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| Arco Della Pace Milan |
Well catching up with the blog on Saturday night at a delightful campground in the city of Annecy in France. Our second night in the camper after last night we spent the night in a quaint little French village (just like we had imagined) of Bedarries.
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| Torre del Filarete Sforza castle Milan |
Quite a bit has been packed in to the last few days – mainly
travelling as we headed across Italy and into France. From Venice we made our
way to Milan where we met up with Brad, Janice and Olivia for a great dinner
before we headed by train to Marseille. Our time in Milan certainly did not
really go according to plan and it certainly added to the adventure. As
Elizabeth posted on Facebook – our accommodation ended up being changed and
then after coming home late from dinner we found the key to the apartment did
not work. By happy circumstance we had passed our original host in a bar
downstairs from the apartment so we went to see him. Despite being very
inebriated he was able to get on to the apartment owner who told him how to get
in through an unlocked door. Given that the apartment owner spoke as much
English as we speak Italian, someone was looking after us because otherwise we
would have been outside on the street. All this happened after the tram driver
on our journey home stopped part way through the run and ordered everyone off
the tram. At the start of the tram journey he had jumped out of the tram to
have a disagreement with another driver when they both tried to get around the
same corner – obviously he was not having a good night. Again fortunately from
an earlier wrong turn when we were walking around the city we knew our way home
from where we were turfed off the tram. The wrong turn came about on our way
back from the Duomo which we could not get in to because of a state funeral
being held. Therefore we missed out on the chance of seeing inside the Milan
Duomo – a shame as many people have said it is their favourite cathedral.
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| Santa Maria delle Grazie |
After the somewhat event filled night we made our way to
Marseille first travelling to Ventimiglia then changing trains to Nice and then
the final leg to Marseille. The travel through the countryside was wonderful
particularly the parts of the Italian and then French Riviera. The weather was
a bit overcast and we didn’t see it at it best. Therefore it was probably not
as impressive as the Amalfi coast as far as we were concerned. We were looking
forward to the trip through Monte Carlo however the whole part of that journey
was spent in a tunnel under the ground – we just had to look back on the coast
line after going past.
We had a night in Marseille before picking up the camper to
begin the touring around France adventure. Marseille was certainly interesting
we arrived early evening and made our way to the hotel which was very close to
the station. In then heading off to find something to eat, we quickly decided
wandering the streets around Gare St Charles was not the place to be so it was
find the closest vendor with something that looked reasonable and retreat to
the hotel. Did not even try the ‘sans gluten’ idea for Elizabeth – ended up
with a kebab which was then dismantled. Marseille the next morning in the
daylight was much more attractive and the Vieux Port area was lovely –
unfortunately the camera was playing up so the photos did not work.
Trying out the school French (not terribly successfully –
but what can you expect from 30+ years ago and being taught French by one of
the sisters with a broad Irish accent) we managed to get to Avis and collect
the camper and get the low down on how everything worked. We then set off just
to the north of Avignon for the first night. We managed to make our way along
some narrow country lanes with little drama (the GPS is not the easiest to
follow) to a lovely little garden area next to a creek. A wander around the
town – like something you see on a TV show was a wonderful way to start the
day.
Into the camper to head to the mountains – literally. The
way the GPS took us ended with a tunnel being closed and a deviation in place
so it was up and over the mountain to reach Annecy. A narrow road with French
locals speeding their way around (well we assume they were locals maybe not)
meant some tense moments. Then of course we needed to avoid the cyclists who
obviously were using the mountains for their training – I did think of getting
out and commandeering a bike as I am missing the bike – however then I looked
at the mountain and thought better of it. It was certainly a long day and we
were very happy and relieved to pull up stumps here rather than heading any further. Explore
around the lake and town tomorrow before heading off towards Lyon. We have
decided we need to reduce the length of driving to enable us to spend more time
in the regions.
Internet connections may not be all that easy to find so until next time.
Love to all
S & E
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