It’s been a packed few days here: our first day was local – a walk up a wooded valley to a historic bridge near Lavina and a trip down to the coast at Imperia – both enjoyed under a very warm Ligurian sun!

Pieve is small – about 1400 people – in a valley 20 kilometres from the coast. The town is not on the international tourist radar at all, but there are a surprising number of expats who have bought in the district as living the italian dream is still possible here: it’s cheap, near the large town of Imperia, close to an international airport at Nice and about an hour and a half from the wine region of Langhe in Piemonte.

Like so much of Europe, Napoleon was here and so on Thursday morning we enjoyed a walk following a small river up a valley to a historic bridge dating from his campaigns. It was sunny, quiet and we were the only folk there. After lunch we headed to the coast for a look at Imperia – a small city of two distinct halves created by by Mussolini merging together Porto Maurizio and Oneglia in the 1920s. So Porto Maurizio, set on a hill has lovely baroque architecture and magnificent views, while Oneglia, down by the port is a bustling commercial centre.