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[FR][IT] Cote d'Azur II: Genua, Tende, Menton (with pics)

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k-c-p

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22 Jan 2013
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Bonjour,

for the second part: A day trip to Genoa, the railway linking Nice and Tende and some mixed stuff.

Genoa

Genao is located about a three hours Thello ride from Nice. I had bought the tickets in advance for 25€ each way in first last. The day before my trip a freight wagon of a maintenance train derailed in a tunnel east of Nice and shutdown train services between Nice and Monaco. I called at the Thello ticket office in the evening to get information if my train would run the next morning. They could not tell me, because the SNCF had post-poned the re-opening of the line several time that day. But some time late that evening the traffic started again. So, my train run without problems the next day.

The red Thello locomotive (picture in first part of my trip report), was only in service for the train until we reached Ventimiglia just across the Italian border. There, is was replaced by an Trenitalia locomotive.

Some locomotives in Genoa. The one in the background will take care of my Thello to Ventimiglia

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Around the corner from the station: The "Ferrovia Principe-Granarolo" cog railway. The little red train runs every 40min.

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One of several stops along the line

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The terminus "Granarolo"

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The wooden interieur

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It was fun to ride this old, rumbling train.

Genoa has one metro line. The rolling stock reminded my of a tram running underground. The stop "Principe" near the railway station

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Trains at terminus "Brin"

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When is the next train due? This screen will help to figure this out.

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Another type of public transportation in Genoa: Two funiculars

The "Funicolare Sant'Anna" starts at "Piazze del Portello"

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The "Funicolare Zecca-Righi" runs partly in a tunnel and has several stops. A a consequence the cabin may stop somewhere along the line, because the other cabin serves a stop. Cabin at lower terminus

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Impressions from the above-ground section

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Severals lifts provide transportation. An architural marvel: The "Ascensore della Spianata Castelletto".

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The mix of miscellaneous types of public transport was quite fascinating. Only negative point of the trip: It rained most of the day.

Tende

My second hiking tour to the Alp started in Tende. The train ride along the "Tende railway" alone was worth the trip. My first hiking trip of the day was from Tende to La Brique. I got there in time to catch the next train back to Tende.

View of Tende. On the mountain there is a little chapel. This was the destination of my second hiking trip

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Old town and the cathedral

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The chapel comes into view

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Eureka.

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View of the viaduct of the "Tende railway".

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Enjoy the view

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When I returned back down to Tende, I managed to catch a train on the viaduct.

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To wrap up the day I visited the "Musee des Merveilles". The museum has an exhibition of engravings that prehistoric man left in various location. The whole region is dubbed "Vallée des merveilles" (Valley of Marvels).

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Departure board of Tende station. My train to Nice is the last for the day. Next departure: tomorrow.

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Another kind of church windows in the small chruch next to city hall

tende_eglise_vitrehylhk.jpg


I can highly recommended to got to Tende, when you are in the vicinity.

Mixed Stuff

To wrap of my trip report some mixed impressions from different places.

Is there a relation between Cannes and movies?

cannes_filmbyj79.jpg


The old town of Menton

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A TER running through Menton

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Nice hike along the water: I started at "Beaulieu-sur-Mer" station and walked along the "Cap Ferrat" peninsula. About 4 hours later I was back at the station. The tour offered some great scenary

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On my way to Nizza I did a stopover in Avignon. "The" bridge at night.

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This concludes second and final part of my report. I hope you enjoyed it.

Salut
Charly
 
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RichmondCommu

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Have you visited Villefranche? From memory its only a few stops along the line from Menton. The beach there is lovely and my wife and I have visited it many times. Happy days!
 

k-c-p

Member
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22 Jan 2013
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188
No, I did not go to Villefranche. I just passed through by train. Next time ;).
 

RichmondCommu

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Also, I didn't realise that single deck push - pull trains are still used on local services. Last summer all we saw running were double deck EMU's. Perhaps I wasn't paying enough attention! I'm guessing that the push pull trains were built in the early 1970's in which case they cannot have much time left before they are scrapped.

Many thanks for all the pictures that you have posted; they bring back many happy memories. This summer we are having our holiday in Corsica but we will try and have a long weekend in Nice, maybe mid June.
 

30907

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Thank you.

I agree that Tende is a very pleasant town - I don't think the Musee des Merveilles was there when I visited, which must be about 15 years ago.
 
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