Visit to Ventimiglia, Italy

Park beside the beach

Kids enjoying the play structures at park

Mathieu posing with 'Zeke', special visitor accompanying us, from Mathieu's good friend Kai from home

Loving the water at the beach!

Italy, from the beach



Enjoying some Italian ice-cream (gelato) after the beach (yes, we eat a lot of ice-cream :o))

 Ventimiglia, Italy, is a 50 minute car ride from La Colle sur Loup.  The drive there takes you past Nice and Monaco, and through numerous tunnels through the hills.  The kids really enjoyed the tunnels.  Marcus learned the word 'tunnel' rather quickly during this ride.  Once we arrived, we parked, and visited a beautiful park next to the waterfront.  The kids enjoyed playing on all of the play structures, and a ride on the carousel.  Across the street is the beach.  It was a hot day, so it felt nice to be by the water.  We did bring our swimsuits, but decided that swimming would not be a good idea with the size of the waves and the pull they had.  Next time we will need to bring our lifejackets so we can enjoy the water more fully.  We did however really love standing on shore and feeling the waves.  The beach is a pebble beach, therefore collecting rocks kept the kids busy for a good part of an hour.  Even Marcus was finding his favourites :o)  I had pre-warned the kids about topless beaches....which was good, as there were a few women/young girls sporting only bathing suit bottoms :o)  After the beach, we walked through the town (not for too long, as Marcus insisted on walking and being carried, and not riding in his stroller).  We of course had to get some gelato while in Italy, so that was a good way to finish off our visit.  Oh yes, and we did buy some interesting pasta to take home to try for supper.  Ventimiglia is a great place for families to visit.....as everything is walking distance (including the market).  It will be on the 'to do' list for anyone who comes to visit!