Sainte-Eulalie de Cernon

1st July we left Pignans to spend the next 6 days driving up through the middle of France to Paris.

Along the way there we visited Palais de Papes in Avignon ( where the Popes reigned in the 1300's instead of in Rome ) + the nearby 2000 year old Roman Aquaduct of Pont du Gard ( which for 500 years carried water supplies / foot + traffic across a river valley )

We stopped for 2 nights in Sainte-Eulalie de Cernon ( about 20km south of Millau ) which along with the nearby La Couvertoirade are well preserved 14th - 18th Century villages of the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitallar

Also visited ( + drove over ) the rather spectacular 6 year old Viaduc de Millau ( a motorway change that took 40 minutes driving time off the former route ) + swam in the Gorges du Dourbie

R

Pont du Gard

Water channel at the top of Pont du Gard



St Eulalie de Cernon

St Eulalie de Cernon

La Couvertoirade

Viaduc de Millau

Team Kiwi

You don’t realise how much we take communications for granted until suddenly it’s very difficult to talk easily with people and you can’t fully understand signs, instructions + the menu.

Consequently you are not overly aware of what’s happening in the world ( or even around you ) because you don’t read the paper / listen to the radio nor watch TV + you can’t even catch the gossip in the local café – although we do use the Internet + catch up with news from home, you feel somewhat detached. Clothing sizes are totally different + there’s no changing areas at the market stalls / Food labelling makes for very exciting food purchasing ( actually can be a bit of fun discovering exactly what you have purchased ) + we have long since given up converting Euro’s into Pacific Paso’s because otherwise with the exchange rate you wouldn’t want to spend any money - Having said all that, it’s obviously all part of the travelling experience and meeting people with different languages, customs + foods etc is a lot of fun and not to be missed

So after the first two weeks away with limited English speaking it has been great to meet up with Jenny + Ian for a month travelling together and sharing our limited languages resources + expenses – we have shared accommodation / meals and a lot of fabulous experiences – Shona + Jenny gang up on shopping raids together – Ian + I do our best not to have any money or credit cards with us – we share the driving, but Francesca + Marie-Antoinette have done all the navigation – and we have lots of stories ( but some will never be told !!! )

R

Jenny + Ian - Diner at Bio & Marie's

Ron + Shona - Diner at Bio + Marie's

Shona + Jenny with Carnoulles flower grower

Ron, Shona, Jenny + Ian at Pont du Gard



Diner at Eulalie de Carnon



Pignans – South of France

We picked up Jenny + Ian on 25^th June ( Happy Birthday Aimee !!! ) in Como and spent the day driving to Pignans – a small village in Provence, about half an hours drive inland from Toulon – Bio took us into the village for dinner + the first of many glasses of Rose.

Bio + Marie live on a hillside above the northern edge of the village – we were staying in a wonderful 3 bedroom Guesthouse on Marie’s property nearby, with an outstanding view + a five minute walk into the centre of Pignans

Marie is also a wonderful cook – so a fabulous evening was spent by the poolside sampling local French cuisine + more Rose and a rather delicious lemon wine that she had made. Another evening we dined with B+M at a restaurant in the nearby village of Besse with some more food-to-die-for.

Generally we spent the week here relaxing / a couple of half days at beautiful sandy beach between Toulon + St Tropez / exploring local villages / the village market days + a very remote Monastery up in the hills.

On our last full day, we had a brilliant time with Bio driving around some gorgeous little villages / an art exhibition / some old troglodyte houses in a cliff above the village of Cotignac / a couple of lakes + the Canyon du Verdon – he entertained us all day with some wonderful stories / local history + gossip / gave us the inside running on the best places to eat + drink and generally talked about anything + everything – a day to remember !!!

R

Bio + Marie

Pignans

Pignans - Marie's Guesthouse

Ian on the morning breadrun

Breakfast at the Guesthouse

View from the Guesthouse

Pignans' Market

Monastery of La Verve

Cabasson Beach

Ian, Bio + Shona at Cotignac

Cotignac - Troglodyte housing

Bio with his Lavender Oil purchase

Village of Tourtour

Room 4 Quiz # 4

Hello again. We have been without the internet for about 2 weeks so have a bit of catching up to do before the holidays!.
Hope you are all well and behaving yourselves!! That includes the teachers!
We have been in Italy including Rome and Tuscany and for those of you who met our Italian student last year, we stayed with her and her family up in the mountains of Northern Italy.
You will see lots of pictures on our previous blogs.

Question 1:  What item of clothing is the map of Italy often compared to?

Question 2:  What is the capital of Rome?

Question 3:  What is the Colosseum?

Question 4:  What races around the Square in Sienna once a year?

Question 5:  What are the Dolomites?

Goodbye until we have the internet again.

Love from Mrs T

Commezzadura – Family Podetti

On 21^st June we got back onto the Autostrada + spend most of the day in the car – dropped Jenny + Ian off in Vicenza ( they were spending time there + Venezia then to Lake Como ) - and then drove into Trentino to stay with Ilaria’s family in the small alpine village of Piano in Val de Sol ( Sun Valley )

Ilaria had lived with us for almost 6 months last year and so we had very much been looking forward to catching up with her again, seeing her region + meeting the family – we had an amazing, but all too short, four days in this beautiful alpine region ( not far from the Austrian + Swiss borders ) with huge dramatic landscapes

Staying in other people’s homes and experiencing their foods, wine, culture, family + village life is way better than any experience a travel agent can generally provide you with – Ada is an amazing cook and so every day we ate local delicacies to die for – we tripped around their region meeting their family + friends – visited a small cheese factory and some local farmers ( who often only had 10 to 20 & 50 max cows – all kept in barns ) / local cities + villages and went to a concert in the local church that sounded heavenly

Thanks Carlo, Ada, Ilaria, Sara, Giacomo + Silvia for the best four days of our trip – we appreciate and loved every moment of it

R



Giacomo, Ilaria, Silvia + Sara

Valley near Trento

Piano

Cheese Factory

Cheese Shop

Val de Sol

Barn for housing cows

Six bale milking shed

Milking cans

Family Podetti + us

Podetti Family Home - Middle front

Upper end of Val de Sol

Lake Como

Cinque Terre

Driving north again on 18^th June, we made our way to the coastal village of Riomaggiore.

The Cinque Terre is a 10km stretch of very rocky and rather steep coastline in Northern Italy in which five villages ( Monterosso al Mare, Venazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore ) are linked by an ancient footpath, train and / or a small ferry boat.

The day after we arrived we caught the 10am train to Monterosso and spent the day walking back to Riomaggiore ( getting back around 6pm ) – it was very hot sunny day with a nice cooling sea breeze but a rough sea ( so the boats weren’t operating ) – the track to Venazza + Corniglia was very rugged + climbed a lot into the hills ( an exceptionally good cardiovascular work-out ) – so the views up + down the coast were spectacular + well earned - each village was different ( one at sea level with long sandy beaches / others with perched high on the cliffs above the sea / all had small harbours, but some had to crane there boats back up to the village - so there streets in all the villages were filled with small fishing boats parked up on trolleys + and wily old men sitting around waiting for the sea conditions to improve ) - all were very colourful fishing villages that were invaded each day by hordes of tourists, so each village was well set up to feed, water and cater for all the weary walkers or the trainloads of beach-goers that turned up from urban areas far + wide – the land between each village has been terrace farmed for hundreds of years by the inhabitants growing grapes, olives, fruit + vegetables.

The second day we took it easy / travelled by train + spent time on the beach, swimming, reading + walking around a couple of the villages.

The area was stunningly beautiful and we had the most wonderful time

R

Montorosso al Mare - Beaches

Cinque Terre - Walkway

Vernazza

Endless steps !!!

Corniglia

Manarola

Manarola Harbour - Boat retrieval

Riomaggiore

A week under the Tuscan Sun

On the 11^th June, we drove north to an old rural villa on a hill between the small villages of Greve-in-Chianti + and Greti-in-Chianti ( about 40km south of Florence ). A beautiful area with great views, a pool and lots of ‘products of the vine’ to sample – the property was part of a vineyard and so we got a tour of the estate, the homestead gardens + the cellars.

We opted to spend the week alternating between exploring the area + having a break / using the pool + catching up on some reading and generally doing as little as possible.

Day trips included driving to Siena / San Gimignano / Florence / Pisa + Lucca – more amazing art, architecture, food, wine + people

R

Villa - Courtyard

Villa - We had the upstairs

Villa - Pool + view

Villa - View

Villa - View

Siena - Piazza Del Campo

Siena - Duomo

Siena - Duomo

Florence - Michelangelo's Statue of David

Florence - Ponte Vecchio

Florence - Duomo Sante Maria Del Fiore - Brunellesci's Cappella

Pisa - Leaning Tower

San Gimignano