Forte dei Marmi

 Yesterday morning I got back on the pavement cruiser and headed back down the Avenue of Trees, but instead of heading to the line of Beach Resorts at Pietrasanta, I turned in the direction of Forte dei Marmi. Marmi means marble and if you look back up to the mountains above these villages, you can see the castings of where the marble has been quarried.

But I'm not in search of marble, it seems that there is a Flash Market in Forte dei Marmi every Wednesday, rain or shine, and my trusty cruiser would get me there. Well, it nearly did, I had to turn data roaming on find the exact co-ordinates! The bikes in this town are a lot prettier than my rusty black one with the  broken basket, but I still double tethered it to a pole and stood back in amazement at the size of this tented market. The blurb online about the market suggests that  (1) you eat before you go because there are no food stalls, and (2) not to bother taking children as there are no stalls to entertain them. Nothing about not taking your dog, so there were plenty. There are always plenty. So many dogs. People stop to pat and chat to your dog as if it is a child.

(me trying to get a selfie of myself on the borrowed cruiser)

The blurb online also said that rules were strict about products all needing to be 'made in Italy' but that rule may have been relaxed a bit. Those guys selling fake Louis Vuitton bags didn't get the memo for a start.

Amazing cashmere, dresses, shoes, handbags (especially if you were after something pink after watching the Barbie movie?), towels, bedding, beautiful quilts - heaps of stuff that I would have grabbed to stuff into my suitcase, and heaps of stuff that I wouldn't. Beautiful dinnerware and cutlery, evening dresses and suits. I didn't buy anything (oh, some trinkets for Tiraki) because I didn't want to drag it all back home along the Avenue of Trees.

My attention span doesn't last long in markets, but it was worth it for the people watching. My goodness, apparently the town has been dubbed Moscow by the Sea. Women with a substantial investment having been spent on their face and breasts, gliding on diamond gilded shoes at 9 in the morning, with 'oh is that her dad she's with? No?' men with big fat wallets.

I desperately needed a drink (acqua minerale frizzante) and so wandered towards the sea - every label you can think of, there was a shop on that strip. 

 I sat down in a cafe to get a drink and discovered THAT I WAS INVISIBLE!  There were so many other people ahead of me in the attention stakes that after sitting for 20 minutes I gave up, got back onto the pavement cruiser and headed out of the craziness that is Forte dei Marmi. And get this - where the cost of a day at the Pietrasanta resorts is 35 euro, the flashiest one here is 150 euro a day. Imagine what you must get for that - no sand at all? the sea comes to you? This is insanity! It is such a well heeled town that George Clooney and his wife were spotted there last season. And what do I say to all of this? Rings Beach all the way!