2013/4 Goodbye Katie, heading East.

We’ve done so much in the last 3 weeks it is hard to know where to start. Varied terrain – mountains to the coast, lakes; varied weather – snow, hail the size of marbles and lazing on the beach stuff;  several countries – France, Italy, Slovenia and Austria (well for a few hours).

We picked up Katie from Val Thorens. managed to fit her in with an enormous ski bag, other bag and assorted junk that you collect in a season skiing. Spent a couple of days at Grenoble, David’s old stamping ground, with our friends the Phelipons, who always look after us so well – washing, cooking special meals, with Stan parked alongside the house in a public park but with a sneaky electric lead through the hedge. Katie and Joanna made the most of the shops, while David did a museum or 2.

Headed up into the Vercors, above Grenoble on our way to meet up with other friends, and we were back into the snow. Great scenery but hard going with closed roads and  several cols(mountain passes) and lots of snow. However once over the last col we were into Provence type landscape of the Drome. The goal was an invitation to friend Annie and husband Jacques’ house in a remote village where she has organised great works to revitalise the area.  A fine French meal of local specialities and a visit to the neighbouring village, made a park for the night with Stan tucked into the street to avoid the chill wind.

From there a quick dash south to the Cote d’Azur, where Katie’s friend Elli,(who is now based in Antibes looking for a job on a super yacht – in fact latest newsflash says she has a job) assured us that the weather was nearly swimming weather.  We did it all – lunch on the seafront at Cannes – in the campervan, not at the Carlton – but same seafront, daytrip to Monaco, (where Katie spotted Princess Caroline in flash car going into the palace), lots of wandering around Antibes, where we stayed. However no swimming. Weather getting warmer but has to be an awful lot warmer for Joanna to even start looking for the swimming gear. Can’t count the swim in the heated pool at the campground.

Big disappointment was the visit to Menton, which Joanna had read about for years as the retreat for NZ writers. She had a vision of a village tumbling down the hillside with olives and orange trees. It is actually quite a big town, a bit hectic, even in April, and a million rules about parking. Probably quite a nice place, but spoilt by a preconception.

It never fails to amaze us how you cross these EU non borders and immediately everything changes. I don’t think that the European Union is having much of an impact on national identity. It’s not just the language, it’s the housing, the food, the tidiness, and of course in Italy, the driving. You don’t need a sign to tell you, that you have changed countries. Say no more, I don’t want to get in trouble for having  cultural issues!!

A quick tour of  Northern Italy involved 2 days in the Cinque Terre, a day at Portofino, on through Bologna to Venice, a stopover at our old favourite Grado, before crossing the border to Slovenia at Trieste. We are probably getting old and cynical, but the Cinque Terre was a disappointment  from our last time there although the weather had a part to play. Paths were closed  - which ones, or all, depended on which official you got the information. We did manage to walk two of the four paths but to Joanna especially it seemed things are poorly maintained, the whole thing seemed tatty,  – they are ruining a wonderful resource. We had a great park, right on the water at Monterosso, but it was expensive and a mess with lots of mud underfoot.  Thence a night at Santa Margharita  where we were surprised at the yachting activity and presence of NZ yachting firms although the big yacht race on May day holiday was a fizzer with no wind. However a boat trip to at last see the oh so pretty (carefully preserved) harbour at Portafino.  Across country to spend a night parked on a busy street in Bologna with very pleasant walk through the arcaded streets and lively student atmosphere.  On to Venice with  a great park on the island, walking to the centre. Transport sure is well organised with buses, trains, ferries, and car parks for the millions of visitors.  Again a dreary day so it was not quite the Venice of our dreams – or even our last visit. Onto the NE and Grado for a bike ride around beach and town with a visit to the amazing Roman mosaic at Aquila.

Through Trieste and climbed up into Slovenia (very green but very wet) and onto the Karst cave at Postojnska , several km of cave some in a train some on foot – very impressive. The most curious and rare inhabitant is the Proteus anguinus or ‘human fish’.  Human skin, 20/30cm long, lives to a 100, can go 1 or 2 years without food, gills for life under water, lungs for life on land, blind but is guided by electric currents and smell.  Saw them in a tank, not for sale!

Talking of tanks, Joanna managed to drop our camera into her(very rare) glass of beer, “it just flipped and spun straight in” she said.  It being her first drink of the evening she retrieved it very quickly and all appeared to be well and photos were transferred to the computer – but alas  it will not now actually take a photo, so its over to the Iphone to step up. Spent a few hours wandering the streets of Ljubljana, (pronounced Loo –bla –nah) the capital of Slovenia, a charming town, as the rain settled in and the temperature dropped we treated ourselves to a bowl of goulash. Yum, comfort food.

Now the camp site at Bled on the picture postcard lake and castle on top of a rock. Camp site among trees, rowing on the lake, cycling around the lake and to a to a gorge with a hairy wooden board walk (erected in 18something) pinned to the rock face above a foaming torrent.

Yesterday drove over the mountains to Klagenfurt in Austria where Katie caught a train for Frankfurt via Munich and thence a flight to Bangkok for a fortnight in Cambodia en route to NZ.

 

 

So now we have arranged her left behind skis(4 pairs in the bathroom now) and possessions which we are taking back to NZ and ready to head east, or north, or south!!!!!!