FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30
BIG NEWS!!!
The agency in Milan wants to meet Chloe…in person! She will travel from Barcelona to Milan in a week. What happens if she’s offered a contract from January to March? Exciting, disruptive, we just have to wait and see.
TRAIN THROUGH ITALIAN COUNTRYSIDE AND INTO FRANCE
Once the density of Genoa was behind us, the coastal train ride opened into scatterings of homes and villages, painted in soft oranges and reds, pale yellow. The trees and vegetation grew thick and dark green. Italy has such a sumptuous palette. And to that palette was added the azure ocean, a pale blue like sun-bleached lapis.
It rained lightly as the train travelled from Genoa to Ventimiglia to Monaco. Arriving at dusk, we dragged our bags 15 minutes, vagabonds in an overtly stylish city, to the Airbnb, another truly bizarre apartment. This one had a “loft” bed but really just a bed a couple inches below the ceiling. Only two nights, thank heavens.
GILET JAUNES PROTESTS BEGIN AND WE’RE AMONG THE RICH
Big day in France as everyone wondered what would happen with the nationwide protest of the Yellow Vests, Gilet Jaunes, a movement seeking economic justice and parity. Interesting to be in Monaco during this uprising of the middle-classes against the privileged. Monaco smacks of privilege, even the tiny taco restaurant where we had dinner, which was listed as a “cheapeats” cost 40 euros for a couple tacos and water.
We sat next to offensive Brits, and regretted that we again understood the spoken language (sometimes not knowing a language has advantages). It was an auditory assault, led by one man delivering an hour-long, self-aggrandizing monologue. Strange to be in a Francophone country dominated by English.
Returning to the Airbnb, we walked along a main street lined with pretentious, faux, 15thC palace-style apartment buildings, some modern highrises, jewelry stores, high-end clothing stores, banks and real estate offices. What Las Vegas dreams of being…
