Category: Uncategorized
-
Sardinia – Sta. Teresa de Gallura to Arzachena
Sta. Teresa de Gallura La Liccia Campsite, outside Sta.Teresa de Gallura, the northern tip of Sardinia, is a lotus-eater sort of place. You enter, you think you’ll stay one night, you end up staying five. From the perfect fritto misto, where the batter is crisp and the fish succulent, to the giant butterflies that…
-
Farewell Corsica, Hello Sardinia
Bonifacio Port As we arrive at the Port for the hour crossing to Sardinia’s St. Teresa Gallura, a man in an orange jumpsuit indicates vaguely towards the sea. At this point I decide that he’s not a port worker at all, but an imposter, but he’s pretty insistent so we find ourselves precariously perched on…
-
St. Florent to Galéria
St. Florent’s Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta We love the blue bay and rugged headland from St. Florent’s 15th Century Citadel, built by the Genoese and bombarded by Nelson. The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta is a kilometre walk east. A simple, limestone building, it’s surrounded by meadows on the site of Roman Nebbium. Even…
-
Corsica’s St. Florent
Biguglia – Dian’Arte On our way to St. Florent, we detour – just because we can – to the Dian’Arte sculpture museum, showcasing the work of Gabriel Diana. We stroll around bronzes of Corsica’s emblematic moor’s head, men and women, stretched as if elastic, a rusting globe topped with a tree of human figures, a…
-
Full-steam ahead to Corsica
We struggle to find a campsite with an available pitch near Genoa where we’re getting the ferry to Corsica’s Bastia – it’s August after all. La Vesima Campsite, Arenzano This ramshackle campsite is sandwiched between Liguria’s SS1 coast road and the railway line. Rugged cliffs hem in the small shingle beach, making it claustrophobic. The…
-
Aosta Valley Feasting
Local Producers – Valsar Butchers MAPS.ME tells us there’s a walking trail opposite the campsite, running parallel with Sarre’s hectic SS26. Here there’s no sirens, no beeping cars, no speeding motorbikes, but a peaceful path by flower filled gardens, vines, orchards and vegetable gardens. And so we find Valsar, butchers. We load up with spicy…
-
Sarre and Cogne – The Aosta Valley
The Piccolo San Bernardo Pass Fran the Van climbs up to the Alpine pass, the Col Petit St. Bernard, on the French side, and the Piccolo San Bernardo on the Italian. Jagged mountains, heathland and indigo lake leaves me silent – and, for those who know me, that is a rare occurrence. It’s only 14…
-
The Lot to The Ardèche
Two days’ drive takes us from the Lot’s mellow country roads to the hairpin 10% slopes of the Cévennes Mountains and the mighty gorges of the Tarn and Ardèche. Aveyron’s Recoules Prévinquières The N88 passes Laissac, famous as a cattle market. You can watch the auctioneers at work and have a slap-up steak for breakfast.…
-
The River Lot
Luzech I love how water goes with the flow and I’m happiest doing that too, so it’s no surprise that we find ourselves by yet another river, the green and verdant Lot. We’re visiting friends, Jonathan and Clare, who’ve moved to the village of Luzech. We lunch and chat under the wisteria, looking out on…
-
Dordogne’s Souillac
Souillac The swimming pool is sardine-packed in Souillac’s Camping Les Ondines – and it’s 40C – at first glance it’s not a promising prospect. But it borders the Dordogne and the restaurant has cheerful red and white chequered table cloths on long trestle tables. Under fairy lights on a mellow evening it’s French enough to…
Campervan Therapy 