Wednesday 25th November 2009 – Home, England

We arrived early at Calais port and were allocated a place on the11:40 P&O ferry rather than the 12:25. The wind was howling and the rain was nearly horizontal as we waiting for boarding. The good news was that we were directed to a position just one vehicle away from the exit ramp, so we were guaranteed a quick getaway when we arrived. The bad news was that we were in the open
and the van was going to be covered with salt spray. It also meant that we got rather wet just running the few metres to cover.
The journey was remarkably calm, the ferry stabilisers working very well despite the “moderate to rough” conditions that the captain warned us about. The ferry was 15 minutes late leaving but the captain, who obviously thought that he was an airline pilot, told us that he hoped to make up some of the delay during the voyage. Given the very strong winds, heavy seas and the age of the ship was extremely optimistic and we lost another 30 minutes by the time that we were tied up in Dover. We were overtaken by a Sea France ferry just before we got to Dover and that didn't help as we had to wait for it to manoeuvre in the harbour before we could enter. This meant that we arrived at the time that we would have expected should we have been on the 12:25.
I really appreciate how quiet the French roads are and the journey on the M20, M26, M25 and M3 only go to prove the point. The A303 is much more civilised normally but we were caught in the aftermath of a collision (fortunately, not serious) near Popham and were stopped for 20 minutes while the emergency services threaded their way between two lanes of vehicles.
The rest of the journey was straightforward and we parked up on our friends' drive (thank you once again Ann and Nick) at six o'clock. A minimum of unpacking was done and we walked round to a lovely warm house (thanks Ann).
Photos: This car seemed to have suffered very badly in the storms!

Tuesday 24th November 2009 – Lumbres, France

We opted for a cross-country route rather than motorway and this worked well as the countryside was much more interesting than yesterday. Hills, forest and pretty villages made the kilometres pass more quickly. We passed a number of châteaux and priories and were particularly impressed by St. Riguier with its huge priory. We didn't have time to stop but will definitely make time to look around the town next time that we are in the area.
Tonight's aire is the largest that we have ever stayed in, capable of taking hundreds of motorhomes. It is the E. Leclerc hypermarket in Lumbres. We learnt about it from the 'All the Aires of France' book and decided to use it because of its convenient location, only 45 minutes from Calais port. It allow us to do our last French shop, including the wine shop. We used a technique that we have used in France on many occasions – we found a number of bottles of wine that we liked the look of, bought a single bottle of each and then took them back to Henrietta for a wine tasting. Having decided which wines we liked best, we went back and bought a few bottles of each.
So here we are all ready for the ferry tomorrow but having heard the shipping forecast on BBC Radio 4 (Long Wave) with talk of “severe gale 9” and “storm force 10”, the journey could be interesting! The good news is that we have found a parking place in the lee of the building so we are not being buffeted by the wind. A member of staff from Leclerc has just knocked on the door to check that we were staying for the night and to tell us that the car park barriers were about to be raised and would not be opened until 08:30 tomorrow morning – what service!
Photos: An enigmatic building was our view during our lunch stop.

Monday 23rd November 2009 – Brezolles, France

I must say that today's journey was not one of the most interesting that we have done. The land was very flat and the weather was poor with very strong westerly winds and frequent showers. The wind was so strong from our left that whenever a lorry past us Henrietta lurched to the left and I had to battle with the steering to correct it. With the exception of two old windmills, obviously built to take advantage of the wind whistling across the plain, there was nothing of interest on route.
We headed to an aire at Brezolles, which turned out to be rather noisy as it was next to a main road but was otherwise very pleasant. Before the light faded we walked into the town but found it to be rather uninteresting.
Photos: Faced with rather dull architecture, one of the locals decided to brighten up the area.

Sunday 22nd November 2009 – Boulleret, France

We are ahead of plan on the journey back to Calais so we spent last night deciding where we were going to spend our spare time. Last night Jane found an aire listed in the National park (Parc Nature Regional du Morvan) just north of Luzy. It was set on a lake and there were walks from the aire – ideal. At least it was ideal until we woke up to the sound of rain in the early hours and it continued through breakfast. We decided to go to the park anyway and then decide whether to move on or stay the night. The weather brightened up slightly as we drove to Lac les Settons and although it was still rather dim, we could see past the hills of the park and over many miles of the lower land beyond. We drove through large forests, both pine and deciduous, with areas of heathland and bracken and marshy areas. There were also many more fields of Charolais cattle and we again thought that the countryside could easily have been that of Britain even if the farm architecture and the cattle were very French. It was then that the reason for this finally occurred to us – it was the fields. Unlike the overwhelming majority of France, the fields were small and had hedges or, occasionally, dry stone walls. Normally, French fields are vast areas of cereals or other crops with no field boundaries. Cattle in fields are unusual, unlike in Britain where they are commonplace. The field system in Britain is part of the reason why the British countryside is so pretty and it certainly made this area of France much more picturesque.
We arrived at the lake in glorious sunshine but the warmth in the motorhome was deceptive as there was a bitter wind. We walked a short distance around the lake and decided that we would drive on rather than freezing by the lake.
Lunchtime approached and Jane diverted us slightly to a Roman villa site shown on the Michelin map. The Compierre Roman Villa near St. Reverien is somewhat remote and, I suspect, not much visited especially in November but it proved to be quite interesting. Occupied from the 1st to the 4th centuries AD it is positioned in a valley with an abundance of iron ore and there is evidence of a considerable amount of iron smelting in addition to bronze working and pottery kilns. The site itself is in a forest and trees still grow around and in many of the buildings. The two kilometres of paths gave us an interesting walk and some fresh air before we had our lunch.
The cross-country route continued in the afternoon still with many more fields of Charolais catttle - the Pays de Charolais must be huge. We saw some lovely farmhouses, many with round turrets that were obviously fashionable around here. They may well have been emulating the châteaux that we saw that had similar towers. We also passed a number of impressive gatehouses but we will never know what the main houses or châteaux looked like as they were well hidden in the trees. Eventually the small fields and woods gave way to large fields of cereals and we approached the Loire river, crossing it at Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire. We were heading for an aire at Vailly but there was some doubt over whether it would be open at this time of the year – 'All the Aires of France' suggested that it was whereas 'Camperstop Europe' suggested that it closed earlier this month. As we drove through Boulleret I spotted an 'Aire de Camping-car' sign and following it we found a brand new aire that wasn't in either of our books. It is very smart with two large picnic tables, very large designated motorhome parking places and an excellent Euro Relais service point. The aire is free although water requires a token and a token can also be used to obtain 6 hours of electricity from a point next to designated parking spaces. Very impressive. The tokens can be obtained from any of the local shops, bars and restaurants that are only 50m away. The only problem is that on a Sunday afternoon, none of them are open. Still we parked up and investigated the area and I took photographs to send with a report to Vicarious Books so that the aire can be included in the next edition of 'All the Aires of France'.
Photos: The Château at Chitry-les-Mines; We stumbled across the lovely hamlet of Champallement with a fortified manor house and a round tower (complete with arrow slits), with no more than ten houses, one of which was the Marie (mayor's house) – the views over the surrounding area were excellent; The evening sun catches the tops of the trees in Boulleret.

Saturday 21st November 2009 – Luzy, France

We knew that there was a market in Chambery on Saturday and this was one of the reasons that we decided to stay here. The market was very good and typically French with a great variety of local produce - fruit and vegetables, meat, cheeses, cured meats and wine. The prices were high compared to Italy, especially Southern Italy but the quality and choice was excellent. We stocked up with some goodies and then headed back to Henrietta for the next leg of the journey.
We wanted to have a more rural setting for our next stop so we chose Lucy, in the middle of nowhere north-west of Macon. The journey was most enjoyable through lovely countryside and we soon started seeing lots of white cattle and then we passed a sign stating that we were in the 'Pays de Charolais'. These were the famous Charolais beef cattle and we saw huge numbers of them on the journey. 'Huge' is the right word for these cattle, they look absolutely solid and I wouldn't like to meet one of the bulls when taking a country walk. However I can confirm that Charolais beef steaks are delicious.
Arriving in Luzy, the sat nav directed us to the aire and we found it occupied by two large marquees and lots of farmers. This gave us a problem as it was some way to the next aire and the light was fading. Fortunately there was another car park next to the river just a few metres further on and we managed to find a level pitch in amongst the tractors. We went to sleep with the gentle sound of water falling over the weir and a total lack of traffic on the road next to us – Luzy is not the night-life centre of the area, even on a Saturday night.
Photos: The unusual Elephant Fountain in the centre of Chambery.

Friday 20th November 2009 – Chambery, France

Rather than going along the coast and into Southern France, we decided to use the Frejus Tunnel to cut out a long drive. This meant, against our normal principals, that we had to use motorways. It also meant that we were saying goodbye to Italy and Italian driving. Italy where speed limits are for guidance of others and the observance of fools. Italy where overtaking anywhere is possible even in 'no overtaking' areas or around blind bends. Italy where drivers are very understanding when they find someone approaching them rapidly on their side of the road but will blast the horn if someone has not gone through the lights within one millisecond of them turning green. I could continue but I have to say that I almost got used to it in the time that we were there and things that I found unnerving when we first arrived didn't even get a mention by the time that we left. And I must say that I have some sympathy for the Italians when it comes to speed limits as the authorities put up signs imposing ridiculous and impractical limits that nobody observes. On major roads and even motorways when there is a bend, poor road surface or any roadworks, the limit is often reduced to 30 kmh (less than 20 mph) and even as low as 15 kmh (less than 10mph). Faced with continually changing speed limits that are impracticably low the Italian drivers simply ignore all speed limits unless, of course, they are warned of a speed trap by the flashing headlights of oncoming vehicles.
The journey to the tunnel was pretty as we approached the mountains but after travelling through the 12km of tunnel (at a cost of €44 – ouch!) the scenery got even better. Steep-sided valleys with snow-capped peaks were followed by gorges and a very long, deep valley with a wide, fast-flowing river.
By the time that we arrived in Chambery the countryside had flattened out and was not as interesting. We found the aire easily and were lucky to get the last place in the car park large enough to take the motorhome.
We walked for ten minutes to get to the city centre with the idea of asking the Tourist Information Office about Internet access. However, on the way we passed a Quick fast food restaurant, which is a McDonalds look-alike and, like them, it offers free WiFi access. We went in and bought a milk shake and coffee for a total of €2 and sat down to use the Internet. The battery in my laptop is nearly worn out and only lasts a very short time, so I need a mains connection. Inspecting the premises, I found that there were only three tables with a mains socket and two of those were taken by other Internet users. We occupied the other table and I attempted to log on but I couldn't get it to work even though I could see the service on the WiFi list. I asked one of the other users who fortunately spoke English and he explained that he had to go further into the café to get it to work. This I did and then had to stretch the mains lead to a table that was closer to the centre and even then it was touch and go, meaning that I had to occasionally unplug and walk down the café to regain the connection. Having said that, we had one and a half hours of Internet access for €2 with free drinks, so I can't complain! I felt a little guilty until I realised that the other two people using the mains connections had been there for hours (one was having a meeting with someone when we arrived), both were still there when we left and neither of them bought anything whilst we were there. In fact the café seemed to be used as a general meeting place. All of the time people wandered in, sat down and had a chat without buying anything. A very impressive public service but not very good for the profits.
Photos: A fresh milk machine in Cherasco – you may bring your own bottle or but a plastic or glass one from the machine and at €1 per litre it was much cheaper than buying it in the supermarket; This is one up on those people who tow a boat behind their car – the owner wasn't there so I couldn't ask for a trial flight.

Thursday 19th November 2009 – Cherasco, Italy

The aire is an intriguing set up as it appears to be owned by the 'Associazione Camperisti La Spezia'
(a motorhome-owners group) but is also a base for 'Pubblica Assistenza Pitelli' who run an ambulance and medic service. It is staff from the latter that provide the receptionist but they obviously also have other duties. The aire is free but you are asked to make a donation to the ambulance service and this we duly did.
On the way out of La Spezia we took the opportunity to stock up with Italian goods before we left the country. However we had scheduled one further stop before we went into France. By choice, this would have been Ai Cuivin but we knew that the restaurant was only open at weekends so we decided to go further north.
We chose Cherasco as it was well placed for the next day's journey into France. It was a good choice as Cherasco is a very pleasant town set on a low hill with a host of interesting architecture. We drove to the approximate position of the aire but failed to find it so we parked up in a car park and started to walk through the 18th century 'Porta Narzole' and immediately came across a sign pointing to the aire just outside the gate. It turned out that the aire car park was going to be used for a festival the following evening and the fun fair was already in position so we decided to stay in the car park that we had already parked in.
We did a quick tour of the town and found it packed with obvious signs of wealth with large churches and impressive palazzos built mainly between the 14th and 18th centuries. I am currently building a wood-fired pizza and bread oven in my garden and would like to buy a Tuscan grill to put in it. This is a simple, low metal grill that sits on the oven floor and can be used as a barbecue with the hot embers from the fire placed under the grill. It became a joke that I would always look for a Tuscan grill whenever we saw a hardware shop in Italy. On the way back to the car we passed a couple of hardware shops but there were no Tuscan grills in sight. However I also need some flue pipe for the chimney and I had joked with Jane that I could get some cheap in Italy given the number of wood-fired oven and stoves that they have. Much to my amazement, the second harware shop had a sale of old stock outside the shop and there were two 1m lengths of flue on sale at €2 (£1.80) each. I couldn't resist the temptation and was soon strolling back to Henrietta with two flue pipes. I don't know whether they are the correct diameter but at €4, compared with about £80 at home, it was worth the risk!
Photos: Cherasco was full of wonderful, huge doorways such as this one; The Town Hall and arcaded buildings of Cherasco.

Wednesday 18th November 2009 – La Spezia, Italy

The reason for staying at La Spezia was its proximity to the Cinque Terre, five towns strung along the coast that were only accessible by sea until the railway line was built. We caught the bus from just around the corner and got off at the railway station where for about £7 each we bought a day ticket that gave us unlimited train travel from La Spezia to the five towns plus bus travel, museum entrance and access to the footpaths along the coast. It was the latter that drew us there – we had visited some of the towns before but our son was young and we were not able to walk on the footpaths.
We took the train to the first, easternmost of the towns, Riomaggiore and set off on the first footpath to the second town, Manarola. This walk is known as the 'Via dell'Amore' (the Road of Love) and padlocks labelled with the initials of lovers were attached to the gates whilst graffiti, some of high quality, proclaimed love. It seems however that these lovers had very little stamina as the signs of love were only to be seen at the beginning of the walk!
This first walk was shown as taking 20 minutes but we were ahead of schedule as we arrived in Manarola to find the narrow main street lined and almost blocked by small fishing boats. This was the only place to store the boats after they had been taken out of the sea by crane. Walking down the main street we continued on the footpath to Corniglia, that was only slightly more demanding and took us a little less than the suggested one hour and ten minutes. Corniglia is the only one of the Cinque Terre villages that is not next to the shore, being high up above it and therefore more of a farming community than a fishing one. Here vines cover the steep hills as this is the centre of the Cinque Terre wine production. It is said that some of the vineyards are so steep and the vines so low to the ground, that the pickers pick the grapes whilst lying on their backs. Now small engines with trailers run on rails through the vineyards allowing grapes, tools and people to be transported up and down the hills.
We were making good progress so we decided to press on to the fourth town of Vernazza. The footpaths become progressively more difficult as you move West and this certainly had a lot more ups and downs and was a rougher track. Here the land was dominated by olive trees, many with nets spread beneath as this was harvest time. We met many Americans on this part of the trip and one Australian couple who explained that they were all on a cruise. Most of them were struggling with the walk and, as we met them on a gruelling up hill (for them, downhill for us) part, the men asked “Are we nearly at the top yet?” and once we had confirmed that they were, they yelled encouragement to their wives further down the hill.
Vernazza was also very pretty and here we found a pizza shop where we could buy a pizza and eat it sat outside the shop on chairs. We chose a pesto pizza, pesto being a speciality of the area around Genoa, and it was delicious. We decided against walking the last and most challenging part of the walk, mainly due to the lack of time. We caught a train to Monterosso and were disappointed. It is much more of a resort than the others with a long beach and a modern part of the town. We didn't really get to see the old town and that may have changed our opinion but the other towns were certainly much prettier.
We caught the train back to Manarola and spent time investigating the town more. This certainly has my vote as the most picturesque and interesting of the Cinque Terre towns. The train then took us back to La Spezia and after a long search for some bread, we caught the bus back to the aire.
I can thoroughly recommend a visit to the Cinque Terre and the walk is well worth the effort. The towns are very pretty and the views along the coast are lovely. Choose a day that is clear but not too hot and try to avoid weekends, especially in high season when it is very crowded.
Photos: The boat-lined main street in Manarola; Jane, with matching jumper, poses in front of the colourful houses of Manarola; A novel way of harvesting the olives using a portable collection device; Vernazza huddles around its harbour and fortified rock; Ladies knit in the late afternoon sun on Manarola's belvedere.

Tuesday 17th November 2009 – La Spezia, Italy

Reggio has two market days each week, Tuesday and Friday, so we decided to go this morning with the intention of buying Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. The Tourist Information Office told us yesterday that the market spread over four squares so we had plenty of walking to do. We used the free bus again and headed for the first square by the theatre. This one, we had been told, was clothes and so it turned out to be. Unfortunately, 90% of all the market stalls in all four squares were clothes and it was only in the last square that we found any number of food stalls, mostly fruit and vegetables. There were only three stalls that sold cured meats and cheese and none at all that sold fresh meat. Most surprising given the size of the market but I am sure that Reggio has at least one covered market that has lots of stalls selling meat and cheeses but we didn't have time to find it. We chose one of the two stalls that sold Parmigiano Reggiano and were very impressed by the owner who spoke English and gave us lots of samples of the cheese. We came away with a kilo of very tasty Parmigiano Reggiano that had been matured for 36 months. The owner explained that they were also producers of parma ham but they only sold it in whole legs. By the kilo, this worked out to be very reasonably priced but it would have taken us years to eat it.
The route down to La Spezia was mountainous and beautiful. The Autumn colours lit up the mountainsides with every hue from deep brown to bright yellow. The views were a little misty in the distance and we did hit low cloud as we went over the pass but it was a very pleasant journey. Until we got to La Spezia where we did a tour of the city before we found the aire. The sat nav only had one of the two roads mentioned in the instructions and that road was very long. We went to the wrong part of the road and then spent some time following 'camper services' signs that eventually led us to a motorway service station. We finally tracked down the aire by the port (we knew this but the port goes on for miles) and parked up next to a few other motorhomes.
Photos: One of the lovely views from the road between Reggio and La Spezia.

Monday 16th November 2009 – Reggio della Emilia

We walked in to Castel Bolognese to take a look at the town. It was pleasant, if unexciting but had provided us with a very good nights stay for which we were very grateful.
Today's journey was much easier and we weren't travelling far. Reggio della Emilia is on the Via Emilia and its claim to fame is that it is the home of Parmigiano Reggiano, Parmesan Cheese. Like yesterday afternoon, it was very misty so there were no views although, given the very flat land, there probably weren't any good views even when it was clear. We found the car park easily and a notice told us that there was a free bus into the centre. The notice also told us that we had to obtain our ticket from a machine before we boarded the bus. This was easier said than done. The machines didn't seem to want to print tickets and although the machine had an option to change the language to English, the only word that it changed was 'English', the remainder of the instructions remained in Italian. I eventually found a gentleman in the bike shop and he took me to the machine and explained in sign language that the machine wouldn't issue a ticket if you stood in front of it, the car or motorhome had to be stopped in front of it. Surely enough, we drove the motorhome round to the machine, pressed the button and were presented with a ticket. Pressing the button again gave us a second ticket and after parking again we were ready to set off for the city centre. It was a clever idea that ensured that vehicle owners got free bus tickets but everyone else had to pay. Instructions in other languages would have been very helpful!
Reggio is a very pleasant city with lots of lovely buildings and, as always in Italy, the major sights were churches. We walked for a few hours all around the centre and then caught the bus back to the car park.
Dinner tonight was Pollo alla Cacciatora, a chicken dish that I have seen many totally different recipes for. This one consisted of chicken, garlic, white wine, vinegar (balsamic vinegar as we are very close to Modena where it is produced), black olives and anchovies. I think that this is the best recipe that I have tried – it was delicious served with some baked pasta.
Photos: Reggio della Emilia - On the façade of Chiesa di San Giorgio the rather effeminate St. George kills a dragon that looks more like a worm; The Basilica di San Propero with its separate octagonal tower; The very attractive Palazzo Fontanelli Sacrati – the prettiest of all of the palace that we saw in Reggio; The Teatro Municipale Valli with fountains in the Piazza della Vittora.

Sunday 15th November 2009 – Castel Bolognese, Italy

We spent the morning in Urbino and thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a frequent bus service from the car park into the old town but we decided that we needed the exercise and walked in. The old town is stuffed with churches, monasteries, other religious buildings, many palazzos and even a few ordinary houses. We wandered around enjoying the architecture and alleyways before climbing up steep streets and steps to get to Parco della Resistenza and the Albornoz Fort that had lovely views both over the town and the surrounding countryside. Urbino was a very important cultural centre in the 15th century producing many famous artists (including Raphael), architects (including Donato Bramante) and poets. We came across many houses with stone plaques announcing that a certain luminary had lived there – none of whom we had heard of. It is still an important university town with different departments of the university having taken over a large number of the lovely buildings in the town.
We moved on, intending to take the Roman road, the Via Emilia, to Bologna but it didn't work out that way. The first part of the journey from Urbino to the Via Emilia was very pleasant but as soon as we got on the Roman road, the weather became very misty and the route became very slow through many built-up areas. We decided to switch onto the motorway that runs parallel to the Via Emilia and got to the motorway slip road off a roundabout to discover that it was blocked off. There had been no warning signs and there was no signposted diversion. We knew that we would be struggling to get to Bologna in the daylight so we changed our minds and picked on Faenza where there were two aires.
It was really not our day. We found the road where the central aire was supposed to be but every car park had signs indicating 'no motorhomes'. There were however signs directing us to an aire and we followed those. They took us into the outskirts and an industrial estate where the dumping facilities had been cordoned off, the car park was strewn with rubbish and there were gypsies in occupation. We identified another aire in the next town and set the sat nav to take us there, hoping that it was open and acceptable. The journey was interesting – it was now dark and we drove down single-track roads reminiscent of the Somerset Levels, with deep water-filled rhynes (ditches) on either side. Fortunately we only met one other car and that was at a point where I could pull in to let him pass. We arrived at Castel Bolognese to find an excellent car park with drinking water, dumping facilities and designated motorhome parking spaces. Very relieved, we chose a pitch and I set to work cooking the evening meal.
Photos: Urbino, Palazzo Ducale – the side facing the main square is rather boring but this view is lovely; The walk up to the Albornoz Fort; View from the fort with the cathedral and Palazzo Ducale
dominating.

Saturday 14th November 2009 – Urbino, Italy

We stayed on the SS16 coast road initially but this was the Adriatic coastal strip and was almost constant towns with pedestrian crossings, traffic lights and no view of the sea. We went inland and picked up the A14 motorway, only leaving it as we approached Loreto.
We were intrigued by the Santuario della Santa Casa in the centre of Loreto and had decided to visit it. Choosing a car park just outside the town walls, we walked in to the massive, domed church that is a very important pilgrimage centre for Roman Catholics throughout the world. The sanctuary covers a house believed to be the home of the Virgin Mary in Nazareth. According to tradition, when the Crusaders were expelled from Nazareth in 1291, angels brought Mary's stone house to Loreto to prevent it from being desecrated by the Muslims. The house was certainly transported from somewhere and perhaps it did come from Nazareth. The veneration that the house is held in by Roman Catholics was very apparent when we visit – mass was being held in the tiny room when we arrived and a constant stream of people prayed or stood in awe inside (as we did) looking at the stones and the modern altar. The house, sitting below the church's magnificent painted dome, is encased in a beautifully 16th century carved marble casing that includes a lovely scene of the house being transported by angels.
A cross-country route took us into much more interesting countryside of hills and valley with ranges of snow-covered mountains further inland. The aire at Urbino is on a considerable slope but opposite there is a lovely, level, university car park and given that it was Saturday night and the car park was deserted, we parked there.
Photos: The Piazza della Madonna, Loreto; The octagonal dome above the Virgin Mary's house; The marble casing; The interior of the Virgin Mary's house.

Friday 13th November 2009 – Roseta degli Abruzzi, Italy

We plotted a route over the mountains to Foggia, soon leaving the valley and its mist. The first part of the route to Potenza was through spectacular scenery with Autumnal colours everywhere and the castle at Brienza (currently being renovated, judging by the crane) looked lovely set on a small hill with houses spilling down the slopes. We skirted Melfi with it massive castle and headed towards Foggia where the land was much flatter.
We had spotted an aire at the Sanctuario d'Incoronata just outside Foggia and decided that we would stop there for lunch and possibly visit the sanctuary. This turned out to be problematic. The huge, empty car park clearly indicated that motorhomes were not welcome but a sign pointed the way to the motorhome car park. That was the last sign that we saw even though we circled the whole site. We gave up and decided to find a lay-by on the way out of Foggia. That was another problem, as every lay-by that we passed was occupied by a prostitute or sometimes two or three. We eventually found one and had a quick lunch as the scenery was flat and uninteresting and we were being buffeted every time that a large vehicle went by.
After lunch we continued on the SS16 and continued to pass prostitutes – in over 30 km we saw more than seventy. Why here? Is wasn't at all subtle, the road was completely open with fields on both sides. With such competition, many of them must have stood or sat all day without a single client. It was a very sad sight and we wondered what had driven them to this way of life.
We drove on to the aire that we had chosen for the night – Fossacesia Marina from the Aree di Sosta book. It was shown as only open in Winter, presumably because the car park was packed in the Summer. However, as we established by intercom from the barrier, it isn't open in the Winter either! Fortunately, we had a plan B and headed on to Roseto degli Ambruzzi. Here we found huge amounts of space at the municipal sports park and, much to our amazement, free WiFi Internet. We caught up on emails, downloaded software updates and podcasts and I was about to update the blog when the WiFi link shut down at 21:30.
Photos: Atena Lucana sits on its hilltop above the misty Tanagro Valley.

Thursday 12th November 2009 – Padula, Italy

There is a distinct lack of open campsites at this time of year and so we decided to stop again at our restaurant, Aia Antica, in Padula. This gave us a simple drive across the arch of the foot and up on the A13 motorway. This stretch of motorway is quite beautiful, rising to 1,000 metres, the views of mountains, valleys and hillside villages are lovely. At one point the motorway runs in tunnels directly below a castle.
We arrived just after 13:00 and found the restaurant open and it seems to be open lunchtimes and evenings all week. This is probably because of its proximity to the much-visited Carthusian monastery of St. Lawrence. We decided to go for lunch rather than the evening meal and were treated to another excellent feast.
On our last visit we only made it as far as the monastery, so this time we decided to climb up to the town resting on top of a hill. The walk up gave us lovely views of the monastery, the valley and the show-clad peaks of the mountains opposite. The town had been defended by a wall and we some of the gates were still in position even if the walls themselves had long disappeared under houses. The perfume of wood smoke filled the air as we wandered through the maze of steep, narrow alleyways that made up the old town. We saw a museum dedicated to Joe Petrosino who we later discovered was born in Padula and emigrated to America where he became an anti-Mafia policeman based in New York. A number of films and many books have been written about his life. He was murdered in Sicily by the Mafia when he travelled there in pursuit of one of the New York Mafia bosses.
On the way back down from the top of the hill we found the Anunnziata church and it became clear that this was a fortification at one of the city gates that had been converted into a church. The front elevation looked just like a town and there was evidence of a large, now filled-in, doorway part way up the wall on the side. In the square here stood a monument to Joe Petrosino.
It was now getting dark and we had to head back so that we could negotiate the country lane and unlit drive to Ai Antica whilst we could still see something.
Photos: One of the alleyways in Padula's Old Town; The Anunnziata church; A view of the Monastery of St. Lawrence with Aia Antica looking rather elegant in the field behind the church. Examining other photographs, it became obvious that Aia Antica used to be associated with the monastery as a drive runs from the monastery, through a gate and directly to Aia Antica.

Wednesday 11th November 2009 – Roccelletta di Borgia, Italy

We had a relaxed start as we weren't intending to drive far today. The views of the mountains were even better than yesterday and we decided to stop at Ferruzzano Marina to take a walk along the promenade. It turned out that this would have been an ideal free camping stop as there were two motorhomes already in position and, surprisingly, three caravans that had obviously not moved for some time. We wandered up and down the prom enjoying the hot sunshine and noting that the long beach of white sand was a protected turtle breeding ground. We set off again but soon stopped near Bianco when we saw remains and a sign to a Roman Villa. The site had obviously been given a makeover recently with a new visitors' centre and covers over much of the site. Judging by the photographs outside the site, there were some very good mosaics but we weren't going to see them because the site was only open for a few days of the week during August.
The rain that had been lurking over the White Mountains, making them appear as the Very Grey Verging On Black Mountains, now caught up with us and there was a mixture of showers and sunshine for the rest of the day.
We had established that there was a camperstop / campsite at Marina di Davoli that was open all year and, encouragingly, we past a number of direction signs for it. However, despite the fact that all of the signs declared “Open all year”, it wasn't. We drove in the open gates and then had to back out again after we were told that it was closed because they didn't have any water. It looked as though it was generally open but they were doing some repairs at the moment. We had a plan B and drove a few miles further on to Roccelletta (also known as Roccella) where Camping Camello Grigio was open even if we turned out to be the only people staying. We sat in the van drinking tea looking over the beach to the sea and a double rainbow that had appeared after the latest shower.
Photos: The turtle beach at Ferruzzano Marina.

Tuesday 10th November 2009 – Condufori Marina, Italy

We drove the short distance up the steep hill to the ancient site of Tindaris but had to park in a huge car park well below. The reason for this is the the site is much more famous in Sicily as the site of the Black Madonna, kept in a huge sanctuary specially built in the 1960's. Large numbers of pilgrims come to pay homage to the statue that originated from the East and is claimed to have performed a number of miracles. Whilst we were there, there were four coaches, include two of school children, and many other individuals were filing in and out of the church.
The large number of children who had just arrived made us decide to look at the archaeological site first. Tindaris was one of the last Greek sites in Sicily, flourishing even in Roman times when they were grant special privileges. Much of the ruins are from the Roman period with a large villa with excellent mosaics. The impressive Basilica stands tall at one end of the site although this was reconstructed in the 1950s. The whole hilltop was occupied, surrounded by impressive defences that, together with the steep slopes, made the city virtually impregnable. Much of the ancient city is covered by modern housing, the ground floor of many of the houses are now tourists shops mostly selling religious souvenirs including incredibly naff copies of the Black Madonna. It is always strange to see modern houses next to and sometimes incorporating the walls of an ancient site.
Returning to the church, we were able to visit it all on our own apart from a novice nun who was cleaning the floor in front of the altar. We were quite impressed by the church – huge mosaics lined the walls showing scenes from Christ's life and the ceiling held a painted scene of a, strangely white, Madonna and Child attended by angels clutching rosary beads.
It was only late morning so we decided to take the motorway to Messina and catch the ferry back to the mainland. This went surprisingly easily - the city traffic wasn't too bad and the ferry was very efficient with no queue at all. We left Sicily covered in black cloud and landed on the mainland in glorious sunshine.
I had found an Agroturismo site in Reggio, one of those where it is free to stay if you have a meal in their restaurant. This was useful because we wanted to go to the museum in the city centre to see its fantastic finds and we couldn't find any campsites close to the city. I put the address into the sat nav and was surprised to find that it was in the centre and close to the museum. We followed the directions into the centre but there was no sign of the restaurant. We found a car park close by and parked up. I asked a parking warden if he knew the restaurant and he identified the picture shown on the restaurants entry as a place just a hundred metres away – easy! Unfortunately there was no sign of the Sant'Anna restaurant, so I walked into another restaurant and asked if they knew where it was. A great discussion followed and it became clear that we were where the picture was taken but the restaurant was somewhere else. We decided to leave Henrietta where she was, go to the museum and ask them or the Tourist Information Office to direct us to Sant'Anna. We walked the couple of hundred metres to the museum that was covered in scaffolding. Finding the entrance to the museum we read the notice that we translated as “The museum remains closed for renovations”. We have encountered such a notice so many times and, of course, there is never any indication as to when it will be re-opening. One thing for sure is that we weren't going to see it on this trip.
With no need to stay in Reggio we headed South going around the toes of Italy's foot, an area that we didn't visit on The Odyssey. The mountainous interior here is know as the Aspro Monte (White Mountain) National Park and looks very pretty but we stuck to the level coast road with the sea on our right and the white mountains on our left.
There are very few places to stay on this stretch but we had found another Agroturismo site in Condufori Marina. It was another restaurant but without the free stay option. It was a curious site in the large garden of the restaurant owners house on the opposite side of the road to the restaurant. It was very basic but did have electricity and would be ideal for a train enthusiast, as the railway line ran along the bottom of the garden. Fortunately the trains don't run at night.
Photos: A 3rd century AD mosaic from a Tindaris villa's baths showing the three-legged symbol of Sicily; The Basilica at Tindaris; The view from the Tindaris Acropolis – perhaps the quarry is where the Tindaris stone came from; The Black Madonna – the non-PC inscription underneath translates as “I am black but beautiful”; Leaving Sicily as the storm clouds gather.

Monday 9th November 2009 – Oliveri, Sicily, Italy

Camping Rais Gerbi would make a good base for a longer stay – plenty of space, good facilities (including a restaurant open out of season), a pleasant local town with plenty of shops and good options for trips with buses to Cefalu and Palermo and access to the interior and the area around Mount Etna. There is also a station 3 km away that would give more options. The railway actually runs through the campsite but it is in a deep cutting, muffling the noise and the trains don't run during the night.
It was time to leave Finale and we had planned our last archaeology visits before we left Sicily. Two sites were mentioned in our guide book but we had spotted another on the Michelin map earlier on our route. As the Michelin map also shows sites that are not open to the public, we agreed that we would only go to the first site if it was signposted. We we reached the area we found a sign indicating the site, Halaesa, was 3 km off the road so we set off along the side of a wide valley soon climbing steeply. We found the site open and parked up outside the gates. Walking past a deserted ticket office, we started investigating the site inspecting first a small Roman necropolis with a tomb in excellent condition. We then followed an ancient road up to a large building further up the hill. This was a 17th century monastery that now housed the ticket office and a museum. The five staff in the ticket office seemed surprised to see us, we were certainly the first visitors of the day an probably the first for a week!
We visited the museum first and after showing that we were interested in the displays, the custodian volunteered some information in English. His English wasn't very good but he gave us a good tour of the two rooms and told us things that we would never have been able to establish from the Italian information boards. One find was fascinating and an archaeologist's dream. In the 17th century two fragments of a Greek tablet were found and they described the town in some detail. It split the site into areas and listed the important buildings in each. The archaeologists have established where each area is and now now exactly what lies buried in each! Less than 5% of site has been excavated and it will keep them busy for many years. It is only possible to visit part of the site but we followed an ancient road in better condition than most modern Sicilian roads up to the Agora (market place). Here we could see the shops around the edge and a cast of the beautiful statue of Cerere in its original position, the original being displayed in the museum. We then walked on to the site of the theatre, only a rear wall of which is currently uncovered. It is however possible to see the position of the stage set way down the very steep hill. The custodian had told us that the theatre is likely to be excavated next year and the indication is that it was able to seat over 5,000 people. The view over the river valley, the position of Halaesa's ancient port and the sea is lovely. We weren't able to go up to the acropolis and the Temple of Apollo, which was a shame.
A major diversion caused by a road closure delayed us but we eventually got to our second site, the Patti Marina Roman Villa and were greeted by another group of 5 bored custodians. This is a huge villa of a very wealthy Roman and had quite a long history undergoing a number of modifications. Unfortunately, it is in poor condition, the many damaged mosaics being covered in dust and difficult to see. It was obvious from the small areas where water had dripped on to them that the mosaics were in lovely colours but it was difficult to appreciate them when they were so dull. Collapsed pillars had often been left in position over the mosaics and we couldn't quite understand why. Surely, once they had been recorded, they could have been removed? Frankly not worth the visit.
We had planned to visit Tindaris this afternoon but time had run out so we went just a few minutes beyond to the campsite, 'Villaggio Turistico Marinello' at Oliveri, under the hill that Tindaris sits on. The site is covered with very tall trees providing welcome shade in the blazing heat of the Summer but making it very gloomy at this time of the year.
Photos: Halaesa Roman necropolis (2nd - 3rd century AD) that would have looked like a mini temple with a triangular pediment – the niches held cremations in urns that were still in place with funerary offerings when excavated; Halaesa - the beautiful 2nd century AD statue of Cerere; The museum in the 17th century monastery – the monks didn't have such a bad life - this was the their winery and still has the presses in place – the hole in the floor is where the wine was stored; The position of the Halaesa theatre – the flat area in front of the large concrete car park is the stage.

Sunday 8th November 2009 - Finale di Polina, Sicily, Italy

The morning was spent relaxing and hoping that it wouldn't rain so that the wet clothes and shoes would finish drying. It was windy and, at 16°C, quite warm so the clothes did dry although the wind made it feel quite cool and we decided to have lunch in the van. Just after two o'clock we walked into the village ready for the three o'clock start of the folk groups in the 23rd Finale Olive Festival. We were early and decided to have another walk around the town and inspect the stone town built in 1500. There is a pleasant esplanade build around the tower with plenty of benches, even if they do face the town rather than the beautiful view over the sea.
Just before 15:00 we returned to the square in the main square where the action was scheduled to take place. It looked the same as when we had passed it earlier – no crowds, just a few people milling about preparing stalls. I tackled someone (metaphorically only) and asked them about the folk groups. It transpired that the 15:00 start was more like 15:00 to 15:30 and it was a procession that started from the church. We hadn't found the church so we went in search and soon found it set back inland from the main street. This area looked even more dead than the square so we wandered off towards the sea for a while. When we returned, we found the only bench empty and occupied it to watch the inaction. It was a fascinating occupation watching the municipal police trying to look important and moving the occasional vehicle on when it tried to park in the wrong place. This sounds as if things were happening but for the first half hour, nothing did. The important and very pleasant man who we christened 'The Mayor' was there with his camera and seemed to know or be related to everyone who passed. There were many greetings and much kissing, except by the police as it is obviously not correct to kiss people when you are in uniform. Eventually, cars arrived with people dressed in traditional outfits and they were directed to an area behind the church.
The Greeks occupied Southern Italy and Sicily for many years and their genes obviously still permeate the local population. The 15:00 was definitely Greek time as we know it, as the procession didn't form until after 16:00. There were three folk groups from the local area though none were from Finale itself. The first had an excellent band playing in front of them but didn't seem to dance. The reason for this became apparent as 10 minutes into the procession a large number of people joined them – they had arrived even later than all the others. They then performed the most complex of dances and together with the excellent music, they were most entertaining. The third group carried a maypole and performed intricate dances around it, winding the ribbons into complex patterns around the pole and then unwinding them perfectly. The second group were also very good performing traditional dances and singing traditional songs.
The procession followed a route inland from the main street and then on the seaward side before coming up the main street to the square. The procession was marked by frequent stops when one or more of the groups would perform a dance and / or sing at a suitable distance from the other groups. It was great fun watching them and watching the spectators, many of whom were extended family groups viewing from their front doors, balconies or windows.
In the main square the groups took in turns to perform although it was very difficult to see anything due to the crowds, so we walked to the bar opposite the tower and had a glass of wine. At 18:30, food was due to be served in the square but, given the timing of the procession, we didn't expect anything to be happening by then. We were wrong. When we arrived just after 18:30, eating was in full swing. The first stall we came to was offering their newly pressed olive oil with bread – it was very good. Then we were given a cup of red wine and a plate of bread, green olives and cheese – all local produce. There were 20 twenty very large, juicy olives that had been marinated in garlic and chillies and with the bread and lovely cheese it was very filling. Next came the pasta. Jane got her helping but I only got a few pieces before it ran out. I was told to wait for the next batch and I eat the little that I had been given. It was it a simple tomato and olive sauce and was very pleasant. Ten minutes later I received my freshly cooked portion, which was very hot, not only in temperature but also in spice. My mouth was positively tingling by the time that I finished it. All of this was totally free and delicious.
The 'Mayor' caught my eye as I was wandering around and insisted that I tried some of the bread and sun-dried tomatoes. It was lovely and I was now thoroughly stuffed. I decided to take some photographs of the pasta chefs at work and met the man who ran the fast food stall at the olive festival 'Da Nino Il Mago Del Panino'. He sold all sorts of food on his stall but the highlight was the stuffed suckling pig cooked in a wood-fired oven. Another possibility for my oven when it is completed although I will have to find out where I can get a suckling pig. We (the owner of the stall, not the pig) hit it off well and he gave me a glass of his Sicilian frizzante, a medium-sweet slightly-sparkling wine. It was very pleasant. I admired his van and was soon given a brochure from the firm that built his van, just in case I wanted to take one back to England.
The evening finished with me thanking the 'Mayor' for an excellent festival and we set off back to the campsite complete with a litre bottle of that lovely, freshly-pressed olive oil. It was just after 20:00 but felt more as if it was 23:00!
Photos: The Nazo Folk Group with their excellent band; I Terrazzani pose by the tower; Spectators at the festival; One of the musicians of 'Ballo Pantomima Della Cordella' with their maypole dancers in the background; The pasta chefs insisted on posing!; The suckling pig's hat needed adjusting – note how it matches its owners hat!

Saturday 7th November 2009 – Finale di Polina, Sicily, Italy

Happy Birthday Mum – I am not allowed to mention that she is 83 years young today.
We wanted to investigate the local town of Cefalu (pronounced like a cook with a weak bladder – Chef-a-loo). The good news was that there was a bus that would get us there. The bad news was that it left the campsite at 07:25. We set the alarm for 06:30 (this was supposed to be a holiday!) and were at the bus stop before 07:20, which was a good job as it was early.
Cefalu is on the coast with the old town set under a huge rocky outcrop known appropriately as 'La Rocca'. The modern town sprawls rather untidily inland but the old town is very pretty with the cliffs of La Rocca as a backdrop. We were too early to climb La Rocca as it didn't open until 09:00, so we headed for the Duomo that opened at 08:00. The guidebook said that we should get there early to avoid the coach loads of tourist and we certainly did that. Roger II built the Norman Cathedral in 1131 and it boasts the oldest Sicilian church mosaics, created in 1148. These are similar to and perhaps provided the inspiration for those that we failed to see in Monreale. They cover a much smaller area than Monreale but are nonetheless very impressive with their gold background.
It was still too early for La Rocca so we headed for the weekly market held well outside of the old town probably because the old town is too crowded to fit it in. On the way we stumbled upon the fascinating Saracen washing area. We had an enjoyable wander through it buying nothing although I was tempted by the very long silver eels coiled up in boxes. A strange vegetable also caught my eye – like a giant chilli or a very thin cucumber, over 1 metre in length.
It was time for the long climb up La Rocca where we were met by the custodian near the gate. He booked us in, confirming our nationality and warning us to only go as far as the church and temple as the rocks above were dangerous when wet. The weather was overcast but it hadn't rained yet – he obviously knew something we didn't. We admired the 'Temple of Diana' shown as 5th century BC but actually a much earlier construction built of Cyclopean blocks and probably a 9th century BC temple to Artemis. It had been modified in the 5th century to add classical doorways and had been used much later as a church. The views over the old town were lovely and we spent some time looking out over the town and sea whilst phoning my mother to wish her a happy birthday.
It had started to rain and we soon understood the custodian's advice as the limestone, full of intriguing fossils, became very slippery and we had to descend with care. We just got out of the main gate, still well above the town when the heavens opened. It poured down and we were stuck in the open. We sheltered as best we could under the trees but the rain soon started coming through and we ran down to try to find some proper shelter. We ended up huddled together on the doorstep of an old building on a steep street, legs either side of pot plants and pressed against the door to try to avoid water coming down and splashing up. And then the rain got heavier still with the narrow street funnelling the water from La Rocca down into the town. We couldn't move – the street was a fast flowing river with the water 2 cm deep. Further down the street we could see water cascading down the steps of a joining street, doubling the volume of water. We were trapped there for over 20 minutes until the rain finally subsided and the water level in the street dropped. All ideas of further investigation of the town were dismissed – we were drenched and as quickly as we could we found a restaurant to have a leisurely meal. It was an excellent meal but when we left after one hour we were nearly as wet as when we arrived. The bus left at 14:00 from the train station and we shared it with all of the college students who must have been amused to see the two drowned tourists.
Back at the campsite we changed into dry clothes, arranged the wet clothes (including those that were supposed to be drying on the line outside) around the van and switched on the electric fan heater to accelerate the drying.
I decided to have a shower as I needed to get a little wetter. I have an uncanny knack of choosing the wrong shower at campsites. For example, at the last campsite Jane reported that the showers were excellent so I went along, stripped off and then discovered that my shower was only lukewarm and water only came out of the nozzle in a very restricted area. I then spent the next 10 minutes desperately trying to manoeuvre myself so that the squirt of water hit the correct part of my anatomy. This time I wasn't going to make the same mistake. I checked the first cubicle – most of the shower head was blocked, the same problem as before. The next cubicle however had excellent water distribution and was wonderfully hot, in fact I had to turn the temperature down. I stripped of and piled my clothes in dry area and stepped into the shower. It was one of those showers where pushing a button gives a timed amount of water and you need to keep pushing it to get more. Some of these are hopeless in that the time is so short that you have to lean permanently on the button to provide a flow. This one was very good and gave a reasonable period of time between pushes. However there was a catch. Part way through the time, the water suddenly went very cold for a few seconds before going back to normal temperature. I thought that I could prevent this by pushing the button again before the cold period. It was at that point that I discovered that the same sudden but temporary temperature drop happened as soon as the button was pressed. My more hurried than intended shower was punctuated by me jumping in and out of the shower trying to anticipate the cold phases.
The sun then came out and we were able to drink tea sat in a patch of sunshine on our pitch. We are flanked by two huge motorhomes, one British and one German, each one only occupied by two people. The British couple obviously like their own space – he sits outside smoking and I haven't even seen her - and attempts at communication have only resulted in curt acknowledgements. The German couple are more friendly and I have a theory as to why they require such an enormous motorhome. We were sat drinking tea (we are after all British) and the strains of organ music drifted across. This went on for some time and I established that it was not recorded due to the very occasional mistake. I have to admit to a rather strong dislike of organ music with the possible exception of some classical church organ pieces but Jane quite enjoyed it. I was also able to establish that it was the lady who played given that the husband, possibly to get out of the way and to avoid hours of said music, spent a long time emptying the grey water and the toilet and filling up with fresh water. Anyway, I am sure that this is why they have such a large van. At a push of a button, the four-poster bed folds down and slides horizontally to allow a full-scale Wurlitzer organ to rise from the bowls of the cellar (these huge vans must surely have a cellar) with the lady sat at the four-storey keyboard pulling organ stops with gusto. Dry ice supplies the smoke effects but probably only when there is an audience. I have thought about asking to have a look inside their van but it would probably be a great disappointment – it is better to keep some mysteries in life.
Photos: The Christ Pantocrator mosaic in Cefalu's Duomo; The Saracen washing area; Cefalu's Via Microscopile (actually Vicolo Monteleone but it doesn't sound as good); Cefalu Old Town with the dominating Duomo itself dominated by La Rocca; The highly defensible gate in the first wall of La Rocca.