Today, (29th) we have driven through the chasms of the Gorges du Verdon, France’s /Europe’s answer to the U.S. Grand Canyon depending on which guide you read. The Verdon river cuts into striated rock up to 700m deep in places – great views of stark limestone faces, slabs of rock angled in all directions and of course way down… the river – a bit of a trickle at present. Highest road point was 1200m. Photos just don’t do the views justice. There are a few little towns along the way, the best being Castellane at one end with a church perched airily on top of rock and Aiguines (lunch stop) nearer the other end with a beautiful 17th century chateau overlooking Lac de Ste-Croix. Each of the 4 turrets are tiled differently. A bit further on is Moustiers-Ste-Marie (at the end of the lake) – on the edge of a ravine – I climbed a steep path up to a 12th century chapel with stunning views out to the Gorges. Slung between the 2 sides of the ravine is a golden star, renewed the year I was born but said to date back to 13th century. You will need to look hard to see the star in the photo! (Mark had a siesta through all this! to recover from negotiating about 100 hair pin bends in the last two days!)
Along the Italian Riviera to Sospel (France)
Set off today along the Italian Riveria en route to France- through the old port city of Genoa where Christopher Columbus was born. A big port city, lots of old apartment blocks and washing hanging out to dry – how they keep their whites clean is beyond me!
Quite a pretty drive- nice expansive coastal views, yachts out along coast and plenty of marina and impressive homes of course. Not as glitzy as the French Riviera though. Got stuck in a big traffic jam in San Remo – a major motorshow or rally stopover or the like.
The Cinque Terre
The Cinque Terre means 5 lands (Pronounced Ching-qua tear-re)
Today was an outing to these cute little villages that hug tightly to the Italian coast and are largely only accessed by train or boat or hiking the famous track in between them – about 5 hours with varying degrees of difficulty. There are no cars except for little delivery carts – 3 wheels. We took the train from Santa Margherita to the easternmost village Riomaggiore with its brightly coloured houses piled up the steep slopes (no two houses on the same level) and then walked to the next village – Manarola via Via dell’Amore (Lover’s Path) an easy 20 minute stroll. Houses here are all pastel coloured and again crowded up the hill.
In the Tuscan sun (25th Sept)
Headed cross country today through Tuscany skirting south of Florence, through rolling hills, grape vines (Chianti), cypress trees and ploughed fields. Very dry but ‘typical’ Tuscan, as in pictures minus the sunflowers! Lots of little hamlets on mountain spurs and up valleys, many walled and with castles or fortresses. Then into the province of Liguria and on to Santa Margherita (base for 2 nights) and drove along to Portofino. Lovely coast – windy though and narrow – Mark has done narrow and steep villages with very sharp turns!!
The sunflowers have all gone! (24th Sept)
Staying for two days in Cortona (Tuscany) – a fortified village on a very steep slope – narrow twisty streets – a challenging drive and navigation test – the GPS does not always work well here! Tried to send us down some pretty narrow “un-navigable” lanes!! There is no need for a gym here with these streets (not that I have seen one!). This afternoon we drove to Lago Trasimeno – through some Tuscany country back over the Umbria border. Picturesque but not stunning – quite dry at present and the sunflowers have gone. Expansive views of countryside from Cortona hilltop. This is the town where much on the film “Under the Tuscan Sun” was filmed – the author has her summer house here.
A road less travelled
Headed off for Tuscany today via roads less trvelled by tourists! Lots of picturesque scenes – patchwork fields with olives, plouged areas and woodlands. Little towns perched on the hillsides like Nocera Umbria. Unfortunately the sunflowers have all dried off but fields still pretty.
We had lunch at Gubbio- another medieval town set on a hill but different with taller storied houses – you certainly get the feeling of impregnability! There is a finuva which heads up the hill but unfortunately (or fortunately) not working – little more than a birdcage for humans suspended from a chairlift cable!! For lunch I sampled Truffle sauce- a delicacy here. Pottery also very big and beautiful and expensive!
Spello
A glorious day spent wandering the narrow cobbled and twisting alleyways, under stone archways and admiring scenery and views of the Umbrian countryside in and from the mountainside town of Spello.
A quiet lunch in the Piazza della Republica was briefly interrupted by lots of noisy school children escaping onto buses to head home for the day and seista time. The town then became very quiet, shutters were closed, only tourists about – although you can hear chatter and noise from behind the closed doors! Most everything closes between 1pm and 4pm and comes alive again after 6! Dinner is usually late – restaurants here not keen for business before 7.30pm. Tonight we ate again at Il Molina (the Old Mill) – beautiful meal and we were most amused by the much pampered dog at the table next door- a miniature Buddy who sat on her owner’s lap and ate from his plate when given the chance! The dog came in dressed for dinner in a little coat and had been approved and made welcome by the restaurant!
In the green heart of Italy – Umbria region
An interesting stop this am at the Etruscan Tombs in Tarquinia (Lazio region) on our way into Umbria. These are underground tombs from 800 BC and the painted decorations inside tell the story of an early civilisation. A nice drive into Umbria – greener fields, olive groves, vines and autumn colours just starting to appear on the wooded hills. Drove round interesting little hilltop town of Todi and then on to Spello where I have fallen in love with this beautiful town on the side of the steep hillside of Monte Subasio – great views of the countryside, and the town itself is gorgeous – narrow alleys, cobbles, archways, hanging baskets – plenty of atmosphere. We are staying here 2 nights – the hotel has lovely frescoes on walls and also pretty courtyards.
Return to Italy (20th Sept)
We have had a great week in Malta catching up with Matt and Kat and enjoying the sights together. For me, Malta is definitely a country of contrasts between old and new, ruins, abandonment and progress. It is very very dry, almost desolate in places and yet so picturesque also. The people are friendly, the climate and food were great and I’m keen to read up on a bit of history now! (The livestock are there we’re told – we can’t verify that – we saw only a scattering of animals…. but apparently there are 19,200 head of cattle, 80,000 pigs, 17,000 sheep, 2,300 goats, and 930,000 poultry!!)
At the beach
Today we hired loungers and beach umbrellas (as they do here) and spent several hours at Golden Bay – the sand is a golden colour though somewhat marred by numerous cigarette butts. The sea was as blue as ever and refreshing for swimmers. On our way to a rather late lunch I jumped out for a quick look at “Sweetpea Village” where the 1980 Popeye movie was filmed- very cute! Matt and Kat “won” 1,200 pound of travel vouchers once we had endured a session with a timeshare man – we’ll see if they are any use long term!