February 2026. Monaco to Turin.
If you’re missing the English pub reports here’s a spoiler.
The first half dozen pints back in Old Blighty are….Beartown, Holt, Tiny Rebel, Harrogate, Thornbridge Jaipur and Abbeydale. And not a duffer in the six.
But first, coffee and croissants in Monte Carlo station, cheaper than Pumpkin in Sheffield,
and a device that charges your phone while you cycle.
Half an hour east of Monaco we were in our third country of the morning, Ventimiglia looking like the Bexhill of the Ligurian coast.
Well, sort of.
500 rabid gentlefolk got off at Ventimiglia (an Untappd wasteland) to look for bargain handbags at the giant outdoor market along the attractive coast.
And then a slow, slow, 3 hour rail crawl through what I guess are technically the Alps,
something that became apparent as half the train disembarked at Limone Piemonte, where the snow banks seemed to attack the carriage.
Till that point the journey had been a noisy affair, a group of lady skiers intermittently munching and shouting relentlessly about, well, how do I know?
Beyond the slopes and beyond Cuneo into industrial Turin it calms down.
In fact, for a city of 800,000 it’s too quiet, serene almost.
Coming from Genoa’s chaos it feels a different world, and I’m not sure I like it .
But perhaps I just need food.
retiredmartin 
Someone says to Georgia, that “Let’s embrace into a team” didn’t mean this.
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*Someone say
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Oh ! That Georgia. Thanks for translating.
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Nice to see the English for batteries rather than the French under those circumstances (“piles”)…
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From the queue I’ve learnt that “Motta” is Italian for “Greggs”.
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Wetherspoons, surely 😉
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Well Martin, Greggs is surely quite a phenomenon – queues because it’s good quality at a sensible price, not because Tim doesn’t employ enough staff.
Never mind though, “scan to order” and sat several minutes waiting for your pint isn’t really much different from sat several minutes waiting for your microwaved food.
Not that I’ve got anything against Tim’s venues.
Only this morning finding in Cannock that both the Royal Oak and the Swan (Merchants) have stopped selling proper beer meant ninety minutes in the Linford Arms, and that was two Reserve Abbots drinking surprisingly well, a small breakfast ( albeit without tomato or mushroom ) and change out of £8.40.
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Do you ever eat anything from Greggs, Paul ?
I’m a fan of them; their staff are cheery, the coffee is good, and the sausage rolls could be worse.
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(slow golf clap)
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Changed trains at Ventimiglia in 1987.
I wasn’t in charge of planning, but I know we were returning from Southern Italy and assume that would be the day we went to Nice.
Spent the only hour of my life on a beach (at Nice) and probably the most boring. Never felt the need to repeat the experience.
I have no idea what we were drinking either !
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MD, But did you try the biscuits ?
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Excellent work Paul.
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“If you’re missing the English pub reports here’s a spoiler.”
(looks down)
Phew! I’ll sleep better tonight!
“and a device that charges your phone while you cycle.”
(looks down)
Hopefully, this is not a glimpse of the future.
“Ventimiglia looking like the Bexhill of the Ligurian coast.”
(looks down)
They certainly like their wrought iron, don’t they?
“Well, sort of.”
Blimey. Is it pension cheque day?
“500 rabid gentlefolk got off at Ventimiglia (an Untappd wasteland) to look for bargain handbags at the giant outdoor market along the attractive coast.”
Does that include the bunch queueing for ice cream at Motta?
“And then a slow, slow, 3 hour rail crawl through what I guess are technically the Alps,”
(looks down)
It does look a bit peaky.
“something that became apparent as half the train disembarked at Limone Piemonte, where the snow banks seemed to attack the carriage.”
The skiers, natch. And by the looks of it, they’ll have good powder!
“Beyond the slopes and beyond Cuneo into industrial Turin it calms down.”
‘Industrial’. Says it all really.
“Coming from Genoa’s chaos it feels a different world, and I’m not sure I like it .”
That term, ‘location, location, location’ can take on a whole different meaning at times.
“But perhaps I just need food.”
Or a pint!
Cheers
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“Chocolate?
“the highlights marked with chocolate bars.”
Chocolate?”
Ah, you’re wondering why they aren’t all beer glasses !
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