french or italian?

I seldom do reviews on places that I've been to, however this time around, I felt maybe I should stop being lazy and do so.....well, the main reason is the big contrast and various feelings that was bugging me since my return...

For starters, we visited Torino, not really to see the city but for Beth Ditto's fantastic band, The Gossip. The fact that the gig was at a rather small secluded park, with bad sound and an army of mosquitoes, it was actually really worth it...the band was great, the public transportation was amazingly efficient (unlike most Italian systems)....we got back to the bed & breakfast we booked prior to that, safe and sound though it was way past midnight....

Here are some photos of the B&B, 100% satisfaction.....well...the place is right smacked in the centre of the city, downside was, there was no elevator, but well, the 4 storeys climb was definitely quite worthy (in my opinion). Let the photos do the place justice....it's not the typical homey traditional, old and vintage, typical italian B&B, but it does come with the same friendly caretaker (always smiling, eager to please)

(all photos taken in july 2009 by me)


01 view from the entrance....modern furnishing, clean and sleek...well....maybe a bit gimmicky....but I don't really mind:) (they even had a brand new ipod to be hooked to the tv - everything is for our disposal - what's more to complain about?)

02 the bedroom....a double bed, with an extra bed since we were in 3.... the tv was lovely, and i forgot to take the photo of the bathroom....we had our own personal jacuzzi...(well....Italians do take pride in the size of their bathrooms and the level of hygiene....something i really do appreciate)

03 the kitchen...which is free for us to use...(we didn't but well....at least we had a choice) - breakfast was ready right on time....with the same friendly face, ready for any task ahead...

04 the common space 02 - nice keyboard and musical instruments.....free for us to experiment on (we were too tired to do so...)

06 one satisfied customer:)

We left the next day with big smiles plastered on our faces.....so I felt i should recommend this to whoever is reading...http://www.bedandbreakfasttorino.com/IT/

(I am not paid for it...hahah...in case you are wondering)

Then, we started our roadtrip in the direction of Monaco....well....hot, and really really hot weather made us all very cranky and distressed sometimes......but I really did loved the little French cities we stopped by for lunch and walks......

We got so tired...and frustated also because we still haven't found a place to stay, as we took the trip more likely on impulse...the original plan was to stick to towns around Torino....but the seaside did have it's normal effect on most people..so by following our hearts, i guess we were pretty....homeless.....and tired,we decided it was too expensive to stay in the 'luxurious' Monaco....so we settled for the nearest town....a small French town, called Menton...I guess the people at the tourism office could smell the desperation and we eagerly wagged our tails when the girl at the counter made the reservations to a place called Villa Capucine (sounds fancy, huh?) ....well...how bad could it be? It was midrange, not the cheapest....and seemed to come highly recommended... In the brochure - it says private villa / hotel - 2 stars, with swimming pool and seaview, individual bathroom, breakfast included. hmmm....and the photo on the brochure showed the excellent seaview...of course - it was looking outwards....and we were to tired to even realise that it doesn't say AIR CONDITIONED (being Malaysians, I am guilty of always taking for granted that....certain things are MUSTs in hotels)...

Voila...we got lost...and when we finally found it, we saw that to get to the 'VILLA' we had to climb narrow, steep steps uphill...hmm...the address was number 129, and we began at number 1....hmmm...the consolation was...it's odd numbers only...woohoo! We were sweating like pigs, with our luggages, out of breath...cursing the 31 degrees.....and were so relieved to finally get there.....only to find out that there was a shorter way from the higher part of the hill that was a short cut, directly to the villa...

All that aside...we were greeted warmly by a lovely playful dog, Athena..... and of course, the owner, a French lady....was all apologetic, for the room was not ready...so we gladly sad down at the terrace with the promised seaview, and played with the tireless dog...as the owner rushed around, getting everything ready...

To be honest...I was at fault to be expecting a lot, for I know that the standards of hotels / b&b are different in both countries....but really couldn't conceal my disappointment when i saw the room....the smell was of stale sheets (that had been kept for centuries) - and she prepared the 3rd bed - in the coridor (where all occupants of the 3 rooms need to pass through to access to their rooms or to get to the bathroom). We were travelling in 3, so of course the only guy had to take the doomed bed there.....What actually made me both amazed and a lil angry was that she (the owner - which I regretably forgot her name) was really proud of the makeshift space - for 'it's her granddaughter's bed - which she wanted it to be like a ship)

I don't really wanna sound like a spoilt brat, but...seriously, when i saw our ' private bathroom', I was speechless...It was again a makeshift space (I don't know how it was done), but it was a WC fitted into the storeroom - with no ventilation, no washbasin, just a 80cm x 100cm space - amidst junks, old mattresses etc.

The room - to be honest - had a great view to the ocean...but the other wall.....was actually opennable windows to the shared bathroom (where there are the bidet, shower stall, bathtub and washbasin - without wc) - hmmm..how do we do this.....we use the WC in the store, and then run to the shared bathroom which is accessible from the coridor to use the bidet?)....

07 the promised view ....it really was breathtaking...

08 my room.....i made the mess...of course...too freaking hot, we had to choose - windows open - huge mosquitoes, windows closed - suffocation....of course we chosed to suffocate:)

09 our cute little WC - doesn't it feel like bootcamp?

10 the ship

Well...I was actually ok with all these until she told us a different price from what was shown in the brochure and confirmed at the tourism office.....we were not only paying for more than the B&B in Torino, we were paying more than the price of Best Western Hotel in the same town....and her so called-bad-english indicated that the price is final, you have to take it, since we already took a shower, and settled in...I really don't mind the place, if there was enough honesty.... to have the guts to call this a 2 star hotel - to have the decency to blame it all on the mistake of the tourism office...and then pretending not to comprehend english....that kindda made me go nuts....to think of it, it was pretty funny that we were actually contemplating to run away in the wee hours...we didn't had the hearts to do it...of course probably she is the kind of person that wakes up at 4am:)

We left after a homemade breakfast (one that was mediocre but was pretty decent - we could see that she was not the homemaker kind of lady) - she was really amazing, I have to admit, she cycled around the world in 26 months, and she shared all kindda tough-crazy experiences....but that aside, doesn't mean that she can just have the right to con us, does she?

hmmm.....in the end...all turned out well...was a memorable short trip.....but if you guys were ever at that place, do think twice before jumping into the pool (which was small - but was great on such a hot summer evening) - just try to ignore the dirty cloudy water....and the overdosage of chlorine....all will be fine:) - p.s. I still love to listen to French language....

will post more photos of the trip