After 2 weeks in France and 18 hours in Spain we have now crossed the spectacular border into Italy!!
After the crazy detour to Spain, which I ended up loving after a little convincing, we drove back over the Pyrenees to Carcassonne. We had never heard of this place, but our opera singing host in Pons recommended we go - and it was worth it!
It's another medieval fortified city inside which people actually still live but some of the ambience is a little ruined by tacky souvenir shops. I couldn't stop thinking about the scene in Monty Python's The Holy Grail when the knights approached the French walled city and also of battles that may have occurred there involving hot oil poured over the walls. Charming, I know. We only went there at night for dinner (the scene of another ordering debacle by Carlo) and sorry Mum but it was just too hot to eat cassoulet.
Our GPS (Paul) didn't cope well with getting to where we were staying and Carlo had to do a million U-turns and drive up roads the wrong way so we got out of there as soon as possible.
The next day we drove to Nimes which still has many Roman era monuments and buildings. Within the town was a very cool Roman amphitheatre which was used as a bull-fighting ring. We foolishly were in France around Bastille day so there were lots of barricades and setup for a fireworks show that night - sort of ruined it a little, but it was still spectacular!
But the best thing about Nimes is this:
Pont du Gard, the remains of a Roman aqueduct and bridge that was built around 40 AD. It was super hot and so lots of people use the river as almost a beach. We were jealous as we were completely unprepared to swim, but we bought some salad stuff and ate our dinner in the shadow of one of the arches.
This was really one of the highlights of our French trip. The scale, engineering and design are awe inspiring.
That night we stayed in a very old house in the nearby town of Poulx which also had an ancient Roman church that didn't stop ringing it's bells. In the picture there was a swimming pool, but in actual fact it was a converted from the original sheep dip/drinking well and was tiny. It still did the job though!
After a very nice breakfast on the terrace, that we both wish we could replicate in Melbourne, we left for Nice. Actually the breakfasts we have been having have been a highlight of the trip. Most places we stay have breakfast included and we get croissants, baguette, brioche with homemade jams and preserves as well as yoghurt and fresh fruit.
Nice, you would think the place was nice (terrible pun) but apparently there is loads of crime there and they target the tourists. We found it the hardest place to find accommodation as the people in the tourist information centre were very unhelpful. We ended up finding something in nearby Grasse, and what a something it was!
There were some other people staying there too and they invited us for some dinner which was really nice. We also had a late night swim with them, and the owners and Carlo says it is really hard to play volleyball in the pool with a topless woman and her husband! Ahhh the French!
We were very keen to head into Italy so Carlo could eat something so we decided to go a few days early. The drive through the mountains from Nice to Genova was insane. Instead of having winding roads they build bridges over the valleys and tunnels through the peaks. So for about 150km the road is over 100m high bridges to 1km long tunnels. The toll was a little expensive but worth every dollar because of how much infrastructure they have built. I was very scared on some of the bridges as there is nothing but a guard rail between us and a 100m drop to the rocks/sea below but Carlo drove very well.
We got to a small town called Valbrona later that day which is near the eastern arm of the bottom of Lago di Como (Lake Como) and we stayed in a little family run Albergo. Italy is a lot noisier than France with children playing in the back yard and their parents yelling at them, a group of old people playing cards on the terrace and cars and scooters going as fast as they can through the tiny streets late into the night. It was just like being at Carlo's Mum's place for dinner - great to be in Italy!
It was still warm and this old lady staying at the hotel kept saying "Troppo caldo sono morire" meaning "It's too hot, I'm dying". Hahaha you have to love the Italian way of over-exaggerating everything!
Lago di Como is breathtakingly beautiful.
We drove around the narrow scary roads for a day and after the drive from Nice I think I am going to have a heart attack from stress. We also ate dinner looking at this view, it was very romantic.
After 2 days in Valbrona we left for Pescara, but broke up the drive in Bologna. It was hot, smelly, dirty and deserted as no one is stupid enough to stay there on the weekends during summer but we especially wanted to go there to catch an english meeting. It was great to see the brothers and their hall was awesome.
We stayed that night in a hotel that in peak cost €350/night but due to it being completely empty it cost €69 including breakfast. We kept asking the reception if that was right! We will go back to Bologna later when it's more tolerable as it seems like a great city.
So now we are in Pescara. Carlo's cousins apartment is gigantic and we lose each other in it. It has a great view of the ocean from the wrap around balcony. The family have welcomed us with copious amounts of delicious food (3 course minimum at all meals) and have set us up with everything we could need in the apartment.
We have checked out the beach a few times and are a little perplexed at the kilometres of soft sand covered in umbrella's and lounge chairs for hire. There isn't a spare square meter that isn't covered. Carlo is in heaven though as all the way along the beach there are football, basketball, volley ball and tennis courts. It makes for a great carnival atmosphere.
We are here for a week until we leave for London to visit our friends (Pat & Renee and a few others) and then we are back in Pescara to work on our tans.
That is all for this really long blog!
Ciao, Ciao!
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