I flew a TB9 back from Brescia (Monti) via the 'chicken' route past Nice and up through France last August. I cannot complement Italian ATC services enough. The Met and Flight Planning people were also fantastic. And they speke betterr Englis than I does. Made the trip an easy starter and didn't make life difficult when the mode 'C' didn't work. Thank you Italy. Never did get the number of the girl at Milan ATC either. Damn.
Enjoy.