Le Road Trip
A case for throwing the itinerary out the window
This post will definitely be too long for email because I left for 4 days and came back 10 days later. Every 4th of July, I'm blessed with a few days without a single call on my calendar - the absolute greatest gift I could ever get.
There's someone new and very special in my life: a fellow lover of spontaneity and adventure, who has carried me through much already in the few months we’ve shared a life. We can call him “A”. A suggested I lean into these days of emptiness with a road trip to Italy and back. Our only rule? a swim and a gelato a day (exceptions were later made for a gelato per country per day).
The best plan for me this year was to let go and not make any plans.
Below are some field notes, scribbles into my Notes app to eternalize a few blissful days on the road, being in love and forgetting about everything else. I read Good Material by Dolly Alderton on my now million-miler Kindle, my companion since 2015. I've saved my reading wishlist on Carted (another great use for this free wishlist app I use a lot) and made it public here, but I always welcome recs.
Day 1, Jul 3 - Cannes → Portofino
Picked up snacks at Marché de Forville - they were devoured 15 minutes into the trip. Ice cream stop in Nice at Fenocchio, A’s favorite, verbena for me and orange blossom for him. Coffee at Frisson in the main square - the best coffee on the Riviera period.
Fenocchio has this little engraved ice cream scooper keychain that would make a great party invite - I bought one to add to A's duffle bag charm collection.
Zoom to Portofino! Drove by the Museum of olive Oil in Imperia - looks cool, next trip! I uttered that Napoli perhaps is the armpit of Italy and A said this was ground for a breakup.
Italians are just better at industrial design in any shape or form, and all fonts and typography
They're also really good at trompe l'œil. I never noticed the painted facades in Portofino until breakfast here at the Hotel Nazionale where, in the middle of the delivery trucks - some cuter than others - A asked if Portofino was a movie set
Urban "projects," if painted in pastel colors and surrounded by mountains and trees can be quite beautiful and even romantic
Ate shrimp scampi with our hands at Da O Batti, until we got to Hotel Nazionale at midnight and begged for their last room (300 euros), sparse but what a treat to wake up here when you can’t afford the Splendido up the hill.
Day 2, Jul 4 - San Fruttuoso → Florence
Ferry to San Fruttuoso, one of the most breathtaking coves I’ve been to. Worth the hike to the smaller beach on the other side. Lunch at Da Giovanni - flat Ligurian pesto lasagna silky like baby skin.
Could Ligurian pesto be better than South of France pistou?
I stand by the fact that the French win at bread and dessert (minus tiramisu; gelato is a tie)
By that point I’ve fully leaned into this life of freedom and buy daily "Milliardarios" lottery tickets along the way. I didn’t win but I did see the Carrera marble mountains in the distance!!
Why do men love the highway Autogrill so much
Dinner at Trattoria Camillo with my bff Rocky (of the very fine Rocky’s Matcha) and his even finer crush, and the thrill of them getting along with mine. The tiramisu with thick mascarpone is not how I would have done it but so incredible.
Day 3 & 4, Jul 5+6 - Florence! And dare I say, Montevarchi
Walked 28,000 steps in the scorching heat visiting all the amazing stores Florence has to offer: LuisaViaRoma (the OG!), Loretta Caponi, Melrose Vintage, Santa Maria Novella (bought my mom the famous scented wax pendants - A gave them to me on our 4th date and they smell so nice in my closet), Quercioli lingerie, Dolce Vita Vintage for soccer jerseys (not for me).
A random bar made us incredible shakeratos I’ll be trying to make at home, while all the shops closed between 2 and 4pm (at least). We bought very beautiful Fiorentine tarot cards in a papery near the Duomo.
Lunch at Antica Porchetteria Granieri 1916, if you like pig, this is for you! We also braved the TikTokers at Vivoli for affogato - I’m sad to report it was worth it, so worth it that A bought an "AFFOGATO" t-shirt in one more perfect Italian font.
Checking in at Collegio Alla Querce - the anchor of our trip. The property was a college from 1774-2005, and after a 6-year renovation, it is now my princess palace for the weekend. The room was so stunning I did something I have never done before: cancelled plans and ordered room service.
Sunday was pouring rain, which was gorgeous and brought in a welcome breeze and drop in temperature. I had wanted to re-visit the Prada outlets in Montevarchi (they're hit or miss, and for a full report I suggest you read this). I was terrified for A to see me be a shopping monster. My Pradamage was reasonable but HE left with a PRADA TABLE.
(oh, so we’re soulmates??)
I'm admitting to cancelling my reservation at Sostanza in favor of dinner at the hotel because it was that good (I've been to Sostanza many times, it is a perfect restaurant) and I wanted to enjoy the hotel and its gorgeous gardens at sunset. The Fiorentino steak put us to sleep like babies on our last night in paradise.
Day 5 & 6, Jul 7+8 - Florence to Porto Ercole
Hotel Torre di Cala Piccola is SO cute, very familial and low key vibes with breathtaking views. I hear they were just acquired by La Roqqa, the new cool place here, and while I hope for light changes to the rooms (pillows!!), I hope they keep the incredible soul of this place. The beach club is a less manicured, more Italian version of Il Pellicano’s rock steps (a stay there was 3700 euros a night, vs 500 here, LOL).
A braved the choppy waters for a daily swim but I stayed back to do some work.
The following day, I convince friends to drive from Venice to meet us and go to Isolotto, a very pretty beach club where grass meets sand. It is beautiful and the food is good (I find the food in Porto Ercole not so great in general, but keep coming back for the coast and not so chi-chi vibes). I think the locals mainly cook at home which I also prefer. My days of trips being culinary bang-bangs are mainly over, but I like for the options to be available nonetheless.
Word on the beach is Harry Styles is newly local to Porto Ercole, I wonder what his favorite restaurant here is?
Day 7, Jul 9 - Drive in the direction of home (Cannes)!
We decide to stop in Carrara to see the marble mountains, so fun!! A buys me marble fruits "they never go bad." :) I do work calls from a marble souvenir shop full of religious marble statues that kindly shares their wifi with me and makes me an espresso while A walks around the quarry.
We drive further up to Camogli, where I immediately run into my friend Emilia (from Brooklyn). We join her and her crush for a lovely dinner at Da Paola, a wonderful white tablecloth restaurant where I enjoy my last pesto lasagna in a while. We have foccacia while discussing our regret of now having the famous Camogli focaccia - the bakery ran out hours before we pulled up.
After a long drive home, we get home to a shining moon over the Cannes bay, scratch our last milliardario, and win. We are still not milliardarios but decide we must soon return to Italy to cash in our 15 euros :)
Days 8-11, Jul 10-12 - Nice
On the way back I receive an exciting invitation from the Hotel du Couvent for the weekend. I had spent a few days there in December with a crew shooting my cookbook (April 2026!!!), and had been dying to come back to this magical place dreamed up by Perseus Properties, and designed by Festen in an old Convent sitting atop the old Nice. The hotel has its own bakery and an “Herboristerie” where I fueled up on amazing digestive tea, much needed after my gelato-mania.
Great, great pillows - what's the deal with pancake pillows all across Europe?
Dinner at Chez Davia, maybe in my top 3 restaurants I love most in the world. Morning bike ride to the Chagall museum which was so great, though I wish we could see more of the mosaics, they’re understandably hard to move around. It's one of those museums you don't need to see every year, but the architecture itself is fantastic - my favorite museum in the area of Fondation Maeght, by the way!
Nice has new lime bikes that are better designed, lower front bar, a built in phone holder, can these come out everywhere?
American friends asked if a Pan Bagnat is just a nicoise-salad-sandwich and I guess the answer is yes
Panisse and Spritz at les Mimosas du Cours in the buzzy Cours Saleya, they serve ice cream for dogs + lots of hanging by the pool at the Hotel du Couvent. We went to a Beach Club a 10-min walk from the hotel, aptly named Le Galet for its pebbles. Good food and not-too-loud music, bingo! La Merenda is closed on the weekend so we had dinner at Babel Babel, a more modern option where you choose your actual fish based on the morning catch.
A perfect trip, it was ❤️.
Love following you along :)
No one does summer quite like you 🤍 you deserve every minute of it!!