Back to the Loire

No internet access for 2 weeks so there will be a rush of postings.

19 July

On the way up to the Loire Valley we called into Vichy, a town favoured by Napoleon III and featuring mineral springs. The springs all have names, including Lucas, and only 2 of them may be “taken” without a doctors prescription. The doctors prescription is easily obtained – a local pharmacy will send people to a local doctor and hey presto you have your 'carte' to enter and drink water with the smell of sulphur drifting round you (GB input!). As we walked past the circular building that houses the spring outlet – glass fronted on all sides – we saw mothers with their children imbibing – supposed to cure all ills. There is a park around the area some of the springs occur with a “colonade” or covered walkway around it, but the surface of the park is mainly gravel between the trees – possibly a big petanque court? The colonade dates back to Napoleon who wanted people to walk and enjoy his park whatever the weather. Some now are fronted by shops but most is open. The buildings in the city centre that we saw were 19th-21^st century and substantial with arcades and pedestrian ways.

We wandered down to the next park along the river which was pleasant with grass, flower beds and 2 walkways along the river bank. There was what looked like a practice for a water skiing race with several high power speed boats towing skiers on single skis at high speed up and down the river. Wow – what an adrenaline rush they must have had – it was thrilling to watch – the speed just blew me (GB again) away. No-one that we saw fell off, but at the speed they were travelling it would hurt if they did.

A brief stop for lunch at a rest area on the motorway that was named “Aire du Centre France” so it probably is close to the geographical centre of the country.

We had a little problem finding our accommodation, as we only had a reference to the town. We inquired at a cafe and were sent 5km out into the country down increasingly small twisty lanes through the fields and then dense forest – the tiny road that runs between the forest whose boughs meet overhead is so beautiful and has me creating stories about the animals that must live in there - until we emerged into an open area with a 19^th century mansion and a huge church, obviously not in use as the interior was open,but largely intact with a plastic sheet roof over it. Apparently this was the Abbey Aigues-Vive which was in use from the 11^th century until the French Revolution, when the abbey was sold to a roofing contractor for salvage of the roof. Given 200 years of neglect the structure is in remarkably good condition. Anyway we found a building marked Gite du France and called in to find that we were booked into another gite that was around the corner. After 50 metres we found a crossroad with 2 lots of wheel tracks leading into the field, one apparently going to a ruined barn. We tried the other and found our host who redirected us past the ruined barn to our cottage. It is surrounded by high grass with a horse paddock on one side with views over a pond and the forest and very peaceful.There are mole hills! Our hostess has never seen a mole but the fellas are certainly here – their hills are everywhere – more power to the moles I say! (GB again)

20 July

GB here: Well! Stephen has done it again. We are buried in the country with no sounds other than those of animal or birds – no internet and limited cell phone coverage. This gite is rustic and quaint – such a comfy bed ( some beds on our travels have been lovey to look at and are hard to repose on!)

After a quick trip to the supermarket before it closed (Sunday hours) we lazed around the Gite and went for a walk around the property visiting the lake and finding 2 yurts, one is a “utility” shelter with fully equipped kitchen and bathroom. This Yurt is built entirely from local materials “with our little hands' as our hostess says. The walls seems to of hay bales to be replaced by straw and mud which will set like concrete. This 'yurt has everything you could want, fridge, stove, sink bench, dining table and chairs with an extension 'out front' of up turned logs for hanging out on and beyond the covering room a wonderful and obviously well used mud fire pit! Their son and his scoutmasters and fellow scouts use this place as do people wanting outdoor living. Right beside the pond – how cool is that. The other yurt is obviously for sleeping and probably bought for the job – but it was securely locked up. 

We also found an elderly boat which had only one paddle and that one was leaning at a precarious angle into the lake waters. Mole hills accompanied our walk! So cool to know we are not alone.

The forest here has low undergrowth, lots of ferns border the roads – some are bracken and no vines looping between trees so is quite open under the thick canopy. We think it is maintained for hunting and would be good for deer but – not on the land owned by our hosts.Matilde and her husband Monsieur Olivier are anti hunting and very green. Matilde says there are red fox here, owls – we hear them at night and they do not say 'Toowit toowoo!” and are completely unlike the cry of our gorgeous morepork, etc. Matilde is a producer of videos and works for the local zoo.Arnold aka Monsieur Olivier is a web designer and needs to live near Paris. Near Paris? Here? We could do that!

We see 4 horses from our stable door of our gite – 2 white, one gorgeous long legged brown horse – all of whom are several?? hands high - and a smaller blonder / brown horse. (Our hosts' 2 teenage children are off on summer holidays) There is another horse in / beside the barn who is on his own ( I suspect to leave the ladies alone) / or her own – stroppy mare? with a generous sized paddock to cavort in. 

The stables the other 4 horses have are generous in size but I am very uneasy about the amount of mud and dung in their stalls – not well tended but then maybe horses are used to living ankle deep in dung? I don't think so – there is a dung heap as we pass the barn – covered, kind of, with straw but there is a heap more on the floor of the stables. Having said that there is a large paddock the stables are set in that they have to hang out in. 

The hosts also have 2 dogs- one a loveable bouncy brown stray who wants to love everyone he meets – they found him abandoned and adopted him.And the other is a gorgeous well bred dude who looks a lot like a white aristocratic wolf hound!

As mentioned above we walked around the pond to the yurts and then down a lane, ending up in what Matlide calls the 'village' – just the few dwelling we encountered as we drove in. BUT – we explored the abandoned Abbey – found the out door chapel commemorating St Giles. His statue depicts and man warmly and protectively holding a deer. The legend has it that St Giles hated hunting of any animal. One day, while on his usual 'rounds' he encountered a medieval hunter who had his bow and arrow set to shoot a hind – he held out his hand to stop the arrow which was pierced by the arrow and the hind was saved.

So quiet – so serene

21 July:

Today we went to Chateu de Chenonceau – on the Cher river. This stunningly beautiful chateau is the result of what women can do …. In 1515 Tomas Bohier manage to acquire the existing medieval building from the owners the Marques by calling in their debts to the king. He was a court minister to Charles VIII. However it was his wife Katherine Briconnet who oversaw most of the excavation of the Marques site – leaving only the keep and the forecourt, and their subsequent building endeavours.

The interior of the Chateau still has much evidence of the Bohiress building and their motto –that goes something like this' If I complete this building I will be remembered' – yes, he got that right!

Nothing lasts for ever and the Bohires got into financial strife for one reason or another - c'est histoire – and it was about to go onto the market as there were several enthusiastic bidders but NON! The then king's favourite lady , one Diane de Poitiers decided she wanted it and what she wanted she got form Henry II. She set to and added gardens, mulberry trees for silk worms etc and a bridge over the Cher attached to the Chateau etc.

Twenty years senior to her King, Diane is described as one cool, calculating woman who spent a lot of time and effort on 'preserving' her body... daily baths in the cold Cher river and she provided huge support to the cosmetic industry in France in her investments in products to extend her youth...

The happy couple met originally when she, as a 27 year old woman , and wee 7 year old Henry VII were both sent as hostages in a political maneuver – in lieu of the King of France. Wee Henry was distressed and apparently she gave him a comforting kiss – which he never forgot! Fast forward several years and we have Diane ensconced in this gorgeous chateau to which we read Henry's wife ( Catherine De Midci ) was forced to visit. Ouch! When Henry died from a splinter of lance ( he had been jousting) in his eye Catherine's comment was “ he has been the source of all my agony” - they did manage to produce 5 children however. 

There is one room called the bedroom of the 5 queens. Mary Stuart was one of these – she was married to Francois I! Apparently she spoke of her happy times in the Loire valley once incarcerated by her cousin ER I

So what next – well, Diane left pretty quick smart – Catherine claimed Chenonceau for her own and Diane exchanged it for Chaumont sur Loire – less grand but actually it had more land! Ever the business woman.

There is still so much more to tell – in the booklet and in our heads.Fascinating people – they intrigue us both.

BUT -let's not forget Madame Louise Dupin who was a very intelligent (and good to look at also) woman who managed to keep the marauding hordes of revoloutionaires out of the chateau by convincing them that no royalty had ever resided there(Hmm) – just to make sure she had covered all her bases she filled the chapel with fire wood. She was good and gracious woman who the villagers loved and they backed her to the hilt – what a woman! Oh yes and she was a great patron for the arts- painters, philosphers etc. ( she the grandmother of George Sands – pen name of a woman writer)

OK – a quick lunch of lovely local salads in a cafe in the lovely grounds and then on to look at the carriages – mostly those used by local villagers and then through the vegetable and flower gardens – which are extensive.They supply flowers for the Chateau- as you wander through the Chateau you are aware of the massive vases of fragant smelling bouquets that are obviously all fresh,delicate fragrances as they would have been historically. The variety of vegetables were also stunning – we have never seen such a variety of aubergines, silver beet ( some with bright red steams and others with bright yellow!)

Finally we plodded back to the car and decided to drive to Amboise and see what we would see.

What a lovely medieval centre of town – it reminded us of Chinon in a more modest way – we looked at the Chateau, wandered the streets to Clos de Luce, a grand manor house, where Leonardo da Vinci was invited by King Francois I (on the advice of his sister) in 1516 to live and carry on his inventions, explorations and paintings ( he bought the Mona Lisa with him from Italy as he traveled on a mule) He ended the last 3 years of his life as the grace and favour guest of the king . There after the king set up his mistress in Clos de Luce and then it became a house for ladies of easy virtue!

Currently the garden and the Clos de Luce houses replicas and life size reproductions of LvD – we have seen many of these already in Europe. Stephen's comment as we left was that LvD provided the basic ideas, sketches and material that was built on and developed further by many people. His sketches and note books were in code – so no one really knows what his intentions were – e.g the sketches for the helicopter may be accurately interpreted or may well have been for something completely different.

We wandered back down into the centre d'Amboise – feasting our eyes again on the chateau that towers above the streets and shops – had a wee glass of vino and then drove to our gite - picking up ingredients for the gorgeous dinner Stephen cooked for us.

Stephen has just returned from talking to Matilde re the zoo ( tomorrow's adventure) and found out the following:

The couple bought this site 14 years ago. Prior to that they were in the south of france working the Olivier family vine yard. When the family sold it they moved up to the Loire. Arnold is a web designer and needs to live near Paris . This would explain the somewhat overgrown nature of the property!! Limited time to tend the fields.

The gite we are in was the cottage for the game keeper for the nearby mansion and the property of our hosts was originally that of the gardener – they have added to the property since they took possession. In the original house though there are large windows through which the gardener took the orange plants inside in winter! Hence the name of their property! ( It is all falling into place!)

So – tonight for diner:

Our starters were a pate de foie porc – ohh! On fresh baguette Yumm. And a tomato and basil buschetta I made using local ingredients and suggestions, served on miniature lovely crisp toast breads

Stephen cooked chicken breasts stuffed with local ham and cheeses – and new potatoes with butter and parsley!

My turn tomorrow night using a Loire Valley recipe!

(Later – not my best effort! Needed a larger chunk of lamb and had to used dried thyme as no fresh available. The Thyme was too strongly flavoured – I will do it again in NZ where the kitchen is wide enough to bend over to the oven!)

On the move again

13 July

Being Sunday we had to get moving to the supermarket before noon to get supplies for dinner.  In many ways it's nice to be in a country where almost everything is closed on Sunday - it actually feels right to have to have leisure time with no pressure to shop.

For the afternoon we headed for the nearest beach at La Grand Motte - a 1960's development on what had been an undeveloped sandspit.  There were traffic jams and we took a long time to find a park.  Once we reached the beach it felt like some of the Manawatu beaches - a long flat beach backed by low sand dunes. The sand was very fine and the water deepened very slowly.  Fortunately the area we were in was not developed and there wasn't a commercial deckchair in sight. It wasn't crowded and there were few people in the water.  When we went in for a dip we found the water too cold to stay in more than a few minutes with pleasure so we spent the afternoon developing tans and watching the activities.  There were a lot of family groups and the only change from a NZ beach was a bevy of vendors wheeling carts along the beach.  It was obvious they were not allowed to approach people or stop in any position unless they were hailed, so they spent the entire time trolling back and forwards along the tideline.

14 July

We forgot this was Bastille day!!  The date is 14/7/14 !!  However we did find a supermarket that was open.

Anyway today we had a leisurely start and headed out towards Orange via St Remy de Provence.  St Remy proved to be difficult to navigate as half the roads were closed, we assume because of a patriotic parade.  We found the tourist office and got a good lead on where to go.

We started at the Monastere St Paul de Mausole which is a 'rest home' / mental hospital( in the bad old days) that hosted Van Gogh for 1 year 1 month and 1 day, during which he painted around 150 paintings including some of his well known images, e.g. Starry Night.  His room we visited - set up as  a replica of his room which seems spacious for a 19th century institution.  There were a number of copies  of his paintings around the monastery that were painted during his stay there, some of them with very recognizable elements still visible from the area.  I have to feel sorry for the Paul that the monastery is named after - apparently he was offered a position as bishop, but refused saying "I'll

GB take: St Remy, Provence is where went went today.We visited the 'place' where van Gogh committed himself - hate the word asylum. So many thoughts in my mind  as we looked at his creations, his paintings, his room and the gardens.It still feels a place of peace and one where healing could be possible - I gather from what i read that the doctors were kind and understanding and the care gentle.

We also read about his medical indications, familial history and the final diagnosis of manic depression, epilepsy and poisoning from the various toxins he had tried to use to end his life.  - as i read the description of his behaviours over time as well as during his time at St Paul I said to Stephen I thought he was dealing with MD - my paternal grand mother was diagnosed as manic depressive which we now call bi polar in our PC language. In the 1960s my mother was  involved with the care of psychiatric patients when they were discharged and  came home after 'treatment' as a public health nurse and had explained to me Granny's condition  so I could understand that when we went on our many visits to see her that she wasn't 'odd' just different and there were reasons for that. So - In the chapel de St Paul I gave some grateful thanks for everything.

I am stunned by the courage of this (VG) man who wrote so honestly and making himself hugely vulnerable as he described to the people he loved best what he was going through - this made me really think about the concept of ' self pride' and how valuable it really is!?

Then we went to Glanum - what a surprise and a delight - Gallic/ Hellenic/ Roman settlements - not in the blog yet - my next job!

Glanum:

When we arrived to look at Van Gogh's Clinque we became aware there were archeological sites.

 We walked toward the site over open ground and encountered a very discontented donkey ( we had already heard his braying) - who was tethered with only 2 meters of rope to his site. I was quietly chuffed when he evaded the strokes from a passing tourist who told him he was lovely - I could hear him say - "Yeah right! If I am that gorgeous how come I am tied up like his in the 34 degrees sun with no water and no freedom" I hate this stuff!

Glanum - This was a surprise that the Lonely Planet didn't tell us about.  Next door to the Monastere St Paul is a archaeological site of a village abandoned before 300AD.  There were remains from the 7th century BC of a Gaullish village built around a spring in a natural defensive position in a small rocky valley.  This expanded into a Greek style town and then was overlaid by a Roman settlement.  Temples and forums were built, then demolished and built over, but the way the site has been prepared now makes the layering clear.  The exposed area is around 200m long by 50m wide and gives a clear indication of the buildings and how they worked together.  Interestingly there were no side streets in the exposed area.  At the entrance to the site there are 2 stunningly presented Roman monuments, an arch and a mausoleum.  Given the size of the public buildings the town was obviously quite large.

15 July

Today we decided to visit Orange to see the Roman theatre. While we had seen Greek and Roman theatre ruins in the past, we have never seen a complete working one like this. In its heighday it could seat 10,000 and the actors could be heard everywhere. Now the full height of the building behind the stage remains standing and is a hugely impressive facade from the street towering over the nearby houses. Once inside the shear scale of the building is overwhelming. However this doesn't make the stairs any easier as the Romans obviously didn't mind a steep climb.

Leaving Orange we dropped into Chateauneuf du Pape. This is a well regarded wine area named after the chateau on top of the hill which was built as a summer house of the Popes of Avignon. We visited one “cave”, but couldn't raise anyone, so called next door to the Brotte estate to see what the wine was like. G liked the white, but I didn't think the red lived up to the $80+ a bottle they were asking. The red was a Granache/Syrah/??? blend that (IMHO) lacked fruit and tannin.

Then on to Gordes, recommended by one book as a Provence town on the checklist of most tourists. It is a small town sprawling down a steep hill from a small chateau. We found a park at the top and ventured into the top tier of alleyways. To go down further would have required the services of a goat to get back up. I am thankful that we don't have to live in this sort of environment where everything must be a struugle against gravity.

This evening we finally managed to find the local Gallician restaurant open and had a pleasant dinner of the Camargue specialities.

16 July

We left our winery perch to head north towards the gentler country of the Loire. Again we followed the book “Back Roads of France” which lead us first to a “Bambooserie”, an extensive garden mainly planted in 60+ species of bamboo, as well as water gardens, bonzai and a Laotian village.

We stopped in St Jean du Gard to visit a museum of silk making, but it was closed so we had lunch and G entertained herself by photographing the condom vending machine on the pavement outside the local pharmacy.(every pharmacy we have seen in France has had a condom dispenser on the wall outsde for out of hours emergencies! These pharmacies amaze us. They are prolific, huge affairs - some only metres from each other - all have the same logo - a green flashing cross)

After a couple of false trails we found our accommodation in a camp ground on the banks of the Tarn river. This camp is near a little village just outside the town of Florac.
The welcome we received was the model of how to make guests feel at home – the woman who received us spent 15 minutes enthusiastically telling us what we needed to see and showing us photos of the area while ignoring the phone and any other distractions. She spoke with an American accent when speaking English. her mother was American, her father French. She grew up in America and was happy to tell us all about how she and her husband ( no. 2) had acquired the camp. She had 2 girls from her first marriage and he had 5!  Her description of taking 7 young children skiing was very funny. Picture her with 2 - 3 kids behind her on her skis. She gave us some very amusing anecdotes.She was fluent in French, English and German and treated everyone as personal friends – exceptional. I am inspired by the attention detail in our accommodation - an immaculate mobile home. She hadn't received Stephen's request for linen so she just went out the back and came back with disposable sheets!! One fitted sheet, One huge flat sheet and 2 pillow cases! There were alsorts of nice touches in the mobile home. A starter pack including extre loo paper, pot scourer, coffees, teas, honey dish wash and hand wash, bag for rubbish etc. This in a camping ground impressed me.

She told us about the beavers who had their lodge on the banks of river, just down stream from the camp.there are a family in residence. Mum, dad and a young one born last year. We walked down the well worn track - more of a simple road to locate the viewing spot. They can be seen during the day but the best time is around 8.30 as dust arrives. The European beaver does not build lodges. They have a nest in amongst the reeds and driftwood that ends up at a convenient spot on the river with a nice big pool at its front door. We were told that the female has been seen looking very pregnant and evidently ready to pup and lactate. She has not been seen for a few days so the birth may have happened. Dad has been sighted though. As he swims up stream he makes a considerable wake. He is quite sizable evidently. We left the viewing platform of nice flat rock and went for a swim. The water was a little brackish - no where near as brown as rivers we would discover as we traveled.It was still hot at about  5pm so in we went - Stephen enjoyed swimming out into the middle of the river - I stayed closer to shore. The water was a nice temperature and it was great to cool down, despite the faint smell of 'river' in the water.We ate at the camp restaurant this is run independently of the camp and the food was truly delicious.

After eating we wandered down the road by the river to try a spot of beaver watching. The road we walked down is part of the route Robert Lewis Stevenson took on his 12-day, 120-mile sole hiking journey through the sparsely populated and impoverished areas of the Cevennes1878.  Modestine, a stubborn, manipulative donkey was his sole companion and he could never quite get the better of her. is memorable.

Once at the rocks we settled down for the wait. I keep wishing I had remembered to pack our small but very good binoculars. As time passed more and more people quietly arrived, the light slowly dimmed. stephen settled back on the sun warmed rocks and drifted off to sleep - quietly snoring in time with the sound of the river flowing. Gb stayed on beaver watch but no beavers appeared - I think dad must have been on night shift while mum rested from for feeding and pup grooming activities. Finally Stepehn woke - inquired as to beavers activities and so, after a while longer we trudged back down the PLS route to a comfy sleep in our little 2 bed roomed mobile home.   

17 Jul.

Again we followed our “Back Roads of France” and the advice of our favourite camp ground operator and drove through the Gorges do Tarn, stopping to explore medieval villages and gawp at limestone rock formations. The country around here is spectacular with the gorge cutting through limestone cliffs at elevation 500m and the plateau above at 1000m, seemingly 2 different worlds with the top verdant farmland and forest and the gorge rugged and spartan.

In Florac we stumbled into the local market day with the streets packed with stalls and people.  Again the old narrow streets were atmospheric.

We followed the winding roads and navigated the steep hair pin bends, drinking in the scenery when, about 3pm we caught sight, in the distance of the Millau bridge. Stunning at this distance it was nothing to compare the feeling as we drove under this incredible construction. It crosses the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains. It was designed by the British architect Lord Foster and at 300m (984 feet) it is the highest road bridge in the world, weighing 36,000 tonnes. The central pillar is higher than the famous French icon, the Eiffel Tower. The Bridge opened in December 2004 and is possibly one of the most breath taking bridges ever built.The bridge was entirely privately financed and cost 394 million euros (272 million pounds, 524 million dollars). The aim is to cut the traveling time to southern France, removing the bottle neck at Millau, through the completion of the motorway between Paris and the Mediterranean.The aim of Lord Foster was to design a bridge with the ‘delicacy of a butter fly’ - he certainly achieved that.Approaching and driving under the bridge was a ethereal,surreal expereince - almost as if he were in some kind of fantasy
On a practical note  Lord Foster designed a bridge that enhances the natural beauty of the valley, with the environment dominating the scene rather than the bridge. The bridge appears to float on the clouds despite the fact that it has seven pillars and a roadway of 1½ miles in length. On first sight, the impression is of boats sailing on a sea of mist. The roadway threads through the seven pillars like thread through the eye of a needle.
Having gone through the visitors centre that documents the construction, design and statistics about the bridge  we drove over the huge viaduct. After coming back to earth with a jolt we we discovered that our accommodation for the night was another 2 ½ hours away! We found that driving through the middle of France means climbing and descending a lot of ranges and the towns and village change in character and appeal. For a while we followed the Lot River in lush agricultural land that looked prosperous. The villages here have more individual houses with land around them and are better maintained than many we've seen.
We finally made accommodation fall. This hotel, Mont du Source is a very large1800s house and is furnished accordingly! Lovely room, fascinating bath and shower!  The bath was  pretty shade of blue - as was the decor and furnishing in our very spacious bedroom.
 We ate dinner outside at the hotel - service was really slow. Actually we have been impressed by how much faster than we had expected service has been everywhere we have been.This time it was slow enough for me to inspect the very nice but cold swimming pool in the hotel gardens. After a so so meal for me ( only one of 2 meals I haven't enjoyed - chewy, dry jambon. The truffade that accompanied it was wonderful though and I have been precticing repeating this quite often since then) , a very nice meal for Stephen I was looking forward to that afore mentioned bath.

The bath sat in the middle of a large bathroom. I was delighted to turn it on, anticipating a lovely long soak. It was not to be. I couldn't get any hot water to run, only cold. So - into the shower I went. Another amazing experience. Hot water there was, descending from a shower rose directly above my head. I leapt out with alacrity , turned off the water flow and began a closer inspection. My next attempt bought froth 4 - 5 strong flows of water at right angles to my now wet torso. a massage no less! Further fiddling with taps revealed I could turn off some of these spouts of water, focusing the flow to where I wanted it. Very interesting but by now all I wanted was a wash and bed. I finally managed some sort of sponge down and took my wet head to bed.

Breakfast French style was lovely with quite the nicest raspberry conserve I have eaten. The owner of the hotel, an older woman took the time to give us the outline of the history of the house, the family who lived there and her own time running what began as a B and B then with the addition o a chef and catering kitchen became a hotel. She has run it now for 20 years.

18 July

Today we followed a route touching on the volcanoes of the Avergne from Salers to Clermont-Ferrand.  The village we had spent the night, Saint-Martin-Valmeroux, proved to be a delightful little market town and for a change the houses were clean and bright.  There was a covered market that looked ancient, a public water supply fountain and narrow streets winding off the central square.

Salers was an important centre in the 14th century and attracted a fair degree of wealth.  Although small, it was packed with houses that had additional features and as the stone used in construction was volcanic there was little sign of weathering.

From Salers the road ran along the side of a steep volcanic ridge giving a spectacular birds eye view of the farms in the valley.  After reaching Puy Mary, a pyramid shaped volcano we dropped own into wide valleys with intensive farming - a very pleasant landscape.

At Cheylade we found a huge garage sale spread over the square in front of the church with around 20 stalls of wonderful bric-a-brac, but no buyers in sight.

We stopped at Lac Parvin, a small crater lake, for a crepr and a drink while watching a family in  rowboat - the father standing and casting with a fly rod while hi wife and daughter hung on in the rocking boat.

Into France

5 July

Leaving Lausanne we headed down to Lake Annecy, reputed to be the deepest and cleanest lake in Europe.  We tried to find a park in the lakefront area near the  town of Annecy without luck so headed around the lake to a smaller centre.  As there were "corporate games" in progress this meant sitting in a half hour traffic queue held up by a pedestrian crossing.  Eventually we found a spot to stop and sat on the lake edge.  While the lake was nice, it doesn't have the charm of Lac du Joux we had seen the previous day.We saw a hilarious rally / crowd of bikers - obviously locals on their bikes with little shopping baskets before and aft and also panniers either side - children also on board. There were several double bikes - ie. one bike inserted on top of another with the rider on the top bike. Some not very stable - hanging onto the head of the biker beside them! They were obviously out for a festive jaunt - not a helmet to be seen on any one's head. In fact helmets are often not worn except by the serious road bikers - of whom there are many. People - men and women tackling the precarious Dolomite mountain roads and also going up to the alpine plateau of Vercour. Coming down behind cyclists on switchback turns who were traveling at the same speed as were were was breath taking!

From Annecy We headed down to Villard de Lans to follow a route advised in the book "Back Roads of France".  Villard de Lans in a pleasant alpine village with cobbled streets and a village square surrounded by cafes.

Moving on we came to Gorges du Bourne, an incredible narrow gutted deep gorge with vertical walls.  The stream was not particularly large, but in several places it filled the gorge side to side with the road cut into the cliff face above it.  The over hangs extended over the entire road and would not have allowed a vehicle higher than an average campervan through  At the end of the narrowest part of the gorge the road forked with both routes leaving through low rough cut tunnels.

From there the road climbed into a high alpine valley with magnificent ranges on each side topped with sheer cliffs - absolutely beautiful.  Arriving at our destination St Martin en Vercors we found our accommodation was in a renovated old farmhouse a kilometre out in the couutry.  The quiet, sense of peace and the views were breathtaking. 

6 July

Another day on the road.

Breakfast was interesting as we were faced with a huge salad bowl in our places, into which was poured large quantities of very nice coffee.  We gather that the idea is that you dip your crusty rolls into the coffee to soften them, but we chickened out of this.  We were then offered a "white cheese", like yoghurt our host said, which was eaten with sugar.  The quantity of various types of fresh and toasted bread on the table was huge and there was a large bowl of fresh fruit to finish of with.

We started following the route set out in Back Roads of France through a series of high valleys and passes, then looked at the time and decided to take the fast route to the south coast.  However the scenery in the foothills of the Alps is truly magnificent and we are definitely not averse to returning in the future to spend more time here.
 
7-8 July

We're spending a couple of days in Le Lavandou, a small town between Toulon and St Tropez, sometimes included in the description of the French Riviera.  It has been a lot better than I expected with good beaches that are not over-crowded and a relaxed feeling in town.  There are large petanque areas set up on the promenade overhung with plane trees and palms.  For the first time we are having to decipher menus that offer no English help so not all our meals are what we expect.

The hotel we picked is located in the middle of a series of narrow pedestrian only alleys dotted with restaurants and shops selling local delicacies.  The first day we spent time on the beach in front of the old part of town and enjoyed teh sand beach, but found the water a little on the cool side for lazing - it seems strange to swim in the sea with no waves.

The second day we found another beach 400m away which was sheltered from the wind which had picked up and found that the water deepened rapidly so that it was easier to get into the cool water.  Once in we managed to stay in for 20 minutes.  The extra buoyancy here is very noticeable and we found we could float suspended vertically with our heads fully out of the water.

In the afternoon we drove east along the coast.  While there are settlements fairly continuously along this area there are not a lot of villages as such and only a few beaches as most of the coast is fairly rocky.

9 - 10 - 11 July

Today we started off back at the beach with deeper water. Oh - the sensation of floating so weightlessly is amazing. In deep water your legs are suspended while you hang perpendicularly in the water - needing only a wee wave of your hands to keep your head above water! Our sun tans are gently advancing -it always amazes me how slow to sun burn we are in this part of the world - reminds me of Opunake in the 1970s and layers of coconut oil to hasten the process!  Unfortunately the wind picked up again so we packed up soon after noon and headed west to the Camargue.  As I said, the Riviera was less crowded and frenetic than I expected and I would happily go back to this area to relax in the future.

The drive across to our next resting place near Arles was mostly passing hills, that were rocky with stunted trees - the further we moved towards the Camargue the trees on the mountain slopes became more prolific and grew higher. Of course between these mountains ( they were not close) were open plains where horticulture ispr. There are prolific masses of vineyards, some olive trees, lots of fruit trees - apricots are sold everywhere at wayside stalls.Interesting is the range of care dealt to these crops - some are free of weeds and appear carefully tended, others are scruffy and overgrown. A few are obviously abandoned - as Stephen has already said, nowhere are the abandoned and decaying establishments ( house and farm buildings) that we saw in Croatia, Bosnia- Herzegovina  or Slovenia.

 Passing Toulon and Marseille the road was in tunnels, so we did not see much of these ports.We did spy a little of Toulon's massive port with ships and cruise liners in abundance as we travelled over an amzing state of the art bridge.
  West of Marseille we passed a large inland lake, Etang de Berre, which had bigger waves breaking on a breakwater than we'd seen in the Mediterranean.It is the usual glorious blue of the Mediterranean sea. We saw where an outlet / inlet links this lake to the sea.

After that the landscape became very flat and low lying as we crossed the estuary of the Rhone. The marshes soon appeared as did the horses of the Carmague - adults are white with brown foals who change colour to white when they reach their maturity. We saw huge fields of rice - brilliant green, almost olive green in hue. Rice of course thrives in such wet areas.Also in this area are the salt pans and it is easy to see the salt lying in the drier areas of the Carmargue.  We crossed over the Rhone, the Petite Rhone and Le Canale du Rhone in that order - all big greenish waterways - the 2 rivers lined with trees, some of the canale with concrete siding some with big yellow bricks and some with reeds and trees.

Arriving at Gallician, where we were staying, we wondered why we hadn't been given a street address until we found the accommodation WAS the centre of the village. This is a little village and we are still waiting to see if the restaurant will open for a meal! No worries as we are self catering and I was glad to hang freshly laundered washing out in the mistral this morning.

We have an apartment located over the barrel room and shop of a vineyard.  The wines are nice, but seem overpriced starting at $NZ18 a bottle when reasonable wines are available in the supermarket for $NZ5.
We had a fascinating talk with the woman who overseas the winery sales and the accommodation and heard about the various types of grapes they use for various wines,  about the Portuguese vintner, the family who have owned the vineyard for 4 generations etc

 The apartment is nice - rustic, very roomy and you reach it by a spiral stair case. My heart dropped as our previous 3 nights had been several flights of stairs up and after a day of walking and climbing knees were groaning. However all is fine - we  are loving the central location to so many interesting places and there is built in entertainment. After a day exploring we can sit in front of our large window, gaze at the garden, sip vin de Provence and watch as a company brings in land rover full groups of French tourists who get the tour we had free for staying here!Each your can't last more then 15 minutes maximum! By the look of the land rovers they cover a big distance in each tour and not all of it is on dry roads.

So far my impressions are that the French seem to be a polite people - we don't hear raucous exchanges and the children seem well disciplined. I was most impressed with the way children behaved when we were on the beach in La Lavandou and I see it again here while they entertain themselves in the park like garden here on swings and with balls. I haven't yet seen any squabbling - limited sample I am sure is the reason for this. .

As we drive around this part of Provence we find the oak tree lined roads - always narrow - that have their roots if not their origins in a Napoleonic initiative to ensure his army would always have wood available for building and fires etc. 
 Reeds grow all alongside the roads - not bull rushes but water loving varieties. No very tall trees are evident except the oaks that line the avenues .

The first day here we didn't awake until 11am! The exceptional shutters and quiet of this place is the reason I am guessing. We have had shutters all the way in Europe but these are the real deal!  Stephen explored the village,  I read and rested knees, we explored the highways and by ways - finding a bridge that is said to give the best view over this very flat land - it was over le Canale du Rhone-interesting to see the Etaps laid out - some boats passed by with tourists.This is one way to see the Carmargue.


Then - we went to my happy place - the supermarket in Vauvert. I adore these places. The range, the selection, the variety, the creativity of the merchandise is riveting.Actually, this is a poor description of what these shops are like! I stand in front of meat counters,of fish counters becoming seriously over excited and then... we encounter the deli counters!  As is if that is not enough we find ourselves in front of oils, herbs, dressings, pate, cheeses ( oh dear! I am seriously in paradise now) and of course breads but we usually go to the local Boulangerie (sp?) for these. Stephen was up and out at 7am this morning in hot pursuit of croissant from our local store as we missed out on the 10th - all sold out when he arrived at 11.15!
OK - we stocked up for self catering for 7 nights and did a tiki tour of Vauvert!There, in the middle of a really nice modern French town is a replica of the pantheon! I should have hated it but it is so clever I actually love it - very much cleaner of course - built in nice honey coloured stone and no self aggrandizement in the form of "M A Grippa Fecit " emblases the front archway!

Today 11 July was amazing.
First the washing - as above. 2 hours and 12 minutes to wash! Hmmm - no wonder  we see so many of the French sitting around at cafes - they are waiting for their washing to finish its cycle!
Then off into the Carmague again to see  more white horses, rice paddies etc and evidence of salt. We went through a number a number small French villages en route. All front directly into the street- often with no pavement,all we saw were shuttered. It hard to know which are shops and which are houses. Stephen's comment is that they turn their faces toward their gardens at the other side of the building - not all have room for gardens though.All are terraced houses, until you come out of the old town / village. then appear single dwellings on more land with trees and gardens but all seem to have high fences and or hedges - the privacy seems to be important here.  

We reached the Parc ornithological - where we spent about 2 hours wander around shallow ponds where a huge variety of life exists.
In this parc live the following - we certainly didn't see many of these but what we did blew me away:
beavers, badgers, otters, water rats, red foxes, nutria ( we saw one of these on a path, eating flat tack - its fur was wet so it had evidently been in the water recently. They look like a cross between a beaver and a rat but much bigger than a rat. They were introduced for their fur they have become a pest as they harvest a lot of herbage and eat only about 10% of what they crop). There are also 3types of snakes -  ( I kept a wary eye out for those I can tell you!) and a huge variety of birds. The most evident and spectacular were of course the flamingos - huge white waders with pink tail feathers - the undersides of which are more an orange colour - this is visible when they take off to fly or gesticulate with their wings to intimidate their mates. They spent all their time eating - shrimps who dwell in the muddy bottom of the lakes- grunting or squawking and flapping their wings at each other indignantly . The latter were often about disputes over which shrimp belonged to who! Stephen saw one chasing another and pecking at his / her tail feathers. Their long spindly legs and knobbly knees ( I am relieved as now I am sure I don't have the knobbliest knees in the animal kingdom) are a bight pink. We read that the colour of the flamingos is determined by the amount of shrimp they eat and with less shrimp available in winter their plumage becomes a pater shade of  - white...

We saw several flamingo fly and that is a truly wonderful sight. They are stream lined aeronautical
perfection - Stephen is sure they have inspired aeronautical designs. Hard to explain their passage.

Herons, white although smaller than our NZ Kotuku, and bluish grey,  were another source of wonder and annoyance-  we watched they way they flew, landed - sometimes with comical clumsiness and fought over territory. I watched as one bully heron literally chased an opponent off a perch in a dead tree, through other trees, up into the sky, onto another tree perch - that wasn't a solution and the nasty piece of work continued it's torment over and over again. I am really off that bird!  However, we saw lovely interactions as well as large herons and small birds shared the same rock, and as heron's would vacate a perch when another approached - almost as if to say 'it's your turn now'. There were so many different birds and I can't name them - lack of local knowledge.The hide we visited was huge and allowed us t closer vantage point to view the birds without disturbing them.

Oh yes - and then we met the mud dwelling fish.  Some of them lept into the air - others stirred up the mud  And some just lazed around looking like eels to we kiwis - we finally realised they were some fish like carp - mud suckers.

We also saw Egyptian vultures - I really am not comfortable with those birds eyes and in an aviary a giant owl - in fact 5 of them , 4 of whom were trying to sleep! What beautiful, majestic creatures they are and I ached for their captivity just so people could see them

We also saw a nutria - bought to Europe for its thick fur it is now a pest. I does look like a huge rat  but it was interesting to see it munching on grass beside a small stream, quite oblivious of its human audience. 

OK - a lunch munching local produce and more bird watching.
Then;
We drove down to St Mare de Marie   . This is another nice, modern French town that is bordered by the marshes and also by the sea. I loved their roundabouts - all wide and clean. One has a bull rampant ( they still do have bull fighting here! and we found adverts for the bull versus matador on horse on our windshield) one had light house and he next had ship! ! We parked and walked to the sea - big seas - lots of wind swept waves,not very enticing so we drove again through this amazing countryside where water , lakes, horticulture all walk side by side.

We came to Aigues Morte.

It has a long history and is a gorgeous walled town - the walls of which are all intact. Inside is a pleasant town - not unlike many we have visited - masses of restaurants and shops . The history intrigued me when I saw the statue of this glorious saint  Louis IX  who in 1240  wanted to get rid of the influence of the Italian navy for transporting troops to the Crusades. He  focused on the strategic position of his kingdom. At that time, Marseille belonged to his brother Charles of Anjou, King of Naples, Agde, Count of Toulouse, and Montpellier, and King of Aragon.What a lot of kings running around seeking glory and goodies. Louis IX wanted direct access to the Mediterranean Sea. He obtained the town and the surrounding lands by exchange of properties with the monks of the abbey. Residents were exempt from the salt tax which was previously levied so that they can now take the salt unconstrained.

This was the city from which Louis IX twice departed for the Crusades: the Seventh Crusade in 1248 and again for the Eighth Crusade in 1270 for Tunis where he died of dysentery.town was built originally by the sea. Due to the heavy silting by the Rhone the town is now surrounded by land - albeit some what marshy and is drained. 

We finished the day with a trip to Vauvert and a meal in a very swish restaurant that hides itself in a blank wall, like so many restaurants and shops.


12 July

More time in my happy place! Today we drove to Arles to see the big market. Wow and double wow! The main street of this picturesque town  / city was blocked off and full of produce - the like of which we have never, ever seen! Every type of herb and spice known to man and then some was displayed for purchase by the handful. We thought that Chris and Sheeka would have felt they were in heaven if they could have been with us! As well fresh fruit and vegetables - many unknown to us - were for sale - stall after stall! The fish - well; words won't describe as we saw fish we have never seen before and did not  recognize - of course there were crabs ( some really tiny) , shrimps, gambas(scampi), oysters, mussels, escargots de mer ( sea snails) flounder. Then there were tiny wee fish, medium sized fish, big fish - all shiny and silver and other colours - not describing these well as I lack the prior knowledge and vocabulary!!!Then I saw a box labeled " Soup de Poisson" - a whole heap of sea food and tiny fish. I have been looking at that on menus for several days and never quite got around to ordering it. Now I realize the soup will be all these cooked up in a bowl and I would have to crunch my way through them! I had a lucky escape.

There were stall of nougat - huge slabs in a large variety. there were breads, pizzas, cake, slices, sweets, cheeses ( phew hold.  your nose) we have never seen of, heard of. And so it went on - we arrived around 11am and it was hard initially to get anywhere near the stalls so we decamped and GB was let off the leash to wander the clothing stalls. Bliss. Not all that cheap actually but oh- the clothes are to die for.But - good woman that I am I only bought 2 articles - a top and a dress that will be so cool. as it really is quite hot - 29 - 31 degrees.

At 12.00 some stalls started to go, crowds thinned and we went back to the foodie sections and drooled   and finally lashed out big time to buy 100 grms of the most mouth meltingly beautiful
garlic pesto - this won't last long. It has a  fresh, cool flavour that combines the garlic and a cream of some sort in a clever arrangement.

At this point we went into the old town and wandered the streets, going through the Place de Forum where Van Gogh painted Le Cafe Le Soir and where the ancient Roman Forum was( the centre of religious and secular life in those time)  and where we saw the columns of the Roman Temple which have been incorporated into a medieval building, to the ancient Roman Area - which ranks 20th in size in the Roman Empire - it is being restored at a cost of 107 million Euro!

The layers and layers of ages and civilizations in these cities - clearly evident in Arles, truly is amazing but also makes one reflect on the passage of time, the evolution of human beings socially and spiritually.We then found the Arena ( l'Amphitheatre' ) which Van Gogh also painted . As I read how the arena was used - for gladiatorial combat and how people really enjoyed and demanded to see animals fight to the death when the structure was raised in 1 AD - to the advent of bull fighting ( to the death) and now to the regular contest where the bull fighter confronts the  bull who is  wearing a rosette and white fringes attached to its horn. The object of the encounter is for the bull fighter to capture the rosette using a long pole with scissor shaped blade. The red cape remains as does the death defying leaps to avoid the bulls horns. Apparently this does no harm to the bull and many become as famous as their human adversaries. These bull fights are running currently but I feel no desire to see a proud animal taunted for the glorification of a human being. There is a small bull ring here in Gallician.

So we wandered through old Arles - next stop was the ancient theatre which is also being rebuilt. It originally was a very high, large structure - when you think of the number of people who could be seated it makes you realize just what a large Roman settlement this was in 1st century AD.

More happiness - I bought a  lovely outdoor table cloth to recreate Provence at home! 

We then walked down to Le Jardin Public where Van Gogh also painted - he is immortalized with a caste of his face in a large hunk of rock.The light in Arles was inspirational for VG and he painted even in the gusty mistral winds - lashing the canvas to his easel or kneeling on his canvas and painting horizontally. He invited several of the  post impressionists painters to join him in Arles but Gauguin was the only one  who did so. It is here he and Gauguin quarreled bitterly and subsequently he looped of part of his ear and was hospitalized. The neighbours were fearful and upset by the quarrel and petitioned for him to be committed for one month.

So finally we returned to the main road where we began our wandering and back to the car and drove to our accommodation - stopping to enjoy a large roadside shop - buying fresh produce.

So now to cook  food of Provence in a Provence kitchen  and wash it down with wine de Provence !

Switzerland

2 July

With regret we left our favourite hotel and headed off to Switzerland.  We decided to revisit Verona as our last visit in 2009 was washed out by torrential rain.  This time it was dry, but we opted to park in the free area outside the city walls, forgetting how far it was into the centre leaving us with a long walk. We had another good  look at the exterior of the Roman arena we visited last time and the  We went to "Juliet's house" and balcony amid masses of tourists gawping at Juliet's statue with a high polished right breast from being pawed by hundreds for "good luck".  We paid our respects again to Shakespeare's bust on the inside of and archway into the square.Verona's old town is nice with touches of roman influence.However much has had to be reconstructed after war damage.

The rest of the day was spent on the autostrada until we reached the Swiss border where we opted not to pay the annual motorway tax and confined ourselves to the "free" roads.  The crossing into Switzerland was over the Simplon Pass, an easy climb and long descent with a beautiful alpine valley at the pass itself.  By this time the clouds were rolling in so we didn't see much of the high peaks around us.

We stayed near Brig - a bit of an exercise raising some one at the address ( Hotel Aladdin) we booked into. It appeared closed and deserted.Finally we worked out the notice in the window,and with an address in mind  turned around and found the hotel that dealt with people booked into Hotel Aladdin. Like the story there was magic involved and we were soon whisked into this other, much nicer hotel where we ate dinner in the restaurant. The Switzerland was paying in the soccer world cup. Bertrams should not have been in Switzerland that night. They lost the game - as had Croatia when we were there and - in due course did France when we arrived there! 


photos!


3 July

Today was a quick look at the outside of the castle in Brig, then a drive down a large valley to Lake Geneva.   This area is quite heavily industrialized, but the surprise to us was the acreage of vineyards.  We called into one wine cellar in Yvorne and learned a little about the industry here - the main grape grown is Chasselas, a thin skinned white grape that is also used as a table grape.  The entire production of Swiss wine is consumed within Switzerland which is why we've never heard of it.  The woman who served us offered us 2 whites to try, the one she preferred herself and the one she said the wine waiters offer as being more "snobby", which she indicated with an upturned nose.
When we talked to her about our stay in Brig her reply was 'Brig! Alors they talk with a stone in their mouth!"  This was the second time we had heard that the area of Brig was looked down on by those who spoke Haute Deutsch in Switzerland.

We found our accommodation in Lausanne close to the lake port of L'Orcy and a 3 minute walk to the lake through a park.We are in a third floor apartment with a view to a steep walking pathway which takes you to the shops up above. We walked up and bought a few goods at the local supermarket - as always a fascinating exercise and we bought lovely local meats, cheese, fruit etc. Yumm. We ate our dinner at a Swiss Restaurant on the waterfront of lac Geneva, served by a very over the top waiter who told us every dish we ordered was the specialty of the house and our choice was "Parfect!!" There was a restaurant in the apartment building which served lunches  but you had to order your dinner menu 24 hours before eating and it would be delivered to your accommodation where you could warm it up! Naturally we went to the local restaurants.

4 July

Late start, morning doing laundry and then used our free transport pass to look at the centre of Lausanne.  Every tourist staying in Lausanne accommodation is entitled to a free pass for all buses and the metro during their stay.  Together with an excellent public transport network it is a wonderful idea - if only NZ cities could do the same.

The old town in Lausanne is a very small area around the 12th century cathedral and a 13th century castle/palace and has  character typical of the times and region where it stands.  However the centre of town is built on a ridge with steep side streets and at one point a street bridge with a metro bridge beneath it standing 6 stories above the road below.We had a great view of the city from outside the cathedral.

We walked down to an "English" park with lawns, a variety of trees and an aviary.  There were a number of young people sunbathing on the lawns and others sitting in the shade reading.   A very pleasant area and we were surprised to come across a building marked as the International Olympic Games Committee Headquarters.
The birds were exotic and fascinating - however I ( GB) find aviaries sad places in many ways. This was a hot day and the cages were not large by any means.

One thing that was very noticeable was that there were at least 20 vapour trails in the sky at any one time - obviously this area is on several major ir routes.

This evening we ate again on the waterfront in warm sunny weather, ( Thai this time - along with the midges - no bites but we were glad of the insect repellent GB carries)

We then walked along to a swimming beach where we sat until the sun got down behind some trees.  A number of yachts were out on the lake, but only one had sails up and there wasn't enough breeze to fill them.  There were a number of groups sitting on the grass behind the beach, some lighting fires and small barbecues on the grass, but they were mostly groups of friends rather than families,

4 July

Another late start, then we drove up to Lake Neuchatel, which is a good size and very clear blue with reeds around the area we visited.  The lake is fringed with an area of woodland with blackberries growing along the track walked down.Some were fruiting and some were in flower.

We then headed down to a national park near the French border and found 2 pretty lakes, Lac Brenet and Lac de Joux.  The town of Le Pont sitting between them is attractive and spread out along the
shoreline of Lac de Joux.  While we were there there was some police action as one car headed up to a nearby pass at high speed and another skidded to a stop outside the railway station and set up a road block.  However nothing dramatic happened while we were there.


GB comment - despite the police activity I felt a sense of deep peace at this place. Not many tourists - a sleepy Swiss village with people going about their  business. I would happily return. 

Trento

30 June

A quiet day wandering around the town of Trento.  There is a long history of habitation here, but most of the old buildings visible in town date from the 12th-16th centuries.

The town was the venue for the Council of Trent in the 18th century (in response to Luther and the protestant movement)  which set the course of the Roman Catholic church for the next 400 years.

Trento is known as the painted city - there are still frescoes on many of the buildings - dating back to the 15th century - still visible and very lovely. This was a quiet day being a Monday - we admired the large castle, the Duomo and went into the cathedral. After  short time the mid day bells peeled out , people left and we moved quietly to some seats and listened to a short service in Latin. A huge sense of peace was present and to hear the Latin spoken was like music in my ears - in nomine; pater et filius et spiritus sanctum - lovely and for me evoked my years of   happily puddling around in the Latin language. So - Latin is still alive and well in some places in the world -my second encounter hearing it spoken - Zadar and now Trento.

Since we were here last in 2009 they have built a new block in the gardens.In the afternoon we got access to the hotels "spa" area in this complex where we have been relaxing in their super indoor swimming pool with views to the mighty Dolomites , in their 'relaxing room' with cream covered single warmed water beds where we lazed and snoozed  and outside we sun bathed on  deck chairs toasting in the blazing sun! Bliss - Stephen and I had the pool and relaxing room to our selves - only one other couple sun worshiping. Peaceful and beautiful.We decided not to partake of the sauna, turkish bath, massage or depilatory services.The heat in the 2 former was like a furnace blast and we need to hang on to all our 'bits' at our age - who knows what might disappear with all that 'depilatoring ' going on.

We were taken by a lovely young woman from reception across he luscious lawn to the venue - who provided us with a classically embossed woven carry bag complete with toweling dressing gown, towel and a pair of jandals wrapped on plastic for our use - black for men and white for women. They were ours to use for the day - just for us to return them to our room to be removed by the maid in due course!Of course we enjoyed them!

insert picture -pool 

Dinner at the hotel restaurant - a real experience with beautiful decor and perfect silver service.
The food was wonderful - no point in describing what we ate as we lack the vocabulary to do it.
However - as Stephen ordered and drank his coffee and cognac we watched as, discretely behind the bar the young waiter,  took  glasses steaming out of the dish washer and he put them onto a machine that moved at some speed to dry and polish them on a machine with 4 vertical bottle brush spindles. We were fascinated to watch the process.

Through out the evening we and our fellow guests were effortlessly and seamlessly waited on -as we observed it seemed like a well rehearsed scenario as the waiter  served and supported each other to provide the quality service we received.  Gillian was taken by a beautifully polished samovar on a side table.

Back to our favourate hotel

29 June

Today we drove from Cortina d;Ampezzo to Trento via the most direct route.  This initially took us over 2 passes at around 2200m altitude, but a much less rapid climb and descent to yesterday.  There was no snow near the road, but there were large areas both above and below us.  At the Pordoi Pass we stopped to investigate the local souvenirs and test the temperature which was decidedly cool.  Many of the cable cars and chairlifts on the skifields were operating which surprised me as there didn't seem to be much demand.

Once again we noted the remote villages high on the valley sides which must be isolated in the winter and only liveable by the fit at any time.

After the Pordoi Pass we descended to a river valley with thick woodlands giving way to cultivation and vineyards.

Arriving at Trento we booked into Hotel Villa Cardinal Madruzzo and managed to get the same room we had in 2009, despite efforts by the receptionist to upgrade us to a first floor room in the original villa.  The hotel has added a new block, but still retains its quiet and elegant feel and wonderful staff.  As the hotel restaurant is closed on Sundays we went down the road to a local pizzeria for dinner.

I am still fascinated and  charmed by Hotel Villa Cardinal Madruzzo.  It was originally built as the summer palace for the first Cardinal Maruzzo in the 1400s  - there were 4 and was in the Madruzzo family until recent times - now is a wonderful hotel. We have noticed that it is a couple of degrees cooler here than in Trento itself - still packs a pretty hot punch in the sun!   The rooms are elegant -they have a tangible sense of calm and understated gentility. They provide all room facilities as well as a trouser press! Immaculately clean and very quiet.

As last time we have noted that in norther Italy the people are more softly spoken, gestures are more contained than the wild gesticulations and shouting in the south!In the hotel itself, as you make your way to the dining rooms, bar etc via the hall way -lined with farmed ancient documents under glass, ancient paintings of family , paintings of local environment over time even a Jane Austen style print!!! As you amble along drinking all this in there appears  a shoe cleaning machine for brown/ grey and black shoes. In the reception area are long thing plastic bags with  umbrellas printed on them - anti drip devices!

The breakfast is buffet - served in a wonderful old reception style room  with antique furniture, groaning under the wait of a spread of savoury and sweet food - the most delicious scrambled eggs! We eat in the main dining room and are waited on by lovely Italian men sporting formal dress suits attire, softly spoken serving our coffee and inquiring in an unobtrusive manner whether we have all we need.

We marvel at the decor - so consistent across the hotel ( marble columns, light shades in the general shape of a cardinal's  mitre (? correct word for a cardinal's hat?!) and all reflecting the original purpose of the palace as a retreat for Trento's Cardinal - a very important person in a very important job in the catholic world - from 1400 until Napoleon appeared in the early 1800s who put a stop to all this luxury! .

Outside is the garden - a park better describes the wide tree studded lawn. Each tree is labeled with its name - a lovely touch.

The central feature is a lovely pool and fountain, tastefully surrounded with local flowers, shrubs and people from the mountains - including a beautiful specimen of standing Dolomite stone - glowing with the lustrous lines of pink that glow in the mountains themselves.

Back in Italy

28 June

Leaving Lake Bled we headed west avoiding the motorways.  I'm very glad we did as they seemed to dive into tunnels at all the most interesting places.  The drive across the top of Slovenia and the north east corner of Italy was stunning with high mountains towering over the lower wooded slopes. The river we followed for the first 40 km was a brilliant cobalt blue.  Annoyingly the roads do not offer pull off points at the places where good photos can be taken, so we have to rely on our memories for the scenes.

Once we were in Italy we left the main route and headed for a couple of roads our map marked as "scenic".  In fact all areas in the Dolomites are scenic!  We climbed up the side of one valley through woodland that was being felled, but not clear felled as in NZ.  The selected trees are cut, stripped and dragged to the side of the road where they are collected at a later date.  This left the bulk of the forest still standing which was beautiful, but frustrating as you could only catch glimpses of the mountains and streams through the trees.  At one point the solid yellow road on the map turned into an unsealed logging road, so we back tracked to a different route which lead up through a skifield and high alpine meadows with large patches of snow beside the road to a pass at 1800m altitude.  We then dropped 1000m on a series of hairpin bends down an almost vertical descent.  Again magical views, but nowhere to stop and enjoy them.  Of course the road quality deteriorated once we were in Italy, but the countryside and the road verges are much tidier and cleaner than we saw in southern Italy.

In the process of the drive we were north of the area where my father was transferred to as a POW from Campo 67 - Gravina. This was Campo 57 in Grupignano . It is a little north of Udine. The road we would have needed to take was south of where we were and it would have skirted the national Park and was long and torturous route - however it was within Northern Italy and I knew my father would have seen a similar landscape as we did. The camp sat on flat ground of a river plain surrounded in the distance by the Dolomites. These Dolomites are truly breath taking viewed thorough our eyes, safely tucked up in our brand new air conditioned car. I do wonder how he would have viewed them, in a POW compound surrounded by barbed wire.  I read the account of this camp. It was run by an Italian Colonel of the Italian cabarabinieri who was a stern disciplinarian , had dictatorial methods and carried out some brutal punishments. Despite being a better run camp than many other Italian camps it is clear there were no comforts.  It is very high and cold  - especially in winter with considerable snow fall.

We climbed again over another  pass at 1800m, but much less steep, and descended into Cortina d'Ampezzo to find our accommodation at an elevation of 1200m and a cool (for us) 19C and a light drizzle..

Dinner that night was at the hotel - an amazing venue - very chintzy with dressed chairs in white and large bows on the back of the seats Around what used to called the picture rail around the entire room were plates, evidently potted and painted by the same artist - depicting an almost caricature of various restaurants in Italy and surrounding countries - depicting some aspect of the restaurant or local area. Very clever. Throughout the entire hotel are local antique  artifacts - household goods mainly - electrolux etc including a set of very old and beautifully preserved skis that would be just right for Lucas!

We had breakfast there also - everything very sweet. I took and egg, thinking it had obviously been cooked some time ago as it felt cool to the touch .Just as I was about to crack it open a heavily accented male voice said 'It's raw'  so I hastily returned said egg to where I found it - lying in a dish with several oval molded depressions to take an egg each. There beside the dish sat the egg cooker! I gave a hoot of laughter and returned egg to its plate!