As I am running out of space on my Blog account – obviously too many foodie photos – I thought I’d try something new. So please, as you are a follower of our blog I would like to invite you to come and look at Polar Steps, let me know what you think of it as a medium for our travel stories, and follow me on there.

https://www.polarsteps.com/GailAnderson4/14072392-foodie-festival-and-a-bit-more?s=4409c41d-c6bc-402d-b7ae-2aabfabccebf

I look forward to hearing from you and sharing more of our adventures with you going forwards.

It feels a very long time ago now, however, leaving Dinkelsbuhl we headed North to one of our favourite little wine stop overs, Sommerach. It is one of those places where the town itself is small, but full of individual producers, mostly of white wine, but a handful of rose and reds thrown in too. This year we returned to two old favourites buying a couple of cases of white wine, and then tried to expand our selection by incorporating another vineyard, sadly their wine didn’t quite hit the mark…. the other two however are still firm favourites, we will just have to keep trying!

Moving on, we stopped for one night at Asbach, where we had stopped previously by a lake and forest – this time having enough time to do a lovely circular walk and find a local bee keeper selling some of their honey.

Then, another hop, skip and a jump, and we arrived at Aarchen (Stellplatz Bad Aachen 23 euro p/n), where we thankfully managed to get one of the last spaces as it was full and they just kept on coming.

After lunch, we decided to stretch our legs and head into the town for a little recky as the Stellplatz was only 2.5km outside the center. Most of the town was flattened in the war, so although the cathederal was pretty impressive and a small part of the old town had some pretty little streets, the rest was really just a ‘shopping center’ full of high street ‘chain’ shops. Although some of the cafe’s had a beautiful range of pastries that would have given France’s best patisseries a good run for their money!

With the deadline of a the Eurotunnel in sight and the temperature warming up, we decided to venture into completely new territory for a few nights of tranquility, arriving in Middelburg in the Zeelander province of the Netherlands (Stadscamping Zeelander, Middelburg €38.30 pn inc).

Once parked up on the rather empty campsite, we headed out to check out our new neighbourhood and were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the immediate area. Netherlands at its best, offering us windmills, canals and lakes…. all with an impressive number of rather luxurious duck houses that most MPs would have been jealous of!

As Zeelander is made up of lots of Islands it is an area that attracts lots of cyclists, walkers and people wanting to do watersports. We were only in Middelburg for 3 nights but managed to make the most of it, getting a good taste of the area by not only explore the town, which was pretty unique in itself, but also venture out into the surrounding area both on the bikes and on foot.

We walked round the outside of Middelburg on the first afternoon, taking in the network of the canals and waterways along with the beautiful architecture.

Then, as it was market day on the Saturday, we headed in to the main square to find it bustling with people in the market as well as making the most of the cafes and restaurants. The market was full of fresh local produce with everything ranging from cheese, fish, meat and fruit and vegetables – probably one of the best markets we have seen for a long time, and the town itself had a great variety of independent shops and restaurants too…. one to come back and re-visit.

The whole area was beautiful and obviously set up for cycling and walking, but what we hadn’t appreciated was the number of small local dairy farms which enabled us to buy local milk and cheese direct from the producers, some of which even had small campsites attached to them… one to look into next time. We did pop open one of the bottles of Champagne that we bought at the beginning of this trip to go with a BBQ as it was my birthday. It was as good, if not better, than we remembered… or perhaps that was because we had the bottle this time instead of multiple tastings!

It was however, all too quickly time to move on and head back to the UK. So after one night back in Berguez – where we started this trip – this time it was full and we got the last spot on the Aire, we took the tunnel back to the UK.

We were back at the farm for a week before we headed off again…. but before we did so, I had booked an afternoon and evening out with my mum to celebrate her 80th Birthday (from earlier this year) to see Abba Voyage. My first time back to the ‘Olympic Village’ since 2012…. it is fair to say that it was slightly quieter this time than my last visit but, that it still had that mesmorisingly tranquil effect as we walked towards the Arena.

A lovely evening which although couldn’t ever bring together the 80 years (and 6 months now) of ‘life’ that my mother has enjoyed… gave her another memory for the journey!

It was a busy week catching up with family and hence we didn’t quite have time to catch up on the blog… so it is an ‘extra’ extended version this time…. like most!

After a quick stop over at SAP to get our jacks serviced, we did a little hop, skip and a jump over towards Bradford as we had wanted to try out Prashad, a vegetarian Indian restaurant which looked exceptionally good when The Hairy Bikers visited it a couple of years ago.

We found a small CL (The Old Packing Station CL £15 p/n inc) that was just 2 miles from the restaurant which worked a treat for a couple of nights. I can’t say that it was completely quiet as it is only half a mile from the motorway, but it was pretty tranquil, down a quiet lane looking out onto green rolling hills… interspersed with pylons and houses!

The food was exceptionally good and although the hills provided for a challenging morning run, we will be back. The combination of flavour and texture along with ambience and service left us wanting to try more – if you are in the area, we highly recommend it.

We had wanted to head back up to Yorkshire for a while, so decided to try and find another small campsite between Whitby and Robin Hood Bay so we could go back to a pub we visited a couple of years ago. Netherless, as always we had left it too late to book the sites I had selected, although fell upon another which although the website said 8m length maximum, they had a couple of pitches that were plenty big enough for a 9m, and there was one left…bingo.

So after leaving Bradford, we headed North to Hawsker which is about 2 miles outside Whitby for 3 nights (Long Meadow Farm Campsite £20 p/n). What we hadn’t allowed for however, was the gale force wind and torrential rain…. and when it rains in Whitby, it really rains!

The Fish and chips were lovely though, as were the slightly wet walks and runs we had… certainly helped give you a clear head for the day…and it just meant we had a good excuse to eat delicious food!

With the sun shining again, we moved on to another new area in Yorkshire, this time on the Wolds. We had found a CL a couple of miles East of Pocklington (Martindale Farm CL, £25 p/n) which was lovely and tranquil, giving us ample of walking and cycling opportunities.

After a couple of walks both into the town itslef which had a market and up into the hills, we headed out for a little cycle ride over to Market Weighton, a small market town which we have passed through previously in the motorhome but not stopped. It is famous for William Bradley – the Yorkshire Giant, and the tallest ever Briton – who stood at 7ft 9inch (2.36m) when he was 20 years old.

A beautiful cycle ride but the town itself unfortunately doesn’t have a huge amount left on its high street, although to be fair to it, it does still have an independent butchers, greengrocer and fishmonger…. alongside the large Tesco.

The following morning we headed out on another little ride, this time a circular route through Pocklington and up into the Yorkshire Wolds, very tranquil.

We hadn’t been out on the bikes for a while so it was nice to stretch the legs in a different way… and it was reasonably hilly at points.

Another hop, skip and a jump and we arrived in Louth, a pretty little market town in Lincolnshire on the Wolds where we had found another little CL (Happyford CL, Louth £25 p/n) to stop at where the views were beautiful and they kept bees and sold honey…. perfect!

Once again, we had talked about coming here on a previous trip but didn’t quite make it for one reason or another, possibly working out in our favour as just a few months ago Gareth Bartrem, a chef whom we had seen previously on The Great British Menu, had opened a small bistro ‘The Auction House‘ in the market place focussing on local, seasonal products….and we couldn’t pass the opportunity by to pay a visit!

The food was delicious. Delicate flavours and textures bringing together unusual dishes – another to add to the list to return to! Lincolnshire has once again proved its place on the excellent produce list, just highlights how lucky we are in the UK with the produce we produce in our fields and on our coastline.

We headed into Louth on Saturday morning to the market and to hunt down the cheese shop as its reputation proceeds it. The market was typical of a local weekly set up, with everything from fruit and veg to some beautifully carved wood bread boards and furniture. We took the opportunity to stock up on local veg from the greengrocers, and couldn’t not try out some of the extra mature ‘Poacher’ and ‘Creamy Blue’ cheese – both were delicious.

The area was beautiful, with rolling hills in all directions – although we didn’t have enough time to explore too far a field, but got a good taste of what the area offered and will be back to see more.

The last stop of the trip before we headed back to the farm for the summer holidays was a CL (Skybarn £25p/n) just outside Lincoln. Another place that I had been eyeing up for a while – nothing to do with the fact that I had seen that they made cream teas and brought them to you in your motorhome / caravan – but I had always fancied going to Lincoln.

Sadly though, they had stopped making the cream teas and oddly, none of the reviews mention the fact that it is very close to the A46 and the road noise is pretty loud. Apart from that the site is impeccable and it was pretty easy to get to Lincoln by bike as well as Doddington Hall.

We walked over to the Nature Reserve which was really well set up with a lovely looking cafe, cycled to Doddington Hall to walk round the grounds and sample some of the products grown in their garden as well as the cake baked in their kitchen.

We met with Paul and Carly (Keiths brother and wife) in a wonderfully quirky local pub and finally, ventured into Lincoln for the day where we found the dragons in the castle as well as a fairly unexpectedly steep hill for Lincolnshire.

The old town at the top of the hill is really pretty with lots of quirky shops, the cathedral and castle and the newer area along the river has been completely renovated to incorporate the university as well as a reasonably sized shopping center closer to the station. It seemed a good balance.

It has been a busy 6 weeks since the last blog, covering a fair amount of distance and five countries… not too bad considering we travel like snails! Although to be fair three of those countries were probably covered in just as many days!

A few new recipes that we have cooked up along the way…
– Curried Brocolli Quinoa – A lovely light, flavoursom dish that could be eaten hot or cold
– Anti Pesto Pasta Bake – just a twist on our normal pasta bake
– Butter bean, pesto, sundried tomato and brocolli salad – full of flavour dish as a side, breakfast or lunch

… and finally the map!

I know it’s been a while since the last blog, we have just been out and about enjoying the countryside too much, leaving little time to catch up with ourselves.

So, leaving Graz behind us we headed into the mountains to find a bit more of the traditonal beauty of Austria, and it is fair to say that we weren’t disappointed.

The rain was still ‘doing it’s thing’…but we have generally been lucky enough that it hasn’t impacted us too much in so far as we have just worn the waterproofs a little more than expected, or been lucky in so far that it has rained most heavily later afternoon/evening when we have been inside anyway.

Keith had found a little campsite (Campingplatz Pyhrn Priel €42 , Spital am Pyhrn) in a valley that appeared to be in the back end of nowhere, although it was only 5km from the closest town. We are glad that appearances are deceptive as it had put quite alot of people off – definately a bit of a bonus for us as it was stunningly beautiful.

We had been looking for a somewhere for a couple of nights over the weekend with hard standing which was proving difficult to find as oddly the majority of campsites believe that the grass should be sufficiently dry at this time of year….it is mid-June after all – just a shame that they were mistaken… that however, was a good thing as we fell upon this place.

After lunch we headed out for a walk into the hills in the afternoon to take in the views, then the following morning took the bikes out for a beautiful 22km circuit, taking in Windischgarsten and Spital am Pyhrn, getting back to the motorhome just as the heavens opened – perfect timing for lunch.

The skies cleared again just as we finished washing up and we managed to get another long walk in in the afternoon, and despite the skies looking very black, it held off until we got back. A lovely campsite situated in a beautiful area for walking and cycling or just looking up and admiring the snow topped mountains that surrounded it.

On Sunday morning we moved slightly further West to get to Hallstatt which can only be described as a ‘picturesque’ gingerbread Austrian town. Although it is stunningly beautiful, it also unfortunately comes with the bus loads of tourists which takes away some of the beauty.

Hallstatt is at the end of a lake on windy, narrow roads at the foot of the mountains. As land is scarce, I am guessing if you, or your family have property there, you can dictate your market which is pretty much what the campsite does. The reviews (Campingplatz Klausner-Höll 50€ p/n) were poor but the owner just doesn’t suffer fools gladly. The website quite clearly states the price, location and facilities, it is the only campsite in the town, and he doesn’t make any apologies for it which appears to frustrate some – mainly the Germans, quite funny really!

We however, had completely the opposite experience – I had barely turned the engine off when the owner appeared with two beautifully poured pints of Guiness, then following a conversation with Keith about his previous life as a game keeper, he presented us with half a kilo of his Wild Boar sausages….hunted and made by him – lovely chap!

As we were lucky enough to have a little bit of sunshine when we arrived, and with the forecast looking pretty grey again over the coming days, we set out to do our best to take in some of the beauty… and to be fair, inspite of the quantity of people, it is a beautiful place.

Hallstatt is tiny, with one main pedestrian street going through the center and a couple of other roads adjoining it, but all traffic free as there is a tunnel that goes round the town through the mountain. The buses arrive, drop everyone off and then disappear, leaving everyone for three hours in the town – so it is just a matter of catching it at the right point, probably at about 8am or 10pm!

In addition to Hallstat being an ‘idyllic’ town, it also is home to the oldest saltmine in the world. As Tuesday was forecast rain all day, we thought that it would be a good way to spend the morning so we set off to get the funicular up the side of the mountain and learn more about the set up and process.

It was very well set up and an interesting couple of hours with a great guide. And by the time we came out to walk back down again, the cloud had cleared enough for us to get some ‘moody’ views from the top of the funicular which was a bonus.

The saltmine is another one of those things that you do once – and we are glad we did it – but wouldn’t ever do it again … whether in Austria, the UK or elsewhere – for me, there is only so much you can/ want to learn about salt, although I appreciate that many would disagree.

Leaving Hallstatt behind we moved only very slightly further North West to possibly one of the most beautiful places we have ever visited – St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut, where we had found a spot at Camping Appesbach (40euros p/n without elec).

The weather was still incredibly unpredictable and changeable – one minute being blue skies and sunshine, and the following torrential rain, but even when it was raining it was still incredibly beautiful.

We had only planned on staying three nights but quickly fell in love with the area. Thankfully the owners of the campsite were kind enough to re-arrange pitches so that we could stay for an additional four nights to make the most of the area and also the weather… as it was looking better later in the week..

To settle ourselves in slowly, we had a wander down to Strobl at the Southeastern end of the lake on the first afternoon, caught up on the shopping and took in the beautiful views.

The following morning, we woke to the most beautiful ‘moody’ views out over the lake. I left Keith to continue to admire the scenary whilst doing his exercises and set off on a stunning run into St Wolfgang itself and then out the other side, winding my way down the side of the lake on a small lane… exactly how you want to bring in the day – mountains, crystal clear glistening water and beautiful contours and lush greenery….. a little hot and sweaty but I definately had a smile on my face when I got back…. truly invigorating.

After catching up on some admin, we decided to try out the campsite restaurant for lunch as it had such good reviews and weren’t disappointed. The chef apparently is ex-michelin star restaurant and used to work in London until COVID hit when he was made redundant and he decided to look further afield and ended up here.

Keith had a fish soup to start which had a great flavour and was served with some delicious breads, the fish main was full of flavour and texture, as was the traditional ‘kaserspatsel’ which is the cheesey- noodle / macaroni cheese-type dish with crispy fried onions on top, both of which were served with a lovely, refreshing salad…. a step above any normal campsite restaurants and well worth a visit.

After lunch at the campsite, we walked into St Wolfgang and I showed Keith my morning running route as it was so beautiful.

The following day we cycled over to Bad Ischl which took us up and over the hills, through some beautiful countryside and when we arrived found they had a vintage car rally in the town – incredibly impressive.

We really went a bit full on over the following few days exploring the area in more depth by foot and by bike, pushing the bikes – and our legs – a little further… they were a great investment – the bikes at least…. the legs I am still unsure of!!

We had been told there was a possibility of a market in St Gilgen – the other side of the lake, so we thought we would see what it had to offer. We set off on the bikes and found our first oompah loompah band of the year, which had taken over the market square and thankfully, as we had arrived just before lunch, were in the middle of a set and demonstrating their best whilst the audience were happily tucking into Brutwurst and tankards of beer. We also found a the market with local, seasonal produce and bought some fantastic cheese, honey and eggs… our fault for being distracted by the oompah loompah’s as by the time we made it back to the market, most of the stalls had packed everything away despite only being mid-day.

We then decided to take on the three lake challenge… the challenge was more for me, rather than anyone else as I still have a fear of steep downhill runs on gravel following my accident 25+ years ago… weird how the brain works isn’t it?

Our route took us to Lake Schwarzenzee, Lake Attersee and Lake Mondsee… roughly 50km round trip with 800m ascent and 800m descent….stunningly beautiful.

I was a bit of a nervous wreck after the descent on the way there, with the forearms aching from gripping the handlebars too hard, but thankfully after a bit of lunch by one of the lakes and a coffee, the return ride wasn’t quite so bad as the descent on the way back was mostly on the road and not gravel. Needless to say it was a beautiful ride, pushing my limits a little but it was good – perhaps it will give me a little more confidence in myself for next time.

We arrived back to the campsite to the arrival of Pete, Liz and Monty who were stopping off for a night en route. They brought the weather with them as although we had planned a BBQ – using the Hallstat Wild Boar sausages – and amazingly, we even managed to sit outside to eat!

As always, it was lovely to see them but the evening went far too quickly and all too soon the sun had set and they were leaving in the morning… just need to plan these catch up’s in more frequently!

We woke to sunshine and clear blue skies again so, after saying our goodbyes to Pete and Liz, we headed up the Cog railway to the top of Schafberg. The Cog train has been running since 1893 and takes roughly 35 minutes to cover the 5.85 kilometers track which rises 1190 vertical meters.

All I can say is that the photos don’t do it justice. It had unfortunately started to haze over by the time we got to the top and although it was breathtaking to the naked eye, the photos – despite actually using my camera as well as my phone to make a comparison – aren’t as clear as I would have hoped…. but although I like to share our experiences, it is our memories that count and it was an incredible experience.

We had decided to walk back down, rather than take the Cog Railway both directions and it is fair to say that this was quite hard work. There is no doubt that walking downhill on un-even rocks is tiring, and when there are 10km of it, you definately feel it afterwards!

The route was beautiful whilst out in the open and then lovely and tranquil when it went into the forest, just quite hard on the muscles in the legs and feet… we both felt it for the following few days having used muscles we had neglected for a while. Glad we did it once, but we wouldn’t walk down again.

Dragging our heals behind us, we finally left the campsite and St Wolfgang after an amazingly full on week of cycling and walking and headed to Salzburg – our final stop in Austria.

We chose to stay at an Aire 6.5km outside the center which was owned by the same company as the one in Graz (25 euro p/n without elec). The Aire was tucked in between a motorway and a railway line, and although fairly tranquil probably a bit of a shock to the system after so much greenery and tranquility over the last few weeks, so we decided to head into Salzburg in the afternoon and in our heads were already contemplating only staying one night instead of the intended two.

I guess we wouldn’t expect anything less in Austria, everything has been so well kept and beautiful, and Salzburg wasn’t an exception to the rule. It is the birth place of Mozart and where ‘The Sound of Music’ was filmed…..so there is also no surprise that there are music schools everywhere you look, I think the university must focus on music too. The only way you can describe the old town in Salzburg is ‘refined’ and ‘elegant’… a little like walking round an enlarged Bond St.

All the boutiques, cafe’s and restaurants were beautifully set up to match the elegant architecture – leaving us feeling slightly shabby in comparison, so we headed over to the new town on the other side of the river to have a coffee where we felt slightly more in place…. although the other side of the river is still ‘refined’ too… just a little less so….like us!

A lovely place to visit, but not necessarily a place that we would come running back to unless we were specifically passing this way.

Moving on from Salzburg – and Austria as well, the plan was to do a couple of new stops on the Romantic Road whilst we were travelling through as the towns are so beautiful. Unfortunately our first stop was due to be Landsberg am Lech, and it turned out to have a fairground on the Aire so after a quick pit stop to re-think – and a bit of lunch – in Aldi’s carpark, we travelled a little further up the road to Harburg where we parked up next to the castle for the night (8 euro p/n inc).

Although we didn’t have a huge amount of time to explore, the town appeared pretty and the castle – which apparently is one of the oldest in Germany, dating back to 11th/12th century was pretty impressive. They had placed themed ‘fairy’ tales all around the exterior… Keith and I are proud to say that we managed to get most of them, although I was a little disappointed to see that Harry Potter was now included … as much as I love the stories, I am not convinced you can class it in the same league as Snow White or Rapunzel!

Walking and cycling looked plentiful, so we would look to stop off again if we were passing through, albeit I will try and plan my morning run a little better as I ended up going down a few dead ends – and 180m ascent/descent….ouch!

We moved on though as we had set our sights on getting to Dinkelsbuhl and as it was Friday and we were conscious that places get busy the further you get into the weekend, we didn’t want to leave it until Saturday. We managed to sneak in and get probably the last ‘big’ spot before the carpark started to fill up – little did we know that it was also a medieval festival this weekend.

Dinkelsbuhl is a beautiful town with perfectly maintained, coloured buildings and cobbled streets. Most of the town wall remains intact with 18 towers that still stand at different points around it.

It is a tourist location but there is no denying that it is very attractive and this weekend we were honoured to have a large number of people dressed up to the full in medieval costume, accompanied by music and some axe throwing to make the most of our visit.

As Pete and Liz were due to arrive at Dinkelsbuhl today and space was limited we did a cheeky little shuffle this morning, handing over our space to them so that they could enjoy the medieval festival and beauty of Dinkelsbuhl as we moved on to Sommerach to walk through the vineyards and buy some wine!

We have been cooking a fair bit – especially as its taken a while for me to get the blog updated – and the new ‘keeper’ recipes are as follows:-
– Olive Tapenade Hummus
– Mushroom wraps with mango salsa and crushed avocado
– Coriander and Mint Chutney

We were in Slovenia for four weeks to the day – what a fantastic country, albeit a little – ok maybe an understatement – wet in places, but that is why like the UK, Slovenia is so beautiful.

We had a little taster of the coast, the national parks, the lakes, the caves and the gastronomic delights of Styria – both in Slovenia and also now Austria… we consider ourselves to be very lucky to have had the chance to visit so many new and interesting places this trip.

So, following my last blog, we moved from Kamnik to a small town called Zalec in the middle of ‘hop’ country, where we had been told that there was a beer fountain which sounded like something different to do on a Sunday afternoon. Zalec is a sleeply little town on a river with lots of cycle paths and a little lake, which is where we parked up at a lovely little Aire (10 euro p/n).

It didn’t take too long to explore the town, so we soon ended up at the fountain which has been set up so that you can try 6 of the different regional beers… from light to dark, to green…..yes, I did say green, and it was actually quite nice despite the colour being a little off putting. Reminded us of the Christmas beer at the Green Tree Pub in Bath which was also very, very green… certainly makes you smile – or grimace. You buy a glass which is charged with ‘n’ servings of beer and help yourself…. great concept. I am sure that the kebab stall next door makes a killing!

Whilst in Zalec tasting the beer and exploring the area, we decided to pop over to Celje for a couple of hours with our picnic lunch – a nice cycle along the river but not a huge amount more… a good little stop over if you are in the area, but I wouldn’t go out of your way to make the detour.

Moving ever so slightly further North, we arrived in Maribor where we found a great little campsite 6km out of the center for 3 nights (Autokamp Kekec 28 euro p/n). We arrived to beautiful sunshine, although no sooner had we got our solar panels out and sat down to have a bit of lunch, the skies went dark, the wind got up and in came the torrential rain which continued on and off for about 12 hours but leaving us with beautiful sunshine and blue skies the following morning to head into Maribor to explore.

Maribor is Slovenia’s second largest city with a population of just over 100,000, many of which I would say are students as it has a large university. The city is not going to be to everyones tastes as it is a mix of new and old, but it does have some beautiful architecture and we felt that it had a nice feel to it.

Maribor is at the heart of Styria and this region , as well as Maribor itself, are known for their wine and culinary delights. There were far too many restaurants for us to try but Keith did find one which we decided was well worth checking out – Seben. Seben is a cookery school that is in the Michelin Guide and the photos do not do it justice, it was a real treat at a very reasonable price……and definately motivation to come back again.

Not only was the food excellent, but the service and setting was exceptional too, enabling their catering and hospitality students to work under supervision to deliver a level of precision that would be fitting for Michelin Star restaurants.

The restaurant only serves Slovenian wine – although they do offer some Champagne – and the focus is on local, seasonal products which the students cook up and serve up to diners in the form of a la carte or 5, 6 or 7 course tasting menus – although you wouldn’t believe it from the above photos, we opted for the 6 course menu…. it was perfectly balanced but I was still quite thankful that we had chosen to walk back to the campsite as it helped the food go down!

With the torrential rain hammering down again, we set off towards Ptuj – Slovenia’s oldest recorded city dating back to the stoneage. We decided to stay at the Aire by the Thermal Spa (36 euro p/n) which was effectively a large carpark so not particularly pretty, but it served a purpose. The other options were a grass pitch which currently we would definately be sinking into and not getting out of very easily due to water levels, or a lovely Aire half way down the lake that had horrendous reviews at weekends due to the noise and parties… obviously just getting old!

After lunch, we set off along the river for a quick leg stretch between the rain showers to explore and it is fair to say that Ptuj is a very pretty town with alot of character…. and that is without mentioning the strange looking sheeps’ costumes and masks which are apparently part of the Korent carnival / fertility festival!

Despite the weather forecast having predicted a very wet weekend we were actually lucky in the most as although the rain was hard and heavy, it pretty much rained all night, and all three nights, leaving the days reasonably dry for us to get out and explore on the bikes.

Ptuj is on the Drava cycle route which is roughly 700km long and crosses Slovenia, Croatia, Italy and Austria, so we decided to take one afternoon and cycle towards Maribor, and then the next day, to Gorisnica. A lovely area to explore with gently rolling hills – all in all, another lovely stop off.

Leaving Ptuj behind us we headed to a Vineyard (Vineyard Valentin, Vodole 36, 2229 Malečnik, Slovenia 25 euros p/n)) situated in the hills above Maribor… and our last stop in Slovenia.

The Vineyard was in an absolutely stunning location – thankfully Maribor itself was hidden from our views – so before settling in to a tasting session we set off on a lovely little walk to explore further.

Although we were pretty much at the top of the hill, as is always the way when we go out for a walk, we went up further, down again into the valley… and then back up… just to get the blood moving… and of course to take in the beauty around us before we settled into trying out the local delicacies!

The Vineyard has been in the family for a long time but is now run by the son and his wife who are in the late 30’s. The vineyard has roughly 10 acres of vine and in addition they grow seasonal produce including pumpins for pumpkin seed oil, apple cider vinegar and cherries. They also have chickens for eggs, and pigs for cured Sausage….. a pure feast.

We opted to do a tasting where Simon, the husband walked us through some of the different wines they produce. We tried 6 whites (a mix of Sauvignon blanc, Reisling, Muscat and Chardonnay), 1 red and 2 orange – which is effectively ‘fermented’ wine. Keith also tried some of the cured sausage, which he said was exceptional….. we left slightly lighter in the wallet but happy none the less, having bought 5 bottles of wine, 1kg cherries, cured sausage, eggs and some of their apple cider vinegar…that’ll keep us going a day or two!

Needless to say that the morning run the following day was quite hard work – down hill on the way out and up on the way back…. absolutely nothing to do with the amount of wine consumed, honest!

Once we were suitably showered and breakfasted we thanked our hosts and headed off to Austria, to Graz to be specific, stopping briefly en route to pick up a ‘Go’ Toll box just before the border.

We had been told about a Stellplatz which is roughly 7.5km outside Graz on a cycle path and next to a huge swimming pool which sounded lovely and suitable for a three night stop. (Reismobile stellplatz graz €25 per night plus 2€ pp tax inc swimming pool).

Despite the sun blazing down from above the ground on the campsite was still pretty saturated and with the forecast still looking a little tempramental we opted for what looked like one of the best drained pitches…with some hard core underneath – not making that mistake again!

We set off to explore the area, getting some shopping done and enjoying some of the small lanes which went up into the forest behind the campsite – very tranquil. The heavens opened again late afternoon and an incredible amount of rain, and hail fell….looking on the bright side though we were inside and it helped freshen the air a little as it has been so hot and humid.

The following morning, after another beautiful morning run, we hopped on the bikes and went into Graz to explore. Like most of the rest of Europe, Austria is well ahead of the UK with their cycle routes which in turn means there are a lot of cyclists and also, generally alot more respect from motorists

Having parked up the bikes we meandered towards the center but got distracted by the fort on the top of the hill, ending up climbing up the 260+ steps to the clock tower and then walking up to the fort to take in the views… I just love those rooftops. A great place to stop and have our lunch…the Satay Sweet Potato Bowl mentioned below – rather tasty, if I don’t say so myself!

Refueled and refreshed, we headed back down into Graz to explore the beautiful old town before crossing over to the West bank of the river which houses the ‘Martian’ building (Kunsthaus Graz)… yes, it has weird looking antennas so is definately alien-like.

The West bank is the ‘alternative’ side to Graz with lots of lovely coffee houses and boutique type shops, not as traditionally beautiful as the old town – but still a great place to meander and stop for a coffee to watch the world go by.

The following day we had booked to try out a small Austrian eatery in the old town, so jumped on the bikes again and after a quick diversion back to the West Bank as we had found a Vivo Barefoot shop with a sale on, we settled in to a lovely, rather generous lunch with delicious seasonal, local produce… we will definately be back in Graz if we are passing this way

and those new recipes…. although no photos, sorry
– Satay Sweet Potato Bosh Bowl – can only be described as ‘umptious’
– South West Bosh Bowl – a bizarre combination and method for the sauce, but it does work… very tasty

We have done alot over the last couple of weeks and I just haven’t had a chance to update the blog before now – apologies. So before it gets even more out of hand, here is a map of where we have been.

Moving all of 20km up the valley in an attempt to avoid the ‘Bled’ tourists and nutty fitness enthusiasts who were apparently arriving to carry out a ‘Sparten’ event over the weekend, we found a lovely place to stop in Bohinjska Bistrica where we planned to enjoy the sunshine following the torrential rain and get some good walking and cycling in. (Camping Danika 33 euro per night)

When we arrived I had a little walk around the campsite to pick a suitably sunny spot as pitches were open and not marked out. I thought I had found a nice looking area which was open, without too many trees and had gravel underneath as the ground was saturated following the rain…. unfortunately the ground was deceptive and what I had thought was gravel, was in fact sand underneath…. a little bit of a sticky – or sinking – moment. Thankfully Keith managed to land in a reasonable location and three days of sunshine led to the ground being dry enough for me to drive off with traction control, grip pads and a little bit of welly. Lesson learnt by me to check a little more on what is underneath those little stones!

The campsite was right on the edge of the town with both a river and a cycle path passing beside it. The river (and cycle track) came down from the mountains into Lake Bohinj and on to Bohinjska Bistrica where we were ,and then on to Lake Bled and beyond in the other direction. The valley was nestled between the mountains…some still with a little snow on top. A truly stunning, tranquil location.

We set off into the hills on Friday afternoon for a lovely circular walk, finding that after an hour and a quarter and a few small stream jumps, our path was completely cut off due to a waterfall that had ‘broken its boundaries’ following the recent torrential rain and there was no way of passing. So we turned around and came back on the same route… it was pretty much half way anyway and a beautiful route despite the low cloud.

On Saturday we popped over to visit to the local market in the morning, where there was an exceptional offering of dairy produce as we well as walnuts, hazelnuts and oils from local producers, before setting off on the bikes to explore further afield.

We cycled towards Lake Bohinj and then up into the mountains beyond, arriving at ‘Slap Savica’ – more waterfalls, these ones were full but slightly more controlled, possibly just had more space to grow naturally than the ones from the previous day that had broken free!

Our final day gave us a chance to walk along the valley and also sample some of the local produce… well who doesn’t like a good Sunday lunch? I had found an interesting looking restaurant (Sunrose7) which focussed on sustainable, local, seasonal produce and they were pescatarian friendly which always helps.

The restaurant offers a small, a la carte menu which changes every day both for lunch and dinner, additionally they offer 2, 3 or 4 courses for a set price which was excellent value…. naturally we had all four courses as we just wanted to try everything! They happily adapted the Gnocchi dish to use Vegan bacon for me and the food was delicious. Another location that we will come back and visit next time we are in Slovenia… as there is still so much more to see and do.

Leaving the mountains behind us, we headed to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, where we had booked to stay at a campsite (Ljubljana Hotel Resort and Camping 35.33 per night) which was 6km outside the city centre beside a river. After doing a bit of food shopping, we set off for a little walk to stretch our legs along the river before the rain arrived…and when it arrived, it arrived in abundance again, raining all night and well into the following day.

Although we would normally venture out on the bikes given the choice, it really was too wet, so we opted to take the bus into town. It should have cost 1.30 euro each person, each way however, despite tapping our debit card twice on each journey – and once the driver took 3 journeys from us – the debit card only appears to have taken 2.60 in total each day… very odd.

We pretty much had Ljubljana to ourselves on the first day as it was so wet in the morning and people had obviosly just decided not to come into town at all which was nice. We walked, drank coffee, walked a bit more and explored the market before the heavens opened again and we decided to give up and come back the following day.

Wednesday was slightly dryer but cloud was still low unfortunately, so the views from the Castle and Park Trivoli weren’t much too write home about. We still did some good walking and explored the city a bit more despite the weather – it is a lovely small city with lots of coffee shops and a good central market with local produce.

We stocked up on fruit and veg, a large pot of chestnut honey, and also bought some Prekmurska Gibanica – a strudel-like layer cake. It is made with pastry, stewed apples, walnutes, poppy seeds, cottage cheese and lots of spices and is one of the old festive and ceremonial Slovenian desserts, dating back to 1828. It isn’t very sweet but has a delicious rounded flavour and is incredibly filling… even between Keith and I the piece we bought – which admittedly was pretty big – lasted two days!

Three days in Ljubjlana passed quickly and we moved on to Kamnic (Kamp Resnic, 22.50 per night) – an impromptu detour – to take in a little bit of Velika Planina.

Kamnic itself is nothing special, but it is the main point of access to Velika Planina which is 12km away, a great place for both walking and cycling in the summer, and ski-ing in the winter.

We headed out to explore and had a little badly timed walk around the town, getting soaked on the way back. Then on Friday morning got the washing hung out and popped into town again for 30 minutes to be chased back by the grey clouds and rain. Thankfully we got back in time to get the freshly washed clothes under the awning, and an hour or so later the sun came back out again. The weather is just a little bit like that at the moment.

In the afternoon we decided to cycle up to Velika Planina where we caught the cable car and then chair lift to the top. Absolutely stunning views in all directions.

We hadn’t really thought our plan through from two perspectives…. 1) We arrived at 3pm and the last cable car down was at 6pm, so if we had wanted to do any walking we wouldn’t have had time and 2) We were wearing shorts and t-shirts and barefoot shoes, albeit that we had jumpers and waterproofs in the paniers…. 1650m on a chairlift can be pretty fresh!

Both of the above though, coupled together meant the cold wasn’t an issue, and nor was the clothing/footwear. We benefitted from amazing scenery considering the weather in the morning …and it was a taster, whetting the appetite for our next trip.

The cloud was low again on Saturday morning but dry, so we headed in to the local market, which again sold lots of dairy produce, walnuts, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts and oils as well as locally grown vegetables, enabling us to stock up on everything for the next few days without going to the supermarket.

In the afternoon we headed off on foot into the hills above the town for a 8.5km and 450m ascent/descent. The forest was thick and unfortunately gave us minimal views… it certainly tested a few muscles that haven’t been tested for a while though – very steep both up and then back down!

I am sure you will be pleased to hear that we have been doing a little bit more experimenting with new recipes this week!
– Caponeata – a twist on a ratatouille with a lovely depth of flavour
– Giant Burrito cake – an alternative way to make burritos, or looking at it from another perspective, an alternative to a lasagne
– Salsa – a lovely refreshing salsa mix that goes well with most dishes

And finally the map….

Leaving Venice and Italy behind us, we set off taking the torrential rain with us towards Slovenia. We had decided that we were going to head to Portoroz first which is on the coast, just 8km from the Croatian border as it looked like an interesting point to start our journey through Slovenia.

A little bit last minute, but Keith had remembered that Slovenia has toll roads but no toll booths – meaning that you have to buy a box/tag system and pre-load it with credit before you can drive on most of the main roads running through the country. Therefore entering the country on a toll road is always a bit of a risk not knowing how, or where you can buy the ‘box’ as the fines are quite substantial.

We opted to take the risk, setting up an account online literally 10 minutes before we were crossing the border, and thankfully on the route we had taken from Italy – which did turn directly into a toll road in Slovenia – there was a fuel station on the border selling the ‘DarsGo’ box which is what we needed for a 7.2 tonne motorhome. The chap I spoke to was incredibly helpful, set up the system for us attaching the box to my account and we were off… phew!

Portoroz became popular in the late 19th century for the Austro/Hungarian Monarchy based on its ‘health’ benefits from the concentrated salt water and salina mud and although I am sure it is incredibly busy during peak season, it was actually beautifully tranquil whilst we were there.

We had chosen to stay at Portoroz Marina (45 euro per night) which is nestled right in the centre of the bay, giving us beautiful views out of our front window to watch the yachts as they came and went. We were parked with our nose almost on the beach, which as the tide started to rise later in the day caused a few concerns – thankfully though the high tide stopped roughly 1.5m from the front of the motorhome, and as we are in the bay the water was calm and glistening, just perfect!

The area is set up for cyclists, runners and walkers with several circular routes going up the coast, down the coast and inland… enough to keep us busy for a few days and providing me with a wonderful morning running route.

The walk south took us along the coast into a Marine park and then up into the hills – they were only small, rolling hills – taking in a sculpture park Vineyards, Olive Groves and providing beautiful views out over Croatia and of course the salt fields. Salt that we ended up buying from the salt farmer himself just as he had packed all of his goods away the following day in Piran.

The walk North took us through Portoroz and on into Piran, a pretty fishing village with a castle. Keen to try out some local food, we headed towards a seafood place for lunch that looked interesting – Fritolin Pri Cantini – but as it is effectively a serving hatch where you order your food, they suggest turning up early as it is a small place and you need to find a table. It is a good set up as it shares the tables with the bar next door who provide table service for drinks and also the all important toilets… a perfect match.

We arrived at about 12:45, got a shaded table on the terrace and ordered a grilled seafood platter (albeit with a bit of deep fried calamari) accompanied by a green salad. It was light, fresh and delicious. We would definately go back if we happened to be passing through.

Wanting to enjoy the coast for just a little bit longer as the weather was being kind to us, we headed 20km round the coast back up towards Italy, arriving at Ankaran (Ankaran Hotel and Resort 53.66 euros p/n inc.)

Slovenia only has 46.4km of coastline and unfortunately nestled between Piran and Ankaran is Koper, Slovenias only Port and although I am sure that it is a very pretty town, it meant that the views out to sea from Ankaran were mostly of container ships…. they made for a beautiful shadow on the sun set though!

Ankaran is 4km from the Italian border making my morning run a little different – round the peninsula, up over the hills and a quick dip into Italy and back again. I did have a bit of a panic on the first day when I passed the border control police, wondering what would happen if they stopped me on my way back and wouldn’t let me back into Slovenia…. it was all ok though. Apparently Sundays are their day off should you ever want to smuggle something in, or out of the country… weird eh?

Exploring the area, we walked up into the hills, through the Vineyards and Olive Groves and then around the peninsula which gave us slightly more than we had bargained for. The views over to Italy and Trieste – also a port – were expected, however the route Keith had planned took us down onto the beach where we had to negotiate high tide, doing a bit of paddling whilst also trying to step round the naturists without imposing on their space….nothing like an all over tan!

The following day, after catching up on our washing and a little walk around the Memorial Salt Park in the morning, we set off on a little bike ride. Once again heading up into the hills – even higher this time which was a good test for the bikes – taking in more Olive Groves and Vineyards before coming back down to the coast into Muggia in Italy where we parked up the bikes and had a little walk round. The historic center was pretty small and not a huge amount to write home about, but we were distracted by the gelatrias and felt the need to stop and taste – well it would have been wrong to pop back into Italy on a sunny day and not have gelato wouldn’t it?

The following day, it was time to move on again, away from the coast and heading towards the mountains this time, stopping over in Postojna to see the caves. As a general rule, we don’t tend to go to tourist attractions and especially not on ‘organised tours’ as such, although we are happy to make the exception for something unique and after a little research, these caves did sound pretty exceptional.

We had booked our slot on line for 2pm, so parked up (Car Park 4 @ 20 euros/24hr) and headed off into the caves with jumpers, jackets, raincoats and woolley hats despite it being 20ish degrees and sunny outside.

After collecting our audio guide we got on the train and were happy that we had brought the extra clothing….10 degrees and humid! The railway is the only double track railway of its kind, is the worlds first railway in a cave. and is 3.7km long, dating back to 1872

All I can say is Wow! – glad we did it but no, we don’t need to do another cave anytime soon. It was in Keith’s words, probably one of the most amazing things he has ever seen… and that includes seeing the wierd looking ‘Olms’, or in latin ‘Proteus Anguinus‘…. better known as baby dragons.

The ‘Olm’ is a pale pink, almost translucent creature with short legs with three digits on their forelimbs and two on their hind feet and they move around in the water by twisting their bodies, assisted by the legs. They breathe through gills and rudimentary lungs. They have no eyes but they can “see” everything with the help of skin receptors leading them to be very good at sensing their prey. The wierdest part though is that they can go without food for many years…very odd creatures….all in all quite a unique experience!

After a slightly cooler morning run/exercise routine and breakfast, leaving the caves behind us, we set off towards Lake Bled where we were hoping the rain would hold off long enough so that we could take in some of its beauty…. and we were luckier than we thought we would be.

As the weather forecast was looking pretty wet we opted to stay in Bled (Bled Stellplatz 25 euro p/n), rather than at one of the campsites and it worked well as not only was it perfectly located for us to get some shopping done, it is 1km from Lake Bled and not too far from the Vintgar Gorge.

After lunch, we headed towards the lake to stretch our legs and ended up walking all the way round, being captivated by the views at every clearing in the trees. The clouds were low, leaving the skies looking a little moody but Lake Bled was still the most incredible Turqouise colour… and better still, it was quiet.

The following morning was dry, so taking full advantage and after letting the rolls I had made cool enough to make the sandwiches, we headed off on a little walk to Vintgar Gorge.

Vintgar Gorge is carved out of the rocks by the Radovna River and is situated just inside the Triglav National Park, 5km from Bled. The Gorge itself is 250m high and 1.6km long and protected, restricting the number of people who access it and where you can walk.

The water was so clear and the colour was mesmerizing. The sound, despite being incredibly loud through the rapids, was relaxing.

At the end of the 1.6km path, we circled back up through the woods to eat our lunch before heading back down through Zasip, arriving back at the motorhome just before the weather broke…. perfect timing!

Having threatened to rain but not having arrived, it arrived in its abundance…although not so much of an issue overnight, just ensures that the rivers flow freely and helps keep the area looking beautiful and green.

The rain didn’t bother us too much this morning either as it was a planned ‘rest’ day, although we made it out for a reverse loop of the lake, which despite not being able to see the top of any of the surrounding mountains – or even hills today – still had a ‘special’ feel. There is no doubt that it is a very beautiful place and we consider ourselves lucky to have seen it whilst it has been so quiet.

We have been cooking alot – and even had the BBQ out twice last weekend as the weather was so good…. although I had to remember how to make pittas again as it has been a while!

We haven’t however been cooking many new recipes – its been curries, cobbles, stews, pies and more. The only new recipe that we have now added to our repertoire is a Rich and Creamy Lasagne which has a lovely combination of Squash, Aubergine and Porcini mushrooms amongst other deliciousness…. and yes, it is plant based but you wouldn’t know!

We came to Slovenia without any expectations and having done very little research, and from what we have seen so far, Slovenia is a very beautiful place and incredibly easy to travel in.

The people are friendly and although we have learnt a few words of Slovenian, thankfully most of them appear to speak reasonably good english.

We are just nine days in to our visit and from what those nine days have given…. we are excited about what there is to come. There is so much more to explore – including the food and wine but here is the map of where we have been so far.

We have been truly spoilt over the last week, falling upon the most beautiful locations to stop at and enjoy… so this blog is a little full of photos – for which I won’t apologise!

The last stop in France before crossing over into Italy was Bonneville (Camping Car Park 13.94 euro per night), a lovely little town in the Auvergne -Rhone-Alpes just south of Geneva. Bonneville is a typical French mountain town with a good local market, the Arve – a stunningly beautiful turqouise river which flowed through it, and a castle, all of which accompanied by the back drop of snow topped mountains made it jaw droppingly beautiful and incredibly relaxing.

We spent three days exploring the area – both up into the hills and also along the river – whilst catching up on our washing and shopping before crossing over into Italy – from previous experience, you just don’t know what you are going to find in Italy so we felt it worth being prepared….or as prepared as you can be at least!

Leaving France behind us – unfortunately being accompanied by the grey skies – we set off into the mountains to take the Mont Blanc Tunnel over into Italy. Although we knew this was going to be an expensive option, it cuts the time and distance we need to travel and obviously saves on the fuel consumption as there are less hill climbs…. it was just a shame that the cloud was so low and we couldn’t see anything as from what I understand there are some spectacular spots to stop along the route and take in the views.

10 miles of tunnel, a few hairpin bends and 195.60 euros later we were in Italy surrounded by clouds and it was raining heavily …. perhaps next time we pass this way we will be lucky enough to enjoy the views!

Our first stop was Montestrutto (Miglio 608 Camper Area 12.50 euro p/n)) a tiny village just north of Ivrea. We were the only motorhome on the aire and after setting up and having some lunch, we headed up into the hills for a walk. The rain subsided and we were left with a moody light and stunning scenary – it was a truly beautiful, tranquil area to be in with just the clanging bells from the goats ringing out across the valley.

The following day, waking to birdsong and sunshine and following a beautiful morning run along the Via Francigena, we set off into Ivrea – where my mum had spent six months on sebatical in 1969 as it was home to Olivetti. Ivrea is now a UNESCO site based on its relationship between industry and architecture based upon the Olivetti involvement in the area. Not your typical UNESCO site but interesting all the same, it is pretty enough and although most things were shut on a Monday, we had a good walk around and found a lovely place to eat gelato – so no complaints from us!

A beautiful location to stop off at with another incredible gelataria alongside the Area in Montestrutto – which naturally, we also had to try – somewhere to come back and explore further next time we are passing through.

We moved on again though as Bank Holiday was looming and following previous experiences with the Italians herding towards campsites for weekends in their masses, we had made provision for 1st May by booking ourselves into Mabellina Agricamping (62 euros p/n) just outside Desenzano del Garda.

The Campsite was nestled within the vineyards, roughly 1 mile from Lake Garda and just under 1km from a lovely little non-touristy Trattoria… so we thought it’d be rude not to try out some proper Italian cuisine whilst here.

‘Mama’ was on front of house and ‘Papa’, or I should probably say one of the ‘Papas’ was in the kitchen, and the other was on the bar. All three were welcoming but ‘Papa cook’ was incredibly animated and proud of his food – although what he was saying as he served up the seafood platter we have no idea, all we can say is that he seemed to be very happy!!

We went for simplicity and were not let down, tortellini with a meat based stuffing and pancetta for Keith and a Squash and Sage stuffing for me, both with a butter and sage sauce and a nice amount of parmasan to start, grilled seafood and a fresh salad to share for main and we both opted for Tiramasu to finish. The restaurant only had locals – young and old – I imagine something hard to find near Lake Garda.

The weather was incredibly varied over the five days we were on Lake Garda with the day we arrived being 29 degrees and almost unbearable, changing to torrential rain, then back to an agreable 23/24 degrees which was just about perfect.

My morning runs around the southern part of the lake were stunning – each day the views changed as the sky and clouds changed colours. We took the bikes out to explore Sirmione and Desenzano del Garda – the former being an incredible walled island which we weren’t expecting – lack of research on our part – although we were a little overwhelmed by the quantity of tourists as well as the number of gelatarias per sq foot! A really pretty place but slightly too full on for us, and that was on a Friday in May, not a weekend or holiday season.

Not thinking that we could surpass the beauty that we have seen over the last week – despite knowing our next destination – we finally moved further east to get to Venice (Camping Venezia Village 44 euro per night).

The campsite is located 10km outside the city and felt quite tranquil for the amount of time we actually spent there, most importantly though, Venice was easily accessible. We caught the bus in on Sunday afternoon after lunch to do a little reckie, having pre-registered online and paid our ‘tourist tax’ as you now need to do on certain dates, and set off to explore the non-central areas for fear of too many people enjoying the sunshine on a Sunday afternoon.

We were really pleasantly surprised as we managed to avoid the crowds right up until just before we left and came back towards the bus terminal. I took a huge amount of photos – of which I will only bore you with a few – most of which were completely free of people, we couldn’t have asked for more. We walked up and down the streets between canals, crossing bridges and finding little ‘Osterias’ and ‘Trattorias’ hidden away with people finishing their lazy Sunday lunch and soaking up a bit of afternoon sun.

Such a beautiful city with a wonderful shabby chic feel… it was lovely to be able to soak up the athmosphere as we walked and explored hidden corners of the city.

Whilst checking into the campsite on the Sunday we found that there was a bus and train strike between 8:30am and 16:30 the following day. Although we could get buses and trains outside these hours, it was obvious that they would be packed and as we had read that Venice is one of the most ‘unfriendly’ places for bikes that wasn’t our immediate option as it would normally have been.

You can’t take bikes further into Venice than the bus station and there weren’t any bikes chained up to railings, however whilst doing research previously we had seen that there was a secure bike storage place in one of the underground car parks so decided to try our luck.

Each box was 10 euros for 24 hours, so although not cheap for the short stay tourist like us – it was 25 euros for 30 days, which I guess would help encourage people to be ‘green’ – it meant that we could come into Venice and leave whenever we wanted to, having the confidence that the bikes were safe…. in our minds, 20 euros well spent.

Bikes parked securely, we set off to soak up more of the athmosphere and enjoy more of the beauty we had indulged the previous day.

Despite the mostly grey skies it was warm but not too hot, pleasant enough to explore the humid city without feeling overwhelmed. We walked towards St Marks Square, twisting and turning as we came to bridges and dead-ends, enjoying the architecture and noting the differences between the wealth close to it and further away.

Naturally it was busier as we got closer to St Marks Basilica and the main square, but to be honest, it really wasn’t too bad – we were lucky. We stopped for coffee and people watched which is always interesting, before continuing our walk through the market and out towards the university where once again the athmosphere changed.

Whilst people watching, and curious by the quantity of people drinking the ‘lucozade-like’ drink on the terraces- better known as Apero Spritz to most – I looked online to find that it was a drink developed in Venice in 1920’s, you learn something new every day, shame it took until 2019 to take off though!

A lovely couple of days exploring and enjoying the city along with its hustle and bustle, we are glad we finally made it after our first attempt nine years ago… apparently only about another 76 years until it will be under water and un-inhabitable.

And just to finish our short – but incredibly beautiful visit to Italy – a map of where we have been… we will try not to leave it nine years until we come back to visit this time!

It has been a long time since we spent any kind of time in France and had the chance to stop at some of its beautiful towns and villages as well as taking the time to enjoy some of the local producers who open their doors to motorhomes staying over for a night or two….so we have been a little bit like children in a sweet shop these last ten days, making the most of every day!

We crossed over on the tunnel on Tuesday (16th April) and opted to stay the first night on a free Aire by the sports field just outside of Bergues town walls. Bergues is only 10km south of Dunkerque, far enough from Calais to not worry about anyone trying to jump in the garage thinking that we were on our way back to the UK, but close enough to not have to think should the shuttle get delayed. The town is pretty enough for a stop over but you wouldn’t go out of your way to visit, it has everything that you need in terms of bakeries, supermarkets, cafes, bars and restaurants and the Aire was easy to access and very tranquil overnight…even a really lovely off road route for my morning run!

Moving on in the morning though – still with the end destination in mind – we had decided to get some miles behind us and travel South into the Champagne region where Steve and Debs had recommended a lovely small producer (Philippe Hautem, Vaudemange) where they had stayed and bought from previously.

We had a little walk around the village which doesn’t have anything else in it apart from another 5 or 6 small champagne producers, then headed back to meet Philippe’s wife who took us and a German couple, also staying in a motorhome, through the different champagnes they make.

The husband and wife team set up the champagne house from scratch 40 years ago and now run it with their two sons. Over the years they have evolved and developed the process and the different types of champagne they produce, even this year they are introducing two new varieties… one of which is 100% Pinot Noir.

Neither Keith nor I are massive champagne fans simply because we feel there are many wines that are a far better value for money for our taste buds, however it is possibly fair to say that we have just tried too many of the ‘cheaper’ brands as in contrast to our experience, the champagne was delicious, fresh and light. We tried 6 different varieties in total, including one rose and were lucky enough to try some of their ‘aged ‘Old Vines’ champagne from 2012 which they don’t produce each year but when they do it only provides about 300-400 bottles…. this is the kind of ‘free’ stop over that ends up being quite expensive…but we would definately repeat it!!

After a lovely quiet night and a morning hilly run up through the vineyards, we set off towards Troyes (pronounced Trois…as we have now been told!), where we found a lovely Aire a mile outside the center (15 euros p/n inc elec.)

When Keith was looking at the aire he happened to see that there was a restaurant – Bistro DuPont 500m away that had reasonably good reviews which got me looking at options nearby… and it turns out that the restaurant he found was a Michelin Bib Gourmand with several nice looking set menus – which the french do so well, so we thought it would be rude not to try – especially as they could adapt one of their menus to a difficult pescatarian!

The food was excellent – everything from Beluga Lentils with Foie Gras and Smoked Salmon for starters, scallops and a beautiful fish dish for mains, through to a deliciously light cheese eclair….. and those desserts were to die for – unsurprisingly, the restaurant was full on Friday lunchtime.

Troyes itself was a really pretty city with lots of beautiful old buildings – some still part way through the process of renovation so a little shabby chic – but in the main lots of interesting architecture, not too big and a lovely French ‘cafe society’ feel.

We walked the streets in all different directions, sampled the coffee shops and also took advantage of being their on Saturday to enjoy the extended market which, as always in France, proved to be excellent with a huge amount of local produce with everything from Raw Milk and unpasturised cheeses to seasonal vegetables and home made breads.

I even managed to see a beaver swimming up the Old Seine when I went out for my morning run on the Saturday – a first ever for me as I haven’t ever seen a beaver in the wild, an amazingly powerful mammmal… who’d have thought they were just large rats! A lovely place and we will definately stop off here again if we are passing this way.

After three nights and leaving our neighbours thinking that we really were ‘The Mad English’ having decided to do some washing and hang it out just as it started to rain….. we moved on again we decided to stop at another little France Passion vineyard en route – Domain Dury in Bourgogne – just south of Beune, this time to try some Burgundy Whites and Reds.

We arrived and the sun was shining – which before long turned into hail storms as typically is the case in April, but they went as quick as they came and the sun soon came out again and let us go for a ‘dry’ walk which was good. In contrast to some of the other vineyards we have stayed at, this one didn’t offer a tasting but instead had two large fridges full of bottles of wine for people to buy on an honesty basis.

Being a Sunday and with only one other campervan accompanying us by 6pm we expected to pretty much have the place to ourselves… but alas as the rain started again another three motorhomes turned up… appears to be a very popular place – we have only tried one bottle so far which was a Bourgogne Pinot Nnoir and it is fair to say that its flavour enhanced by breathing a little. We are looking forward to trying the other wines we bought, including a Grand Cru over the coming weeks as this looks like a place to come back to.

Switching wine for food, we moved to another France Passion place – Auberge Grand Ronjan, Cormoz, where although they were closed on Mondays, we had asked if we could stay the Monday night as well as Tuesday to get see a little bit more of the area and they were happy to accommodate..

It is a little bit more complicated being pescatarian in France especially when you want to go to off grid restaurants which are a little bit more ‘authentic’ and generally only serve up what is local and in season. I did however call ahead and the conversation made me smile as I tried to explain that I didn’t eat meat, but did eat pretty much anything else including fish and shellfish… therefore in French terms apparently I am Vegetarian….. and, in that case I would also eat Frogs Legs and Snails…no? therefore, loads of options!

Thankfully they were able to do a salad without lardons – which apparantly would also be vegetarian no? and a fish in beurre blanc…. Keith made the most of local and seasonal specialities – Frogs legs and Bresse chicken…it was ok, but we won’t be running back. I know it is supposed to be frog leg season as such but these were pretty small – perhaps he should go for toad next time… The Bresse Chicken however was lovely but as is the case in France, don’t expect to get any vegetables.

It was a really tranquil location and a pretty area so despite the food not being quite up to standard, we had a nice cycle ride and a couple of lovely walks through the rolling hills.

Obviously as we are limited by how much wine we can bring into Europe from the UK now – only 4 Litres per person – we decided to get just one more France Passion ‘fix’ in before we head over to Italy and there are no surprises for this one being another Vineyard – Domaine Aime Bernard et Fils – Silans on the Rhone.

The photos don’t do it justice – it was a truly stunning and tranquil location to stay overnight. Perched on the side of the vineyard sloping down towards the Rhone with the backdrop of the snow peaked mountains. We arrived at lunch time and had a beautiful walk in the afternoon before the rain came, passing beehives and vines whilst enjoying the beautiful turquoise Rhone twisting nearby. Then later headed over to do a ‘degustacion’ – tasting for those who aren’t in the know – of their wines – beautiful fresh, crisp whites and an interesting red ‘Mondeuse’ that neither of us had heard of before…. another six bottles for the road!

Another beautiful, peaceful night with just the bird song and amazing views to wake up to – it’s places like this that make you really appreaciate being in a motorhome and having the ability to travel and meet small producers who are passionate about their products.

Despite eating out a little more this last week and a half we have also had time to play with some new recipes again
– Pashwari naan – a lovely nutty, sweet change to the naan bread
– Pesto lasagne – truly deliciously rich and indulgent
– WIld garlic cheese scones – taking my normal cheese scone recipe and adding a little bit of seasonal flavour (approx 75g of Wild Garlic)

And finally the map. We had planned to travel a little more quickly but as always the enjoyment should be in the journey as well as the final destination and it is always easy to get distracted in France as there are so many beautiful places to visit…. one more stop in France – and then it’s over to Italy… I promise!