Noises in the night

14th April Santa Margherita Ligure 44.33629 9.19498.

We are parked up tonight between a football stadium and a busy, noisy railway line but we are glad to be here. Our plan this morning was to drive to Genova and stay the day, parking for the night at a Sosta shown in one of our guides. After battling through the traffic we arrived to discover the Sosta no longer exists. No problem, we had a plan B which was to stop just beyond Genoa at Bogliasco at either of the two Sostas there, but they didn't exist either. We are at plan C which apart from the van shaking every time a train goes by was a good choice because we are a twenty minute walk down to a delightful harbour town. We've followed the coast road since we arrived in Italy passing through small resort towns and the drive has been pretty enough but slow going. It took us four hours today to travel seventy miles; most of the roads have a 50kph speed limit and there are lots of traffic lights

16th April Lucca 43.85077 10.48623.

I mentioned above that our stop a couple of days ago was next to a railway line. We thought the trains would stop at some point but they didn't. Freight trains ran all night and woke us up every time one went past. But it wasn't just the trains that disturbed our sleep, we also had to contend with barking dogs, a clucking chicken (yes, at 11.30pm), a donkey an owl and two sets of church bells both ringing the hour and chiming the quarters. Of course a blackbird woke us up in the morning. Probably a place we won't stop at again. Last night we stopped at Levanto 44.17412 9.61785 (next to another railway line I kid you not) it's a sleepy little coastal town that looks like it could be busy in the summer months. We walked up to the medieval castle which the guide books said was extremely well preserved and well worth a visit. Unfortunately the castle is now a private house, well private castle to be accurate, with tall trees obscuring three sides and a high wall on the remaining side so not much to see at all really.

Today for the first time since leaving England we took a toll motorway because I was fed up of spending half the day up and down hills negotiating hairpin bends. I never thought I would type such a sentence as that but the reality is that whilst driving over mountains affords some of the best scenery it is tiring and after a couple of days I felt like a change and some easy driving. We chose Lucca as a stopping point for two reasons. Firstly, because if you look at it on the map it is shown as being completely surrounded by greenery and looked intriguing and secondly and rather more mundanely, we needed a campsite with a washing machine. I won't mention how much they charge here but the guy on reception really should be wearing a mask and a striped jumper. As it is he has the air of a man who learnt his customer service skills at a funeral director's. I suppose telling us the overnight rates in hushed tones whilst wringing his hands and contorting his face to an expression of such sorrow made a change from the usual smirk. Anyway, Lucca is surrounded by greenery because it still has it's original ramparts and gates and entrance archways and fields all around. Founded by the Etruscans and becoming a Roman colony in 180 BC the city has a long and intriguing history. Once in the town it's a maze of narrow streets and courtyards and mostly pedestrianised. The cathedral of St Michele dominates the main piazza and although many of the streets are full of designer shops and expensive restaurants the smaller piazzas were charming and if it wasn't for the telephone cables strung above and the glass fronts to the shops the place would look the same as it was built centuries ago. Tall buildings with louvred shutters, ancient archways and massive old wooden doors. The birthplace of Giacomo Pucini is suitably adorned with statues of the composer and there are plenty of colleges with music drifting out of the windows as we wandered past. It's certainly a place we would visit again if we passed this way.

The Cathedral at Lucca.

 

The folk commemorated on the facade.

This way to Puccini's head.

Lucca's doors.

 

 

Tomorrow we set off for Montevarchi where rumour has it we will have a free overnight stop which is as good a reason as any to visit.

Pat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Italy

Monday 13th April. Finale Ligure 44.16529 8.33786.

We like Finale Ligure, we stopped here last year in early summer and the small seaside town was very busy. Today was the reverse, all the shops and most of the bars and restaurants were closed as it's Monday. We were looking forward to lunch in the local Osteria but it was closed too, as were all the bakers, so we wandered to the town square for a cold beer. The bowl of crisps was a nice touch, as was the complimentary plate of antipasto but we all know that there's no such thing a a free lunch. Two small beers - €6, ouch. But never mind, the square was pretty, the sun was shining and all was well with the world.

We came back to the Sosta where we had parked and were quickly relieved of €18 by the attendant which was another ouch moment. It's the most we've paid for an overnight stop since we left England and it's not even a campsite but it is located next to the sea so I took the opportunity for a bit of fishing this afternoon. No luck and so the seafood with pasta which I'll shortly be preparing is from the freezer. Phil took the opportunity for a bit of sunbathing but I'm sure she was secretly admiring her hunter/gatherer out of the corner of her eye.

Last night we stopped at San Remo in what is basically a large car park with the Motorhome services a quarter of a mile away (43.80329 7.74737) and as it was Sunday decided against walking in to town. But the town has a great cycle path that follows the coast line for miles so I gave my bike its first real outing. The path was busy with lots of families enjoying the warm sunshine and I managed twelve miles without knocking anyone over or falling off, scared a few folk, mind. Legs were a bit jellyish when I got back but I slept well last night. It's just as well there was a cycle track because I wouldn't dare ride my bike on the roads around these parts. When we left Nice yesterday it seemed that every cycling club in France had turned up for a spin, together with everybody in the area who owned a high powered motorcycle. Add to this the rubbish standard of French drivers (yes, I know I'm generalising but can only speak from experience) and I feared for their safety a few times but we didn't see any accidents. Here in Italy there are as many cyclists and also billions of scooters. My strategy in the Motorhome is to follow my line and trust in the skill of the boys and girls buzzing around me on their scooters. It's worked ok so far and although I'm fairly confident the thought of riding my bike round here scares the life out of me.

We've been blessed with some great weather since we reached Provence and now we are in Italy it's really warming up. Plenty of folk on the beach today in cossies and I'm back in shorts and flip flops, yay.

Here's where are.

 

Pat

 

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Provence and the Cote D'Azur

Saturday 11th April. Castellane 43.84613 6.51534 and St-Laurent-du-Var 43.68538 7.18530

We've spent the last day and a half in Castellane, rafting and hippy central. I've always thought that rafters, climbers and potholers were hippies with muscles and a work ethic. Anyway, they tolerate us old folk and we bought some nice salad ingredients yesterday at the bio vegetable shop and some out of date sheep's yoghurt which the nice lady didn't want to sell to us. I said we would take our chances as it was only a few days out of date and she reluctantly knocked a few cents of the price and slipped it into our bag. Before we could embark on this epic shopping trip however we had to tidy and clean the van. Well, that's 15minutes we'll never get back again. Five minutes to tidy and ten minutes to clean. Castellane also boasts a laundrette and we took the opportunity to catch up on the washing. It all sounds a bit mundane doesn't it, but the drive from Banon was anything but. First scouting around the Montagne De Lure through tiny ancient villages and then from just south of Digne-les-Bains climbing up over the Col des Leques at just over one thousand metres before dropping down into Castellane. Today was market day and before setting off we bought some asparagus, fresh ravioli and goats cheese so that's tonight's dinner sorted.

We had planned to stop in Antibes tonight after first stopping for a look around in Grasse, the perfume capital of France if not the world. The drive over the lower Alps was again spectacular, part of the Route de Napoleon, and I guess it wouldn't have been too hard for him, sat on a horse as he probably was, but it must have been gruelling for his foot soldiers. The highest point was nearly twelve hundred metres. The road is popular with motorcyclists too and they roared past us on the hairpins and had vanished before we could blink, exciting stuff. Unfortunately all the car parks we came across in Grasse had height barriers so we didn't stop but pushed on a bit further to Antibes where we knew there was an LPG station. Now, I don't have to fill up too often with LPG, I've got two 18kg tanks, but we were down to half a tank so we pulled in to the filling station. I've got all the adaptors for different filler nozzles for different countries but it's always a hassle at LPG pumps. Today was no exception and, once again, someone had to come out of the office to help me fill up. Is it just me? Do other folk have these problems? Anyway, all gassed up and off we went to the Aire de service at Antibes. The car park, and that's all it is, a car park, was outside Marine World which, presumably is why they wanted to charge me €24 for an overnight stay plus €3 for water!!! We politely declined their kind invitation and drove another five minutes to where we are now, another car park with water and it's free.

We didn't want to stay at too many of the places we'd stopped at before but Banon was a "must stop" because of the bistro, Castellane because of the laundrette and here at St Laurent-du-Var because we weren't going to pay €27 for the privilege of stopping in Antibes! Tomorrow we were going to visit Sospel on the old royal road between Nice and Turin but after a bit of research discovered that it was pretty much flattened by the Germans during WW2 and there's not too much left of interest now so tomorrow we'll cross the border into Italy heading for San Remo (we've been there before also). The Cote D'Azur between Cannes and the Italian border has all "those" places - Antibes, Nice, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Monaco, Monte Carlo beloved of novelists and playboys but the traffic is horrendous, there's never anywhere to park and the whole area is pretty Motorhome unfriendly. I guess we should have come here in the fifties but as we were just toddlers then I doubt we would have appreciated it but anyway I doubt that we'll come back this way again.

No pics today, poor 3G

Pat

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Heading South

Monday 6th April Tournon-sur-Rhone 45.07337 4.82163.

We left St Etienne this afternoon after a weekend of celebrations. My eldest grandson celebrated his 18th Birthday and my eldest granddaughter celebrated her 15th. All our family and an aunt and uncle came over from England and we stopped the weekend at a boarding school with access to the kitchens and dining room and once we had finished decorating the room we had a superb dining room/dance floor. My French son-in-law is a great guitar player and the birthday boy plays bass, together with the singer and drummer they play regularly with,we had a great band. There were over sixty guests from all over France and England and a great time was had by all. If you told me I would be going to bed at 3.30am after dancing for a couple of hours to a mix of heavy rock and Russian techno I wouldn't have believed you but the challenge was on to outdance my grandson's friends and we nearly did it. Nearly. But those kids had 50yrs on us so it was no disgrace to leave them to it in the wee small hours.

Today we travelled from St Etienne along the D8,D2,D82 and D86 which was a beautiful drive through some lovely countryside. Rising to 1000m where there was still some snow and then down to follow the Rhone to Tournon-sur-Rhone where we are parked up for the night. Our plan for the next few days is to head further south to Provence and then follow the Mediterranean coast around to Italy. We have a couple of weeks before we leave Ancona on the ferry bound for Igoumenitsa. Today has been a beautiful sunny day although the wind is chilly but the forecast is for sunshine for the next week or so and we should be hitting 20deg in a few days time.

No scenic photos today but here's one of the family.

 

Wednesday 8th April. Banon 44.03980 5.62969.

We stopped here in Banon in August last year and had a delicious meal at a Bistro, Les Vins au Vert and as we were heading this way decided to stop and sample the menu again. The establishment is also a Cave a vins and the proprietor, Pierre Edouard, knows his wines. The plat du jour is served on a large slate and today comprised of truffle flavoured ham, Lyon fennel flavoured saucisse, corn soup, a vegetable flan, sardine pate, two types of goats cheese, pannacota with raspberry coulis, chilled creme anglais flavoured with apricot and pineapple and a mini gingerbread cake, mmmmmm!! We let Pierre choose our wines and he didn't put a foot or a glass wrong. Pierre and his wife remembered us from our last visit and when we got chatting they told us they had sold the Bistro and were looking to buy a vineyard a little further south in Le Luberon. Lovely people and we wish them well in their next venture.

Last night we stopped at Saint-Paul-Tres-Chateaux, just on the edge of the medieval town (44.347512 4.770146) and overlooked by the Alps. We arrived just as the weekly market was packing up but managed to buy a rotisserie'd chicken and then wander around the old town and visited the Cathedrale Notre-Dame which was possibly the smallest Cathedral we've visited but all the more impressive as although it was built in the C12th and C13th it still had some mosaics and frescos from an earlier church and reused some Roman building materials. It was a simple but majestic cathedral with a human scale; a building in which you could pray and worship and, I think, all the better for the absence of the ornate decorations usually seen in the larger cathedrals which I think serve not as a tribute to God but as a reflection of the wealth, power and arrogance of those who commissioned those buildings.

Cathedral Notre Dame.

The plan today was to drive along through the vineyards of the Cote du Rhone and then up and over Mont Ventoux. The first half of the journey went according to plan and we enjoyed some fantastic scenery with the vineyards sloping up to small villages and buildings in a honey coloured stone but as we left Malaucene and started our ascent the signs informed us that the road was ferme. A quick five point turn and we retraced our route before skirting the mountain to the north along the D40. The vineyards gave way to lavender fields and the scenery screamed Provence!! This region is probably our favourite in France, the mountains, rivers and gorges together with the fields of vines and lavender are just so beautiful and the smaller towns and villages beg to be explored. Of course the weather helps and as we've travelled further south over the last few days we've enjoyed blue skies and sunshine. I think tomorrow it might be time to get the shorts out of the wardrobe.

Cote du Rhone vineyards with the Alps in the distance.

Maybe the white stuff on top is why we couldn't go over the mountain today?

 

Pat

 

 

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Hospitals and Mustard

Tuesday 31st March. Cormot-Le-Grand 46.96191 4.64267.

First stop today was a visit to the Hotel-Dieu des Hospices Civils de Beaune. A hospital established in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor to the Duke of Burgundy and his wife Guigone de Salis. The concept, founding charter and construction are equally impressive and although much of the original internal furnishings and tapestrys have been lost, a reconstruction in the 19th Century was carried out according to the original plans. The barrel vaulted Grande Salle with it's painted beams and 30 hospital beds is looked over by a chapel which could be screened off to avoid the patients observing the funerals of those beyond the help of the nurses and physicians. Rolin insisted the hospital be built over the river to provide fresh water and to carry away waste and this idea contributed to the escalating costs of construction as vaults were built to channel the river under the building. A fascinating couple of hours and well worth the entrance fee especially as the audio guides were included in the price.

The Hospital.

Plat de Jour at a local bistro, back to the van for dry clothes as it rained all day and then off to the Fallot mustard company's factory for our 3pm tour. Unfortunately the lass in the tourist office had marked the location in the wrong place on the map so it took us a while to find the factory and joined the tour ten minutes late. Never mind, we only missed the explanation of the life cycle of a mustard plant and enjoyed the rest of the tour, discovering that the name "Dijon mustard" cannot be protected and consequently the vast majority of the Dijon mustard we buy is in fact produced from Canadian mustard seeds and probably produced in Canada. The city of Dijon has three remaining mustard factories producing some 85,000 tons of the stuff but our little factory in Beaune, which still mills seeds using mustard seeds only from Bourgogne manufactures just a couple of tons per year. If you want the real stuff, which is delicious, look out for Moutard de Bourgogne which is a protected name and must contain only certain ingredients. And keep your mustard in the fridge! Keep it in a cupboard and it will soon lose it's flavour. We were given a few small complementary jars and also bought some more with interesting flavours as well. I must admit that the generic Dijon mustard we've been buying in supermarkets for years was pretty insipid and lack lustre compared to the mustard we tasted today.

Only 6,000 deliveries per year.

 

A short drive brought us back to a pretty parking spot next to a babbling brook in Cormot-Le-Grand, a vineyard which is part of the France Passion scheme. Unfortunately the owners of Domaine Boisson are nowhere to be found at present. I hope they turn up before we leave so I can make a purchase of their delicious Crement de Bourgogne.

Wednesday 1st April St Etienne.

Madame Boisson was found this morning and kindly sold us some wine and then it was off to St Etienne to stay with our daughter and her family for a few days. It's her eldest son's 18th birthday today and a party has been planned for this Saturday. It's the first time all our family will have been together for a few years and so we are all looking forward to getting together and celebrating the birthday.

The last time we came here in the Motorhome I managed to smash one of our windows whilst reversing into my daughter's courtyard. It was a very expensive and time consuming process finding another one so we decided against parking in the courtyard this time. There are a few fought over parking spaces outside the house and the plan was that we would arrive and our daughter and her husband would move their cars and I would have a parking space. Good plan. I arrived but as they were moving their cars I was blocking the road and had to pull over next to some bollards to allow a car to pass but unfortunately the bollards fought back and for the second time some expensive damage was done to the Motorhome.

 

If we ever come back here I'm catching the train!!! It looks like the Zampetas brothers in Greece will have some more business from me in a few weeks time.

Pat

 

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Dijon and Beaune

Monday 30th March. Beaune 47.01761 4.83661.

Our plan today was to visit Dijon. We have books and guides and electronic maps with stopping places covering just about all of Western and Southern Europe and always have a few options of where to stop depending on whether we just need a parking place or services. According to our guides there is only one place for motorhomes in Dijon within walking distance of the city centre so that's where we headed. It was closed. The Motorhome parking and service point is outside a large campsite which was undergoing renovation and we weren't too sure whether or not everything was closed or just the campsite but as we were deliberating a pleasant young man with perfect English explained that we couldn't park. We could have water if we wished but we couldn't park. Strange really as there were about a dozen spaces where we could have parked without bothering anyone but my request was met with a polite refusal and a suggestion that we parked further along the road in a car park by the lake where the young man suggested that the police "probably" wouldn't move us on. Well, we didn't want to see Dijon that badly and there'll always be another day so we headed off for Beaune. We've visited here before but always stayed nearby in local vineyards so this time we decided to stop in the city and see what touristy things we could do for a day or so.

Our daughter, who lives in France and who at one time lived not far from here at Autun recommended the Hotel-Dieu des Hospices de Beaune, a magnificent gothic hospital, in use until the early seventies, which is impressive from the outside with turrets and a pitched roof decorated with multicoloured tiles. The inside is equally impressive and so we plan to visit tomorrow. The guide books also mention Moutarderie Fallot, Burgundy's last family run mustard factory and museum so we tootled off to the tourist information centre to book a visit there as well for tomorrow. The Musee du vin looked promising as well but it was closed by the time we arrived and is closed on Tuesday so that's one for another day. We did visit the Basilique Collegiate Notee Dame but it wasn't the most impressive church we've visited on our travels but the old city within the ramparts has some beautiful buildings and is well worth a visit.

This area, of course, is Bourgogne, beautiful countryside, famous vineyards with Chateaux to match in the Côte d'Or and is the gastronomic centre of France and when we have stopped here in the past we have always stayed in a vineyard and taken the opportunity to buy some delicious wines at much less than the outrageous prices charged in the shops in the towns and cities roundabout. So tomorrow we plan to stay just off the Route des Grands Crus at a small vineyard we stopped at before at Cormot Le Grand and restock the wine cellar, well the wardrobe actually which passes for a wine cellar in a Motorhome.

The courtyard housing the the tourist info office in Beaune

Beaune

Pat

 

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Where is everybody?

Saturday 28th March Mareuil-sur-Ay 49.045156 4.034797

A pleasant drive today through the Foret de la Montagne de Reims which is in the Parc Naturel Regional de la Montagne de Reims (phew). We're in to Champagne country now and the villages have become more affluent with big (some very big) chateaux. But where is everyone? Nobody strolling, no kids out playing, no smoke from the chimneys. It's like a series of film sets waiting for the crew and actors to arrive. Very strange.

We are parked up next to the canal, as promised, and the 8 parking places soon filled up leaving the late arrivals to park further along next to the "No Motorhomes" sign. A walk around the town confirmed we were in another film set and that the two adjacent bistros are closed until such time as the owners decide to open them again. I would imagine this place is very busy in summer. After the walk it was time to give the new fishing rod an outing. Lovely rod, shame about the lack of fish. Anglers, of course, are eternal optimists and there's always another day, another stretch of water and better luck just around the corner. Fishing is a metaphor for life in general I think. However should you suffer from depression the last thing you should probably do is take up fishing, it'll only make you feel worse most days.

Sunday 29th March. Juzennecourt 48.1846 4.9788

A somewhat boring drive today through mostly flat countryside accompanied by strong winds and showers. We choose routes that have a scenic aspect to them according to the map, I suspect the cartologists pen slipped on this occasion. Anyway, here we are parked outside the Marie in another village sans chevaux and its pouring down. It was very very quiet until an hour ago when the house attached to the Marie came to life. We thought it was abandoned until suddenly the lights went on and music came blaring out. Kind of folky music with an African beat and English lyrics. Over the last eighteen months or so we've stopped on quite a few French Motorhome parking places with varying facilities and prices. Most have signs directing you when you arrive in the town or village but this one has no indication or directions. It has an ancient water pump, which is good because many of these places turn the water off during winter to prevent freezing and they're usually not turned on again until April. It has a drain to empty our grey waste but nowhere to empty the loo but it has six free electricity points which is always appreciated so if you're reading this, thank you Mr or Mrs Mayor. It also has, from what we can see through the window a spotlessly clean WC and possibly a shower; but it's locked up.

Tomorrow we plan to visit Dijon, described as one of France's most appealing cities and filled with medieval and Renaissance buildings. Our proposed parking spot is a mile from the city centre so we're hoping it's stopped raining by tomorrow. There is a primary school attached to the Marie here so I guess we'll have an early awakening and an early start tomorrow. Our pillows are about twenty feet from the mysterious music source ( they're playing bloody Coldplay now!) so I hope they have to get up early in the morning and don't keep us awake half the night. We can hardly knock on the door and ask them to turn it down can we?

Town Hall parking.

Nice pump.

 

Pat

 

 

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