indeed excellent.

The Hills

On the first day of our Genoa stay, we took the Ascensore Castelletto Levante Lift to a small hill overlooking the city. There were wide views of course but the most interesting thing was the Art Nouveau design of the decorations around the entry points and of the lift itself.

There are at least three funiculars in Genoa. We eventually found the entrance the longest of these, the Zecca–Righi funicular and travelled through several commuter stations to rise over 900 feet above the city. From the top, we could look many miles north to old fort-topped mountains and far along the valley of the Bisagno, the main river flowing from the Ligurian Apennines and through Genoa.

*^{The Zecca Righi Funicular And Views From The Top}*

Both these excursions were fun breaks from the art, architecture and bustle of the city.

The Port

We found restaurants and bars in Genoa port that, if one ignored the motorway overhead, was very attractive. We enjoyed strolling around. The large yachts and a huge cruise liner called the MSC Grandiosa were on show. The latter is vast and can accommodate an astonishing over 8,000 customers and crew.

*^{Genoa Port Including Palazzo San Giorgio}*

The centrepiece of the port is the inverted spider structure that supports various canopies and Bigo, a lift offering 40-foot-high views of the harbour and beyond. Unfortunately, this lift wasn’t working when we visited but we enjoyed the port anyway. Particularly spectacular was a sunset as we walked along the harbourside on our last evening in the city. A lovely finish to a very good segment of our holiday before setting off for home.

Into Italy: Alassio

October 24, 2026 / fgrtommo / 1 Comment

From Menton, we travelled further east to Alassio in Italy via a change of train in Ventimiglia, coastal views and many tunnels (and with our luggage full of clean clothing again).

In many ways, Alassio felt similar to Menton but here the vibe is more focused on tourism and the restaurants are as much on the sandy beach as it is in cafes further back in the Old Town. And, of course, we were now in Italy; Jane’s invaluable semi-fluency in French was now irrelevant and both of us have minimal Italian. How lucky we are that English is such a universal language! How lucky too that the weather was still so brilliant.

We walked from the train station to our hotel through narrow streets including the the Budello, a historic street that runs parallel to the coast. Between the lanes running off it and the ochre coloured houses, there are attractive glimpses of the Mediterranean.

Views East And West From Our Hotel Room

Our hotel (Diana Grand Hotel) was on the edge of the town centre and adjacent to the beach. This was the plushest hotel we stayed in during our French and Italian Riviera trip. Our room and the bar downstairs have great views along the coast. One of two main dining areas is on the beach just below the hotel under vast stretches of canvas. Our very relaxed breakfast was in the bar area and was, as was the case for most hotels on our trip, included in the package. Apart from the challenge of getting someone to bring coffee at breakfast, all the service, food and drink was excellent.

Diana Grand Hotel Bar - Very Comfortable! — *^{Diana Grand Hotel Bar – Very Comfortable!}*

Like Menton, there were steep hillsides behind the town with exotic gardens. We booked some of the limited tickets to attend a guided tour of one such garden attached to the Villa della Pergola luxury guesthouse. The tours are quite restricted for those not staying in the villa, booking was essential, and Jane did a good job of getting us tickets.

The gardens are another example of Brits buying up land in the 19^th century and creating gardens that remind them of home. In this case, General McMurdo bought the land in 1875, built two villas and began laying out and planting the garden with both local and more traditional British species that thrived in the mild, Mediterranean climate on a south facing hillside. His work was continued by a Scottish baronet, and then the English Hanbury family who had other gardens further along the coast.

*^{Views In Villa Della Pergola Gardens, Alassio}*

Post the Second World War, British land owners along the Riviera began to sell up. The Villa della Pergola gardens gradually fell into disrepair and wilderness. The land was nearly sold for housing developments in 2006 but was bought by an Italian family who restored the gardens to their current splendour. Indeed, there are plans to expand the property very considerably and we could see some of the extravagant building work underway across a deep valley.

*^{Villa Della Pergola Gardens, Alassio}*

The gardens are already lovely and offer huge views over Alassio and the Ligurian coast. They include some rare species and very large collections of citrus, agapanthus and wisteria plants. None of these were in flower during our visit but in Spring these collections must be spectacular. Our guide was excellent and our tour was unhurried; it was a great way to spend a couple of hours.

We wandered through Alassio centre a couple of times and saw the apparently famous Muretto. This is a wall, adjacent to a pleasant park, that is encrusted with small ceramics signed by celebrities (mainly Italian) that have attended a local café since the 1950’s. The wall is intriguing, and it was fun for a few minutes to try and spot names I recognised (for example Louis Armstrong, Ernest Hemingway). However, the wall is continuing to be populated with small decorative ceramics, the quality seems to be decreasing, and the overall look is now a little messy.

*^{Views In Alassio Including The Muretto (Bottom Right)}*

We also visited a couple of churches in the town and they were as peaceful and pleasant as others we had visited elsewhere on our trip. The Town Hall looked impressive and, on the coast in the Old Town there is a handsome 16^th century defensive tower called the Coscia Tower.

*^{Chiesa Di Santa Maria Immacolata, Alassio. Quiet And Relaxing}*

I also really enjoyed a sunset walk I undertook to the east of the town to La Cappelletta. This is a small, 100-year-old chapel built to commemorate those lost at sea. The promontory on which it sits and the chapel itself were deserted apart from some young boys diving off nearby rocks and a few swifts in the roof space.

The view of Alassio and beyond became particularly beautiful as the sun set. I sat around for quite some time watching the sunset behind the mountains north of Alassio. I contemplated our very enjoyable stay in the town and our good fortune at the timing of our visit to this part of the world, and our ability to do so.

Alassio From La Cappellatta — *^{Alassio From La Cappelletta}*

Genoa next.

Menton And The Machine Wash

October 21, 2026 / fgrtommo / 1 Comment

The memories of our French and Italian Riviera trip are, inevitably, fading as post-holiday activities have resumed and taken up head-space. But reprising the experience of our trip in these blog posts is keeping memories of the holiday fresher than would otherwise be the case and so I’ll continue…. On to Menton.

I’d not heard of Menton before the itinerary of our trip became clear. It is one of many towns along the French Riviera with a long history, a small fishing industry, some beautiful historic buildings and a mild sub-tropical Mediterranean climate that supports exotic plants and gardens.

The centrepiece and main tourist attraction in the town is the Les Rampes Saint Michel. This is a series of steep, stepped, cobbled ramps that rise directly from the cafes and bars on the coast to the core of a square bounded on two sides by the Basilique Saint Michel Archange and the Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs. The very attractive zig zag ramps were mostly built in the 18^th century but, following the Second World War, were restored well near the base.

Menton Old Town — Les Rampes Saint-Michel

To the immediate north of the square at the top of the ramps is an incline with a labyrinth of narrow lanes lined by tall, ochre buildings. At the top, sits Le Cimetière du Vieux Château. It has an interesting history as a re-purposed site of the ancient citadel protecting the town. It was developed as a cemetery in the 19^th century after Napoleon had decreed that churches could no longer be used for burials and the spare land around Menton’s Basilica ran out. Today it hosts dramatic family vaults and tombstones and provides peaceful but tremendous views of the coast and the Old Town below.

An interest from British aristocracy over the last couple of hundred years in buying up land along the French and Italian Riviera to provide holiday homes with exotic gardens attached was apparent throughout our holiday. Menton has several great exemplars of such houses and gardens. Some of these are open to the public.

We visited the delightful Val Rahmeh-Menton Botanical Garden which was up a steep hill behind our harbour-side hotel. In 1905, Sir Percy Radcliffe started to transform a former farm into a villa and surrounding garden and named it after his wife. In 1957, May Campbell, a wealthy woman from England, bought the estate and enhanced the planting to create an exotic garden full of floral and other horticultural treasures.

There are now over 1,600 different species of planting the garden including a wide variety of bamboo and unusual citrus plants. The current microclimate supports this temperate, sub-tropical and tropical arrangement but I wonder if climate change is going to increase the need for further adaption in the future. For now, it is a lovely place to visit.

*^{Four Of The Many Bamboo Species In Val Rahmeh Botanical Garden}*

Another highpoint in our sight-seeing was a visit to the Hôtel de Ville. This is the Town Hall and it houses the famous Wedding Hall decorated by Jean Cocteau in 1957. The audio tour of the hall that was provided was useful to help us pick out some of the themes in Cocteau’s murals. Certainly, it would be a memorable location for any wedding.

Jean Cocteau's Murals In The Wedding Hall, Menton — *^{Jean Cocteau’s Murals In The Wedding Hall, Menton}*

The Jean Cocteau Museum and the Cathedral were both closed for renovation and repair but much of Menton – the Old Town, the best buildings of the New Town, the palm strewn beach – were very pleasant. We ate well too and especially at Tony Restaurant which had great sea views.

*^{Inside Basilica Saint-Michel Archange}*

Our enjoyable stay was much enhanced by the renewal of our laundry. How to get our laundry done while hopping from one location along the Riviera to another had been bugging me from the time we first booked the trip (I’m a worrier). In Menton, Jane located some public laundry machines near our hotel and we gave them a try.

We survived failing to read the instructions about absolutely not adding our own detergent to the wash – there was too much foam but at least it didn’t burst from the machine. However, when we opened the door at the end of the cycle, our clothes smelt a lot worse than when they went in. We piled the stinky, damp washing into a bag and retreated to our hotel. Fortunately, the bathroom there was large with two sinks and a bidet, our balcony was also spacious, and the weather was breezy and sunny. We handwashed and dried our laundry and I loved the fact that, as we left Menton, I had a bag full of clean clothing again.

Naval Toulon

October 10, 2026 / fgrtommo / 1 Comment

Toulon was a substantial change up from Cassis in terms of scale as we pursued our French and Italian Riviera trip. Toulon is an industrial and working town rather than a pure tourist destination. It is about a fifth the size of Marseilles but, in some ways, had a similar feel. It is another coastal port with a grand square, an old town which is criss crossed with narrow streets, and some very attractive buildings.

Here the port is dominated by the French Navy. Of course, much of that part of the port is off limits. However, we were able to get a good feel for the naval history of the city and its current importance as a naval base from visit to the Maritime Museum and a ferry trip out to the Saint-Mandrier-Sur-Mer peninsula opposite Toulon harbour.

The ferry trip reminded me of the ferry that crossed Hong Kong harbour that we had travelled on to sightsee Hong Kong bay nine years ago. As then, we paid a tiny fee to travel back and forth across the bay and here we were able to take in some big views of Toulon, its surrounds and some of the redundant and current naval ships including, in the distance, the Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier. It was refreshing to be in the sun, in the breeze and taking in an unusual view of the city.

*^{Views Of Toulon From The Ferry To/From Saint-Mandrier-Sur-Mer}*

The Maritime Museum was quiet, nicely laid out and enough exhibits, models and historical context were explained in English to make it very informative. Toulon has been a port since Roman times. Since the 15^th century, the city has gradually become one of the pre-eminent naval centres in France where most ships are berthed and maintained (but not built).

*^{Outside And Inside The Maritime Museum, Toulon}*

That development has not been smooth. There have been multiple blockades of the port (including one by the British led by Horatio Nelson), explosions of ships undergoing maintenance which killed hundreds of workers and, in the Second World War, the scuttling of many military boats in the harbour by the French Vichy government as naval leaders faced German advances to commandeer the fleet.

We had arrived in Toulon on a Sunday so the city was relatively quiet. We targeted lunch at L’Epicerie, which Jane had previously singled out as recommended. Unfortunately, the relative peacefulness was disrupted by a DJ who was playing at the restaurant. The food was organic, tasty and good (although I prefer my panisse with garlic not tomato sauce) but the DJ initially played loud music we didn’t like before chilling out a bit. We must be getting old…..

Quiet Sunday In Toulon Old Town — *^{Quiet Sunday Afternoon In Toulon Old Town}*

We wandered through some of the streets including the Cours Lafayette Market, and enjoyed the tightly packed old town just inland from the modern buildings of the harbour front. We were fascinated by the underground receptacles for household and other rubbish; above ground these took up very little space and were unobtrusive. They looked like a great idea and we wondered if these are facilities we will see more often nearer to home in the future.

We visited the Toulon Cathedral which is also unobtrusive from the outside and has shops and houses so adjacent to it that they seem to be part of the same structure. Inside, it is dark with only five windows of stained glass. That made it a very atmospheric space.

The following day, the city and, especially, the market was more bustling. We left the city centre by taking the cable car up to The Mont Faron which is a substantial mountain overlooking the city and a huge expanse of the Mediterranean. The views on the way up and from the cable car terminal on the mountain are tremendous.

*^{The Cable Car To Mont Faron And The Chapel Built Into The Mountain}*

I wandered on to a chapel (Sanctuaire Notre-Dame du Faron) created in the mid-20^th century from an old military store that had been built into the mountain. I walked on the Mont Faron Memorial to Allies who dies in the Second World War and to some further sun-bathed views of the mountains to the north and west. The pines afforded some shade in what was increasing heat but it was good to get back to the cable terminal.

By the time we returned to the city we were ready for a drink with our lunch. Jane had identified another Provencal speciality called Daube which is a beef stew. In practice, to pursue a taste of that, we went to a family restaurant called Frankie that served lovely flat buns with a variety of fillings (including Daube which I tried and enjoyed) in neat little paper wrappings. These were delicious.

We followed up with our hydration with some local wine and a few snacks at a bar in one of the pretty squares and headed back to our hotel for rest and sleep.

By this time in our holiday, we were getting into the swing of the two nights in a town or city routine. We left Toulon full of a very good hotel breakfast, very happy and excited for the next stop in Nice.

Cassis and Calanque

October 5, 2026 / fgrtommo / 1 Comment

The train journey along the coast from Marseilles to Cassis was mainly inland and involved a lot of tunnels. This section, like several others we travelled on later in the holiday seemed to be quite a feat of engineering and I was surprised that it had been first built in the middle of the 19^th century. We left this leg of the railway at Cassis station and caught a very crowded shuttle bus to the town a few miles away.

We walked through the town centre and along the harbour front, which was lined with restaurants and cafes, to our hotel, Le Golfe. It was immediately obvious that the town thrives almost purely on tourism and is a different scale and feel to Marseilles. After the hubbub of Marseilles this was a welcome change. Indeed, throughout our French and Italian Riviera trip, the variety of stop offs was a really positive feature of the itinerary that Byway Travel had planned for us.

*^{Our Hotel Balcony View – The Room Was Small But The Balcony Was An Unexpected Bonus}*

Cassis harbour is pretty and overlooked by the limestone Saint-Cyr range of mountains and, to the east, Cap Canaille. This headland is the highest sea cliff in France at 1,293 feet. It is a mix of conglomerate rock, limestone and sandstone and the colours at sunset were stunning.

*^{The Cliffs Overlooking Cassis Harbour At Sunset}*

Also overlooking the town, and on the lower slopes of Cap Canaille, is Chateau de Cassis. This was built in the 13^th century as a castle and is now a set of rooms marketed as a luxury retreat. It is not open to the public but, from afar, it looks fascinating and very picturesque.

As we wandered around Cassis, we assessed the various eateries and concluded they were all very similar and all very popular with tourists like us. We picked Olea Cassis, rather over-ordered some substantial portions and then found a little lie down in our room too tempting. We visited St Michel church and investigated the Calanques boat tours ready for the following day. I strolled along the waterfront beyond the harbour to see the sunset on Cap Canaille and then had an early night. This was all very relaxing.

I’m not sure why but I always have to be persuaded to go on boat trips. However, Jane was clear from the time we booked the holiday package that we would be going on a boat to see the Calanques. These are an impressive set of limestone cliffs with inlets akin to fjords formed when caves collapsed as sea levels have changed.

*^{Views Of The Calanques From Our Boat}*

There are several such inlets, separated by huge limestone cliffs, just west of Cassis. Each has a slightly different layout and rock features and each has its own name. Some of the beaches at the ends of the inlets are accessible by car, some by foot and some by boat or kayak. All were terrific to see from the sea, especially given the gorgeous sunny weather that we had.

The trip to see the Calanques was undoubtably the highlight of our stay in Cassis. On our return, I wandered the town again and visited the public park. This had a lot of ducks but none were in the very murky algae-ridden lake at the park’s centre. I made a brief stop at a supermarket for some beer and snacks and returned to the hotel.

*^{Approaching Cassis Harbour After Our Tour Of The Calanques}*

By this time, I was preparing my nerves for a Forest Green Rovers football game that I was planning to watch that evening in our room on a catch-up streaming service on Jane’s i-Pad. In the event, I shouldn’t have worried. I sat on the balcony of our room watching the game with a lovely backdrop of harbour and cliffs and we won 4-0.

*^{Watching My Football Team Win On Our Balcony}*

Next morning, still thinking buoyantly about that win, we had breakfast at our hotel. Le Golfe again served up what we agreed later was our favourite croissant of our whole holiday and we were ready to head off to our next stop: Toulon.

Marseilles: A Great Start

October 4, 2026 / fgrtommo / 1 Comment

In truth, our holiday on the French and Italian Riviera started when some old, very good friends put us up for the night at their house in London so that we could catch the Eurostar from Kings Cross St Pancras first thing next morning. They provided not only accommodation but great conversation and a dinner, the quality of which was barely matched during the rest of our holiday.

We left them early as planned and caught the Eurostar to Paris and then the TGV to Marseilles. We arrived early evening in time for some exploration of the city.

*^{Panorama Of Marseilles From A Rooftop Bar}*

Marseilles has featured in a number of thriller and crime series we have watched (Fauda Series 5 being the latest) and in those it has seemed to be a rather gritty, edgy, working city. However, our initial view of the harbour area rather scotched that impression with its grand Norman Foster mirror canopy, the myriad of boats bobbing in the harbour and its busy tourist vibe.

Views Around Marseilles Harbour Including The Dosorienting Norman Foster Canopy (Bottom Right) — *^{Views Around Marseilles Harbour Including The Rather Disorienting Norman Foster Canopy (Bottom Right)}*

We headed up and out of the harbour for dinner and a drink in the Le Panier area of Marseilles. This was rather more of what I had expected with its old, narrow streets, numerous small shops and cafes, and its prolific street art.

We had our first authentic taste of panisse, a local speciality made primarily from pan-fried chickpea flour that are cut into sticks to be dipped in a garlic or tomato sauce. We ate panisse several times during our holiday. I thought that the best was served with a great garlic sauce at Cafe Buvo in Marseille.

We strolled around Le Panier as the sun set over the harbour, retreated to our hotel for a relatively early night, and prepared for our first full day of sightseeing.

Jane had researched places to have the sort of breakfasts that she likes and on both mornings in Marseilles, we started our day in Deïa Coffee & Kitchen which was great. I think these turned out to be the best breakfasts we had during our holiday.

My Turkish eggs set me up for my first 30,000 steps day of the holiday. First, we walked the length of the inner harbour, getting our bearings, admiring the basilica high on the hill to the east and the old fort at the mouth of the harbour. Opposite this fort is the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (MUCEM) and we spent the rest of the morning in and around this.

The building housing the museum is new and is a cube that is completely surrounded by a concrete lattice and linked to much older buildings and to gardens by elevated and terraced walkways. I loved it although it was easy to get lost.

Inside were exhibitions laying out, for example, the French occupation of Algeria and the colonial attempts to marry artistic and cultural interest in the way of life there, with the expropriation of the Algerian oil and other resources. There was also an exhibition of the work of fashion designer Mossi Traore. I hadn’t heard of him before but it was a good exhibition and I could see why he had become, from modest beginnings, so successful. I particularly enjoyed his football kit designs.

We walked past the Cosquer Cultural Centre and the Museum of Provence – both modern buildings – and visited the nearby Catholic Cathédrale de la Major. We then wandered back into Le Panier to see The Old Charity Centre. This was built in the 18^th century to house beggars and then became a hospice. When we visited, it was showing an exhibition of pastel-coloured, hanging textiles which added a bit of extra interest.

*^{The Old Charity Centre and Le Panier}*

After lunch, Jane and I split up for a few hours. I walked to the The Musée des Beaux-Arts. The art gallery itself was disappointing (but free and almost empty of people) but the adjoining Le Palais Longchamp is spectacular with an almost infeasibly large cascade between two impressive terraces and buildings. A couple were having their wedding photos taken with the Palais as a backdrop and I imagine this is a common feature at this amazing site.

Our sightseeing was not yet done. Inadvertently, I walked a long detour through the lively Cours Julien area (which is apparently famous for its nightlife) on my way to meet Jane at the Notre-Dame de la Garde. This basilica stands prominently on a substantial hill overlooking the city. I was getting tired and I recall looking up from a road that I thought was close to the basilica and being surprised at how much more climbing I had to do to get to it.

Of course, the views from outside the basilica are spectacular in all directions and there were many fellow tourists enjoying these. The interior is also impressive – a huge, cavernous space with gold ceilings and striped columns.

Inside And Views From Notre Dame De La Garde

To round off our day, we shared a dinner of interesting small plates at Nabu and Jero back in Cours Julien. All the dishes were tasty although Jane refused one that had surprisingly uncooked egg white in it. We survived.

Marseilles Sunset

Next morning, after breakfast at Deia again, we made our way past the harbour one last time and, from the station, set off for our next stop: Cassis.

Byway, Railway, and Riviera Cities

September 30, 2026 / fgrtommo / 9 Comments

Jane and I have just returned from a two and a half week Interrail holiday along the French and Italian Riviera between Marseilles and Genoa. It was an excellent holiday. One of my daughter-in-laws asked what was best about it and, in typical fashion I’m afraid, I replied: “well, nothing went wrong”. In truth though, pretty much everything went right.

*^{Travelling By Train Through The Alps}*

The weather was great. There was blue sky and, apart from about 4 hours in Paris on our way home, brilliant sunshine all day. It wasn’t too hot – we wouldn’t have coped well with the much hotter temperatures prevalent a few weeks before. There were no wildfires to worry about. We’d packed the right clothing and managed to launder enough on the way to feel fresh (though our use of a public laundry in Menton was a disaster and it was fortunate our bathroom there was big enough to accommodate the rewash we did in the bidet and the subsequent drying out!)

We had booked the holiday as a package with Byway Travel. For the premium we undoubtedly paid for getting a package rather than creating our own tour, I think we got peace of mind and good value. The trains were punctual enough and we always had a seat. The hotels were very varied but very good although the number of stairs we had to climb in a couple of them was a bit daunting.

100 Steps in Our First Hotel Of The Trip - Good Job We Are Reasonably Fit! — *^{100 Steps in Our First Hotel Of The Trip – Good Job We Are Reasonably Fit!}*

The selection of places we visited for two nights each – Marseilles, Cassis, Toulon, Nice, Menton, Alassio, Genoa and, on our way home, Paris (via train changes in Milan and Zurich) – were also varied in size and feel.

Zurich - A Brief Stop Off To Stretch Legs And Change Trains — *^{Zurich – A Brief Stop Off To Stretch Legs And Change Trains}*

Unexpectedly, two nights in each place felt like enough and, once we got into the routine, changing accommodation every other day became a pleasant routine not a chore. We might revisit one or two of the big cities we saw but, if we do something similar in the future (and I hope we will), then I think we will try a different part of Europe.

*^{Alassio: Drinks On The Hotel Terrace And Dinner On The Hotel Beach}*

Getting back into our home routine has been quick and easy. We got back home on a Friday at 5.30pm and managed to get to the local pub for our normal Friday night imbibing with local mates by 6pm. We have both restarted maintenance of our garden. We have both started our respective work and volunteering duties. There’s a home Forest green Rovers football match to attend tonight.

What remains is sorting out of the hundreds of photos I took while we were away. Once I have done that, I plan to post brief summaries of the town and city visits included in our holiday. Then we are off to Edinburgh to visit family there and will plan some more trips. I’m getting into the swing of this holiday lark!

Value: Home and Away

August 2, 2026 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

My life in retirement is one of pleasant routine interrupted – maybe I should even say disrupted – by occasional events. I get up at about the same time every day and have one of two breakfasts every morning; either fruit and yogurt with a bit of nut butter or, on days following the purchase of the best local sourdough (currently Leola in my opinion), bread or toast with homemade jam or Marmite. Lovely!

When at home, I have the same lunch every day; crunchy salad with feta and toasted seeds. Dinner is more varied since I only do about half the evening cooking and Jane, my wife, likes variety, but baked salmon filets or a two-day batch of dal are almost guaranteed by me each week.

*^{A View Near Ruskin Mill On The Walk To Nailsworth}*

After breakfast I do the 30 minute or so walk into the local town of Nailsworth for the day’s shopping and my, and a neighbour’s, newspaper. Jane can’t believe I’m happy to do this every day but there are about 8 different routes to take so this aspect of my routine does have variety.

*^{Another View On The Way To Nailsworth}*

There is also variety in the activities in late morning and the afternoon. These include regular but short periods of volunteering, gardening, administration of my simple affairs, more walking, reading about current affairs (and almost always snoozing for a bit during that) and, of course, occasionally writing this blog. Then at 5pm Jane and I, almost invariably, have tea and do the Guardian Quick Crossword together.

During the football season all this has to fit around Forest Green Rovers games (it’s so good to get back to proper football after the political and financial extravagances of the World Cup!)

After dinner, when there isn’t a Forest Green Rovers game, Jane and I watch streamed TV series. Usually, our mutual choice settles on European crime series in which there is a gory death in first few minutes (often followed by others) by a serial killer that needs to be found by a police man or woman with terrible personal issues. We are currently watching a Greek thriller of this ilk. At least the subtitles force us away from constantly looking at our mobile phones.

On Sunday’s and Friday evenings and on the monthly quiz night, we visit our local pub. (Incidentally, our Quiz Team insisted recently, and against my protests, on changing our longstanding team name to ‘Paul Hates Change’. Actually, I dislike the prospect of change rather than change itself but there was sufficient truth in the name that I couldn’t argue against the update.)

I think I’m gradually getting better at coping with the unexpected but I love sticking to all of my routine and our Friday evenings in the local pub are special. We go confident that there will be at least someone who we will meet and have a great conversation with; and the beer is great.

If We Don't To The Pub We Can Always Enjoy The View From Our Field's Seat — *^{If We Don’t Make It To The Pub, We Can Always Enjoy The View Of The Route To It}*

I bumped into one of my best local friends earlier this week to ask if, he was going to be in the pub on the coming Friday. He said yes and pointed out that of all the activities we undertake, going to the pub for the informal meeting of a few locals provides one of the best ratios in terms of effort input and value returned. I agreed and his summation got me thinking….

Over the last several years, Jane has made our garden wonderful. Despite the lack of rain over the last couple of months, it has matured and is still full of colour and insect wildlife. It is a pleasure to sit in with a glass of wine on sunny evenings. Of course, we lack the chat and gossip of pub-goers but Jane and I celebrated our 41^st wedding anniversary last week (rest assured that my daily routine was pretty much unchanged that day!) so we have plenty of shared history, offspring and other stuff to talk about. Perhaps this garden lounging is the lowest energy input activity matched against considerable value.

We recently went to the RHS Badminton Flower Show. It was great that such a prestigious flower show was just down the road from us this year. It was good too that we got there as it opened and before the most intense crowds of visitors.

*^{Flowers And Gardens At The RHS Badminton Flower Show}*

The gardens and the flower and plant tents were inspiring. This was especially true of the extensive show garden by Tom Stuart-Smith that was a reflection of the garden he had designed with Julia Rausing at Lasborough Park (which, in another outing and break from the routine, we had visited last month).

Tom Stuart-Smith's Garden At The RHS Flower Show — *^{Tom Stuart-Smith’s Garden At The RHS Flower Show}*

The show included a themed garden by a garden designer who lives in our village which made me feel good. But it was very hot and became increasingly crowded and, after a couple of hours, I’d had enough. It was a break from routine and I know I should do more to get variety into life. However, Jane’s garden feels as good as the individual show gardens at Badminton, its cheaper and easier to get to and a lot less crowded!

Jane's Recently Renovated Potting Shed — *^{Jane’s Recently Renovated Potting Shed}*

One other recent break from routine which was very enjoyable was to meet up with Youngest Son and his wife in Oxford. They had been over from Belfast to attend a wedding the previous day. We met up for coffee and then a very pleasant and sunny lunch on the roof of the Ashmolean Museum. We checked out the famous exhibition of Egyptian mummies and other relics in the museum and then had a good walk together through the Jericho area and along the Oxford Canal.

*^{Views Of Oxford: Bodleian Library, University Church And Divinity School}*

Next month we are having a more complete break from the norm. We are off on a rail trip to France and Italy. That will definitely be high effort and cost input but, of course, the pleasures promise to be huge in return.

I enjoy holidays more than I did when I had the pressure of work at either end of them. Nonetheless, I’m increasingly thinking about how I will cope out of my home comfort zone. Will the trains run on time? What about climate change and wildfires? Given we are staying in a series of hotels, will we have to eat out all the time? How many pairs of socks and other items of clothing will I need to take? Where will we do our laundry? Can I watch the Forest Green Games that I’ll be missing online?

It’ll be fine I’m sure but I’m already looking forward to the first Friday after we return and a reunion with local mates in the pub over a proper English beer.

Betwixtmas in Belfast

January 4, 2026 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

The period between Christmas Day and New Years Eve appears to have a new name (new for me, anyway): Betwixtmas. These few days at the end of December can feel like a strange little lull. Christmas Day is such a climax of social interaction, celebration, eating and drinking. Then, although we no longer stay up to see the New Year in, the advent of a New Year is another cause for celebration and new hope. The days in between often feel calm but can also feel like filler.

Until quite late in my career, I usually drifted into work or ‘worked from home’ to get peripheral tasks done without using up precious holiday allowances. Because so many colleagues were out of the office for the holiday period, I could often get a surprising amount done. Later, I tended to take time off to chill out after Christmas away from London. Now I’m retired, there are even more options to relax into Betwixtmas.

This year we were lucky enough to be able to spend Betwixtmas in Belfast with Youngest Son (YS) and his wife. For us this year, Betwixtmas was busy and bright – certainly not ‘filler’. Our Belfast trip followed our first Boxing Day for nearly 40 years without any offspring. The uniqueness of that was tempered by a sunny walk, a very good lunch at a local and recently expanded pub (The Old Fleece), a brief visit to nearby friends and then an early night.

The weather in Belfast was very good for the time of year and the logistics of travel to get there worked. Once we were in Belfast, we had a really relaxed and great time.

^{Views From The Metropolitan Arts Centre, Belfast}

YS and his wife are a brilliant team. They are currently setting up a new osteopathy and Pilates business called Nellie Studio. This will be on a floor of a Victorian warehouse in East Belfast that they are renovating. They have grappled with the treacle of having to obtain planning permission and building regulations control for the listed building and are now pressing the letting agent and builders to get the space ready for income generating osteopathy treatments and Pilates workouts. Observing the way they are working together to achieve all of this was inspiring.

Billie Studio's Osteopathay Treatment Room Taking Shape — Screenshot

^{Billie Studio’s Osteopathy Treatment Room Taking Shape}

In between dashing across Belfast to source curtain poles and extra wood flooring, while we babysat their dog, YS and his wife entertained us with films and sport in their cosy lounge, trips to excellent restaurants and walks in surprisingly sunny weather. For me, the only blemish to Betwixtmas was that Forest Green Rovers (the football team I support rather too obsessively) failed to win either of the televised games in the period.

*^{Dog (Reggie) Sitting With A Very Relaxed Dog}*

Belfast is a significantly smaller city than Bristol or Edinburgh where our other sons live. However, it is developing quickly as the Northern Ireland Troubles gradually recede into history. Young entrepreneurs appear to be establishing new independent businesses and there is already a busy and excellent café, restaurant and bar scene. There are far fewer of these than in, say, Edinburgh; but how many does one need? Belfast has enough and is developing further between each of our visits.

Breakfasts are particularly well done. Cultura again stood out for me as the most outstanding breakfast but we also had a great brunch at DRIP and the best coffee was at Established which has long been one of our favourite breakfast haunts.

On an outing to the south of Belfast, we visited Fodder in the Woods for a burger lunch and then wandered around the associated gift and food shops and Finnebrogue Woods. It seems that, well beyond Belfast, young businesses are starting up everywhere.

*^{Fodder In The Woods And Finnebrogue Loch}*

We also had a treat of a dinner at the new Capparelli at the Mill restaurant that has been established by one of Yotam Ottolenghi’s ex-chefs. It is in a lovely building that has been expanded imaginatively and lovingly. The service and food were outstanding and I can’t wait to go again.

Capparelli Mill — *^{The Approach To Capparelli At The Mill}*

We ate very well throughout our stay. YS, his wife and her mother all produced great home cooking for us on successive evenings. We also visited a couple of pubs that we hadn’t been to before (The Jeggy Nettle, which had a lovely open fire, and Northern Lights, which had a range of twenty craft beers of the type I like). YS also gave us the first margaritas we could recall drinking – complete with salt around the top of the glass – all very innovative and special for us!

'Archer Fam' Chicken Pie By YS's Wife - Delicious! — *^{‘Archer Fam’ Chicken Pie By YS’s Wife – Delicious!}*

We squeezed some culture and some walks into the schedule. As on previous Belfast visits we strolled through the Botanic Gardens to the Ulster Museum.

Here, the exhibition on the origin and history of The Troubles is well put together and informative. We had seen this before but there is too much to absorb in any one visit and this time I focused on the videos spelling out origins of The Troubles. We have seen the excellent, recent TV series Say Nothing, Trespasses and (most of) Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland and the Ulster Museum provided another dimension to our understanding of the issues and the way they have been, at least partially, resolved.

*_{Collection OF Ceramics By Local Artists At The Ulster Museum}*

On our last morning, we popped into the Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC) where there were exhibitions by William McKeown, Niamh Seana Meehan, Marie Hanlon & Rhona Clarke. Each one was diverting in their diverse ways and the building itself is interesting. I’m sure we will visit the Ulster Museum and the MAC again during future Belfast trips.

*^{Sea Skin By Niamh Seana Meehan At MAC}*

So, Betwixtmas was very successful for us this year. It came following a wonderful Christmas Day with Second Grandchild (SG), Middle Son (MS), his fiancée and her mother in Bristol. MS treated us to not only brunch but then a very tasty Christmas dinner of chicken, ham, pigs in blankets, stuffing and about six vegetable side dishes – my plate near overfloweth!

MS Was So Impressively In Control OF Chrismas Lunch (Ably Supported BY His Sous Chefs) That He Was Able To Take Us For a Walk Through St Werburghs, A Very Bohemian Part Of Bristol — ^{MS Was So Impressively In Control Of Christmas Lunch (Ably Supported By His Sous Chefs) That He Was Able To Take Us For a Walk Through St Werburghs, A Very Bohemian Part Of Bristol With Gaudi-esque Buildings}

Betwixtmas ends with New Year’s Eve. As we move past New Years Day and into the early days of the new year, there is a chance to think about hopes and resolutions for 2026. Maybe I’ll write about those New Year Resolutions later this month if I can sustain actually doing them for that long. Meanwhile, Happy New Year to all!

Great As It Is To Travel Away From Home, It Is Always Good To Come Back - Ruskin Mill In Winter Sun — ^{Great As It Is To Travel Away From Home, It Is Always Good To Come Back – Ruskin Mill In Winter Sun}

I Do Like A Plan!

December 18, 2025 / fgrtommo / 2 Comments

One of the things that occasionally frustrates Jane, my wife, is how I love to stick to routines. I’m not good with the unpredictable and the unexpected. Surprise visitors, sudden changes to imminent diary dates, unbidden moves of items from one storage location to another, furniture moves, unnecessary changes to mobile phone features; all tend to cause me more anxiety than they should, especially as they are trivial first-world problems and my wife loves them all.

I think that my craving for plans to achieve calm routines is why my career went best when I was in operational information technology. There, the reliability of day-to-day computer services is critical. Having computer services working smoothly day after day was a key aim – not least because running computer services is cheaper that way. Changes had to be managed very carefully and if an anomaly happened then all efforts were made to ensure they didn’t happen again. Plans and routine were lovely then and I still hanker for them.

Fortunately, especially since my retirement, my wife jolts me out of this way of being so I am forced to stay on my toes. She will be the one to suggest that we go to a different pub for our usual Sunday pint and crossword. She will change the drawer contents around in the kitchen so I can’t find anything for a few days. She will poke me into holidays and outings. I think I am better at embracing, and even instigating, change than before – for example, my cooking skills and bravery are vastly improved from a few years ago – but it is my wife who tends to really try new things.

Of course, external events also push me off my routine and disrupt our plans. COVID almost derailed our family Christmas in 2020 and it did ultimately erase our plans to walk the North Devon/Cornwall Coastal Path earlier that year. The weather has also intervened to prevent or near-ruin other holidays in the past.

*^{Opening The Bedroom Blinds To The Sort Of Winter Sunrise And Weather I Like!}*

Increasingly too, as I get older, I’m conscious that health issues can mess up the best laid plans and prevent implementation of my normal routines. For example, I hate it when an arthritic joint prevents me from walking comfortably into town to get the newspaper and daily shopping. Last month, the blow up of my ankle problem took me off my feet for a few days and this month, a bout of orbital cellulitis (an infection of the tissue around the eyes) did the same. Anyone would be annoyed at these unplanned health issues but I feel my anxiety about them is amplified somehow by my feeling of missing out on my usual pattern of life.

Those ‘outages’, as we called computer service failures in my working life, help me appreciate the days when I can just get on with the routine and think about plans relatively proactively and calmly. ‘Seize the day’ as Jane often tells me. I need to do that more.

The bones of our plans for Christmas and the New Year are pretty much in place and, while weather and health may, of course, disrupt them, I’m very happy with what is in store. We kick off with carols in a local church then dinner at ours with Jane’s siblings. Then Christmas Day will be with Second Grandchild (SG), his parents and his other grandparent. SG is a very happy little boy by nature and I can imagine he is going to be beside himself with Christmas cheer – while not yet fully understanding many of the related concepts.

Boxing Day will be just Jane and I – for the first time ever, I think, we will be on our own. I am hoping for a sunny, crisp, wintery day and a long walk to a local pub for a leisurely lunch.

*^{Winter Sunset At Ruskin Mill (Jane’s Photo)}*

Then we are off to Belfast to see Youngest Son and his wife. To round out the family tour, we are then in Edinburgh for four weeks during which another Scottish grandchild should arrive.

We were last in Edinburgh for First Grandchild’s (FG) fourth birthday. As usual, we had a great time as we mixed family socials with art and nature. Eldest Son and his wife always provide amazing hospitality and it was lovely to see how FG had developed since we last saw him in the summer. His sense of fun combined with his determination and focus on detail were brought out by some of the presents he got for his birthday. It is clear that he is going to love ‘LEGO®’!

The Water Of Leith - Very Full During Our November Visit to Edinburgh — *^{The Water Of Leith – Very Full During Our November Visit to Edinburgh}*

The arrival of FG’s new sibling in January is going to colour, enliven and warm our visit next year. We had hoped to repeat what we did early in 2025 (without, this time, Jane breaking her shoulder!) but the flat we had rented then and booked for this visit was unexpectedly withdrawn from Airbnb last week – a very irritating imposed change of plan!

We have rebooked elsewhere (inevitably at a higher cost….) and are looking forward to our time in Edinburgh enormously. We just need to complete the plans for our schedule of trips, restaurants and art intake for the time we are there. I do like a plan!

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