As I was driving east of Nice about to hit the Italy border I got a flat tire.
And of course car rental companies in Europe apparently don't provide you with a spare. So I pulled over to the side of the road in the middle of nowhere feeling a little scared and stressed since I was phone-less and unable to speak French.
Luckily a little French man who was whacking weeds on the side of the highway (he's the guy behind the divider in the pic below) walked over and offered to call a tow truck for me.
Within minutes the tow truck guy loaded me on his truck and helped me call the rental company and worked out with their insurance company which garage he should take me to. We go to that garage and they said they couldn't work on the car until the next day, so the insurance company told me to ditch the car and take a 100 euro cab ride to the airport and the rental company would give me a new one.
5 hours and 500 euro later (hopefully the rental insurance policy I bought will reimburse me) and I was in a new car and ready to go.
Really thankful for the kindness of complete strangers I could barely communicate with who helped me get through this little ordeal.
I spent the night outside Milan. And the next morning headed up to Lake Como for the day. It's only a quick 45 minute drive from there. And it is SO beautiful.
I drove through the village of Laglio, where George Clooney's house is. His property is impossible to miss. There's a monstrous gate...
With the name of the Villa, which is well-known...
And scary signs everywhere.
The Cloons did a really good job covering the house from the street side. This the best view you can get from the parking garage across the street.
From there I headed to the Villa D'Este. The most beautiful hotel on Lake Como that everyone said I HAD to stay at/eat at if I wanted to Treat Yo Self.
It did not disappoint!
