THE SHAPE OF MEMORIES........

 A series of short stories.......

Traveling The French Coastline To Italy

........as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E. Hughes





Courtesy of Writers Write

A daily writing prompt from Writers Write encouraged me to produce my story for this week by initiating a simple premise: write about the shape of memories.  Not their color.  Not their sound.  Not their emotional impact.  (Although, you know I'll include them anyway, right?).



I immediately began thinking about our venture into Italy and, more specifically, the 'mountains that flow into the sea' along the coastline from France right into Sanremo, Italy!  Where there is a strip of flatland riding the coast the width of a two-lane road lined by, perhaps, one structure on either side.  As you head into the town of Sanremo, heading east along the coastal road called the SS1, and turn to your right, you will see the magnificent blues of the Mediterranean Sea awash in a shower of golden light provided by the early afternoon sun.  Turning to your left.....dramatically, the earth flows upwards with white houses built into the mountain's base and large stone walls providing a muted gray-toned backdrop.

These vivid memories helped to shape our modest Italian escapade and mark our initial visit to this unbelievably beautiful country and dramatic terrain!!

Earlier that same morning, our memories were in the shape of stone fountains, disappearing rental cars and the heartwarming silhouette of a good friend basked in a halo of warm morning sunlight.  "Let me show you the closest underground parking lot to your hotel," said Claudine,  just before Dan dropped me off at the Hotel de France. Shortly afterwards, Claudine and Dan were walking together over the cobblestones towards the hotel to reclaim me and our luggage.  Making our way together back to the car, all I could think about was after putting hours of research into Aix in the form of its history, best places to stay, best places to eat, as well as exploring the Cours Mirabeau....none of that precious time afforded us an ideal parking scenario for the night.  I will have to rethink my priorities for future overnight stays within metropolitan European cities, especially involving rental cars and parking.

As difficult as it was to say good-bye to Claudine, we were well aware of precious travel time drifting away with each tick of the clock.  Checking the time as we pulled-out of the city proper and, eventually up onto the A8, our 'fast track' to Nice and Italy, we both realized that the adventure we'd just shared could have easily taken a full day to survive under different circumstances.

"It's ten forty-five and we're on the road.  What do you think?  Can we make it into Italy and explore a bit?" Dan implored, with an enormous smile spreading across his face.  After making eye contact and holding it for a moment, we both erupted with laughter that failed to wane until most of our fear, frustration and pain flowed away in the shape of salty tears that ran recklessly down our cheeks.  Wiping them away, we realized even then that these tear-shaped memories provided us the comfort and realization that life truly is one great adventure after another.  How we choose to individually react to and handle each adventure will be the barometer that measures the amount of happiness and joy we extract from it.  Releasing our fear encouraged us to relish all of the positives surrounding the morning's slight 'hiccup' in Aix-en-Provence and push us towards yet another adventure before flying home!

My memories of the A8 are ones of swiftness and speed as the panoramic French scenery and the Mediterranean Sea cradled us in their beauty with Dan navigating our little Citroen along the smooth stretches of asphalt past the likes of Frejus, Cannes, Cagnes-sur-Mere (that night's destination) and Nice.  Soon after passing the signs for Nice, we approached a rest area entrance that we followed through the tall trees before parking near a stone building neatly nestled in the early autumn foliage.  Evidently, everything in France, even the roadside toilets, were designed around beauty, as well as  functionality!!



Country of Monaco And The City of Monte Carlo

Walking back outside, I found Dan looking over a stone wall out to the sea and, when he turned and saw me, he beckoned me to join him there.  "What do you see?" He asked.  "The Mediterranean," I replied.  "And......what else?" he kept pressing.  Finally, I looked directly below us and recognized a landscape so familiar to me via pictures, videos, Technicolor movies starring Grace Kelly or, more recently, James Bond entering a Casino with the hope of elegantly thwarting his arch nemesis.  I was close enough to follow the twists and turns of streets that hosted Grand Prix racing since 1929 with colorful Formula One cars and drivers navigating them today before flying by the checkered flag.  We were perched like two birds just above the country of Monaco along the French Riviera with all of its 499 acres in plain sight and at least that many yachts docked between her two major ports, the Port of Fontvieille and Port Hercule. 

The midday sun exploded off the white marble-clad buildings, icons of wealth and beauty.  We recognized the breathtaking  Monte Carlo Casino with its jutting towers and ornate roof, as well as the elongated and graceful lines of the Prince's Palace handsomely settled between the two ports and majestically looking out towards the sea.

It was so difficult for us to turn away from this engaging sight, as you can imagine!  Our Italian adventures called and it was time for us to catalog these memories in the shape of romance; a lover's kiss....  Crossing over to Italy was a short drive and several tunnels away but, we had precious little time to do it in. 

Grimaldi, Italy

Like a ping pong ball shot through an air gun, the final tunnel spit us out directly into the industrial world of Grimaldi, Italy.  We'd arrived at last!  We were on Italian soil! Leaving the main road, Dan followed the signage and picked-up the SS1 that closely followed the coastline to Sanremo.  When the flat land between mountains and sea seemed to be  virtually disappearing, we found our 'road to heaven' and began to climb. 

Earlier in the week we had driven up to the summit of Mount Ventoux in the Vaucluse in France and remembered finding comfort in the wide, paved road, switchbacks cushioned on both sides by pine forests and, even when the vegetation ceased to exit as we approached the summit, the road seemed wide, safe, comfortable.  Well, the SP56 right out of Sanremo took me so far out of my 'comfort zone' that I braced myself for what was to be.....a very wild ride!

Sanremo, Italy

The series of tight switchbacks had us climbing at such a pitch that items not held down in the front of the car were now in the back of it.  Our small Citroen began to feel like a 1980 Cadillac Coupe Deville as the road narrowed and the twists became even tighter.  We were, for the most part, hugging the mountain on the inside and I suppose, psychologically speaking, this gave me something to cling to.  Dan's side, well.....let me just say, quite another story!  No guard rails, loose stone and an outer lane so narrow that when another vehicle approached us from the other direction, I would murmur prayers for us all!  Several times, Dan had to drive slightly up the mountainside so that we sat at an angle at a complete stop in order to allow a car to go by on the outside.  To this day I can see the other driver's weathered face as he inched by us, smiling in gratitude, and I realized at that exact moment he was literally sitting closer to Dan than I was!

Even though people who appeared to be 'locals' were passing by us, we had yet to see where they might live, work or where they were coming from until we finally popped-up into the clouds and were riding the Maritime Alps mountain ridge-line for the first time.  "Where do you think these people live up here?  I can't see anything but rock breaking through the clouds."  Yet, according to our map, we were approaching a small village to our left.  In the blink of an eye, the winds picked-up blowing the clouds apart and we instantly knew why we were brought to this very spot, having overcome numerous obstacles along the way, on that incredible September day in Italy!  No longer obstructed by the mountain itself, we were actually sitting on top of the world! We could feel the 'rush' of adrenaline course through us and relished how alive we felt, how in tuned with God and nature we were and, how we would hold this feeling within us forever.

When I close my eyes today, the shape of my memories of that view, that space in time, encompasses hundreds of dark, solid serrated edges criss-crossing one another and forming the pattern of an ancient, mystical game being played by the giants and gods who resided there.  Opening my eyes, I hold my breath until my mind aligns with my body and, exhaling....I find myself in the present although, not remembering how I got here. 




Walking in the Village of Bajardo

Driving into the village of Bajardo, we parked the car and walked along its narrow streets and tried to imagine calling this home.  Smiling and waving back at several 'locals' going about their daily business, we walked over to a short, stone wall and scanned the area around this village.  Tucked under the mountain's ridge across from us, we saw a farmhouse built into the mountainside and, just below it, furrowed fields of crops were skillfully maintained.  The scene was unbelievable, if not impossible to imagine if we hadn't seen it with our own eyes.  We were waking-up in Aix earlier this morning and now, here we were observing the patterns of life just below the sheltering cap of the enormous, blue Italian sky. 



City Anchored Along The Ridgeline

As though the gods purposely blew the clouds away for us, we now could see other villages that were anchored atop the ridge-lines in the distance.  I did not want to think about the roads that led their inhabitants home and this made me wonder how often some of these people even left the confines of their small village for the world far below.  Certainly, within the tight grip of winter, making such a trip would be close to impossible.  Given another day and much more time, we would have loved to attempt a conversation with anyone who could have supplied us with answers to our wondering questions. 

Farmhouse and Fields Tucked Under the Ridgeline

Time would be our undoing if we didn't utilize it well right now.  We had to continue our drive along the Strada Provenciale 61 (SP61) picking-up the SP62 through the town of Perinaldo and into Apricale da Delio but, not before my life flashed before me once again! Calm, cool and collected.....that's my husband, especially when he feels in complete control of a situation, even though my stress levels were rising into the stratosphere.....a place, at this height, that didn't seem too far away!



The narrow road that circumvented the mountains required artful maneuvering for oh, so many reasons.  With his driving confidence and ability shining brilliantly that day, I decided to call our daughter in Orlando and share this moment....provided there was enough signal.  Come to think about it, what obstacles could possibly be in their way from up there?  The sky?  An ocean?  Ali and Eric had spent their honeymoon in Florence, Italy, and often feel the Italian 'tug' on their heartstrings as we do with France. 

Unfortunately, Ali was grocery shopping and I missed her but, Eric picked-up after a few rings.  "Eric....hallo, Eric?  Hi!  Take a wild guess where Dad and I are calling you from right now?  No, no.  We're on an Italian mountaintop above Sanremo and the sea!  Yes, we're staying along the Cote d'Azure tonight, right near the beach and flying out of Nice early in th........Oh My God!"  My fingers froze around the phone in my hand and I found speech impossible.  The road, navigating the natural contours of the mountain itself, brought us to a tight, hairpin turn with nothing but sky and crumbling rock at its outer edge.  A wall of sheer rock loomed ahead as the road then took a right and climbed steeply up the mountain.  Did I happen to mention our car was a stick shift?  Not until Dan began to slow down in order to calculate the turn did I remember that Eric was, in a fashion, riding this out with us in Florida.

Heading Into Ventimiglia

I explained the scenario to Eric and asked him to hang-on.  "I love you, Dan....and, (gulp) I know you can do this, right?"  I recall him saying something like, "Have faith.  I know what I'm doing."  The only thing I was aware of was if he happened to miss the gear or not coordinate the clutch and gas pedals or, the car we'd saved from a French impound yard decided to go ballistic (relating to general physic's terminology, of course), we would be flying backwards down into the abyss with our son-in-law documenting our final flight!!  Let's just say....it would not be good.

Heading Back Into France

Climbing up the other side of the turn, I looked down to my right while incessantly murmuring new prayers of thankfulness.  "Jackie, is everything okay?"  Prying my fingers away from the cell phone and shifting it to the other hand, I informed Eric that we would live to see another day and we'd all get together shortly.  "Please tell Ali we love her." 

Large, fluffy clouds morphing from a 'fiendish' perspective to form a huge Valentine's heart would be the shape of this memory.  I'm sure it has everything to do with my grateful heart and the pure joy of placing my trust, my life, in the hands of someone who will always be there for me.  I did doubt Dan that afternoon along the crazy mountain road and I know that mad devil called 'fear' was sitting right there between us in the front seat. 

Cote d'Azur As Seen From Our Hotel Balcony

My Happy Dance!!!

We made it down off the mountains to the city of Ventimiglia.  It was nice and flat and right above sea level.  I remember doing a 'happy dance' after purchasing Italian candy for our two granddaughters.  We shot back up onto the A8 and were both a bit relieved to be back in France.  Making it to our hotel in Cagnes-sur-Mer before dark, we discovered we could walk to several restaurants and savored a delicious meal, alfresco, just off the Promenade de la Plage.  Enjoying a bottle of French wine together with our food, we discussed this wild and crazy final day of our trip and mutually decided it had been one of the most interesting ones we'd ever experienced.  Making a toast with a gentle 'ping' of French crystal vibrating in the dusk, we sat back in our chairs to watch the beautiful city of Nice light-up in the distance.  The golden light began to fill-in the darkness and the soft curvature of this famous coastline became more pronounced as the shimmering jewel of the Riviera burst into life across the darkening bay!

Dinner With Wine Along The Riviera

The shape of my memories from that languid and pleasurable evening would be in the form of jetliners converging over the sea and landing at the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport.  Next year?  Perhaps....

Nice Bursting Into Life