Leave Shaftesbury 11.00 - leaving Ben and Dan working on the front garden paths. Hot sunny day, and no real hold ups. Plan was to catch the 1640 P&O ferry, but we were there in time to catch the 1530. Flat calm uneventful crossing - ideal!
Sally (satnav) was set for Grand Bonard in the French Alps, but avoiding the hugely expensive French motorways. It took her about 15 minutes to calculate the 550 mile trip, and it seems to be much of our favourite route, through Luxembourg.
After an hour of driving in France, we asked Sally where the nearest aire de camping car was, and she took us to Bailleul, a town we'd never heard of. And it is charming - mostly rebuilt after being 90% destroyed by bombardment in 1918, with a huge loss of civilian life. The town hall is a UNESCO world heritage site - but we weren't there when it was open. A useful spot, close to the motorway (but not too close).
A very hot night, and we woke early, and on the road by 7 am - and even then it was quite warm. As I joined the empty main road I found myself driving on the left - hopefully for the last time! We did indeed go through Luxembourg - a useful place to refuel, we paid under €1 per litre of diesel, and our first fill up since the Fleet Services on the M3, where it was £1.25
After Luxembourg we were taken on a route we hadn't used before. Although it did involve some non dual carriageways, there were no real hold ups. We stopped driving at 5pm, having broken the back of the journey - about 400 miles today. We ended up at an aire at Salins-les-Bains. It was only when we got there that we realised we had been there before, and visited the salt museum. The museum is interesting but the town has nothing much to offer - but it is only for one night. 636 miles
Another hot night - but cold by the morning. Do you go to bed hot and wake up OK, or go to bed OK and wake up cold? We chose the latter - so another early start.
Only 100 miles to go - but we were surprised to find ourselves in Switzerland, battling our way through Geneva traffic. One thing about satnavs - you are always in for a surprise!. The High Jura is lovely, especially just after dawn. We reached our campsite, at Grand Bonard in time for lunch. We may be in the Alps, but it is still very hot.
Venturing into town after lunch we discovered a children's festival under way. So many attractions and games, most of them free, almost none that I had ever seen in the UK, And 2 roundabouts that were WAY better than anything we had seen before, even at the Great Dorset Steam Fair. The second and smaller of these was made from driftwood, and powered by 2 adults - parents of the child riders, bouncing on a see-saw and getting exhausted in the process, whilst the operator played a piano accompaniment. Superb!
Following the Nice atrocity some weeks ago, security is tight. All roads into the village are blocked by heavy lorries, and all bags are searched,
Back into town in the evening for a drink, to find a carnival under way, and children everywhere!
And I was writing this, a deafening bang directly overhead signalled the start of a really dramatic, and very loud, firework display.
735 miles.
In France, summer has officially ended and almost everyone French has gone home. Low season starts tomorrow, and many campsites and tourist attractions will close for the year, not to reopen until May, or even July. It doesn't seem to matter how many tourists are still about, or how hot the weather is. Summer ends at the end of August. FINAL!
The cabin car and chairlift in Le Grand Bornand are open today, and tomorrow, then that's it until the skiers arrive, This campsite will remain open for the skiers, but very few sites in non ski areas will remain open. Thank goodness for the aires de camping car!
Ah yes, "camping car", the standard French term for a motorhome, and known as that by everyone - almost. At the Salines les Bain aire de camping car there were stickers by the French equivalent of the Welsh language Society complaining that "camping car" is "faux anglais", and the correct term is "autocamper", although I don't see how that is moins anglais than "camping car". English is a successful language precisely because it steals words from anyone!
Anyway, being resident in Grand Bornand we have a card giving us special rates on buses and chairlifts. For €9.30 each we bought day passes for the lifts - and they are both very long, We spent the day at the top, 2050 metres, and had 2 trips up and down the chairlift - we do enjoy chairlifts!
The peak is a favourite jumping off point for hang gliders, and as it was the last weekend of the chairlift, it was crowded. There must have been at least 50 hang gliders pilots assembled at the top at one point - rather like swallows as they congregate for the autumn migration - and a few downhill cyclists.
Another hot day - another set of chairlift trips - and today is officially the end of summer in Le Grand Bonand. The campsite is almost deserted, except for Brits and Dutch.
We caught the free bus to the adjacent ski resort of Chineillon, bought a day pass, and took the chairlift. From the top we walked to the top of the cabin car from Le Grand Bonand - a much shorter walk than it seemed on the map. It was so short we continued walking for a bit, then took yesterday's chairlift to the summit, where there were even more hang gliders than yesterday.
Time to move on. Three daays was around €80, as it was still peak season - low season starts today - and if you have an ACSI card (we do) bargain basement prices too. We are heading for Annecy, about an hour away, and beside a large lake. We re heading for a site called La Coeur du Lac, an ACSI site with low off season prices (see previous paragraph). The site is actually some way beyond Annecy, at Sevrier.
Unlike the Grand Bornand site, which was almost empty, this site is nearly full - and was full by the evening. Beside the lake, but without a lake view, and on the footpath/cycle path that encircles the lake. We underestimated how far we were from Annecy, and decided to walk in. It took almost 1 1/2 hours! We needed that coffee when we got there!
Very pleasant, and very touristy - lots of shops selling tourist tat and tourist cafes selling tourist meals. Obviously, being British AND motor homers we don't regard ourselves as tourists... A tourist is someone else who gets in the way when you're trying to take a photo....And Rosemary has just informed me that Annecy is the most visited place in France after Paris. It is also twinned with Cheltenham, Venice and Bayreuth.
You don't have to go far off the beaten track to find the real Annecy - proper restaurants and real shops - but I can't believe the price of French shoes! We have scouted out a restaurant to visit tomorrow - we were just too knackered to enjoy it today. And we have also found the bus to take us back to the ssite - No. 51 & 52, and only €1.50 each.
Today has been cloudy and cool, but forecast to get hotter over the next few days
Tues 6th September
The weather has returned to it's former glory - warm and sunny but with a cooling breeze. We like this area and this site so much we have decided to stay for a few more days. We drove the mile or so to the Haute Village (Nevache is a long village with 3 parts), then walked on up the valley. Bought some absolutely delicious croissant framboise in the little boulangerie. And time for a little more dam building - but by golly, the water is cold!
And talking of cold, I have noticed my tea isn't as hot as I like it. Checking the app on my phone (UK Map - not much good for French roads, but does give altitude) I see we are at 6000 feet, and Google tells me that at 6000 feet water boils at 200 deg F, but 212 at sea level
 |
| Add caption |
Wed 7th September
Today we walked up the valley to Haute Village, along a lovely path between the woods and the stream, had the menu de jour at one of the Auberge Vialaou, before walking back, 7 miles in total. We noticed marks on the ground where pigs had been foraging. When we asked the site warden to confirm this, he said there were indeed wild boar in the woods, and also a population of up to 10 wolves in the valley. We saw neither boar nor wolves, but this pretty blue butterfly was kind enough to hang around to be photographed. Google tells me it is a Blue Argus.
 |
| Blue Argus butterfly |
This whole valley is entirely unspoilt, and what tourist facilities there are a low key and unobtrusive, as is the municipal campsite, Camping a la Lame. This must be one of our favourite sites - but don't come here if you want luxury facilities and swimming pools, only easy access to unspoilt countryside and spectacular scenery.
 |
| Camping a la Lame, Nevache |
And another bit of holiday reading bites the dust - "Do No Harm -stories of life, death and brain surgery", the biography of Henry Marsh, brain surgeon. I surprised myself by buying and reading this - it had me in tears in places, and normally I avoid anything like that like the plague - so un English! But it is absolutely fascinating, a real eye opener.
Thurs 8th September
Awoke to a bitterly cold morning- time to check the heating works - and it does. We are heading into Italy today - which meant lots of going downhill - seemingly forever - 2nd gear at 20 mph, then even more uphill to the Italian border. On the way we climbed up to another impressive Vauban fort, Mont Dauphin. The fort is HUGE! Lots of empty space and wide streets, and not at all touristy - but given how remote the place is maybe that's not surprising. From Briancon we took the N94 to Mont Dauphin, then the D902 and D900, crossing into Italy at the Col de Larcha, before Argenterra. Interestingly, the road on the Italian side of the pass was wider and less steep than the French side, and all the scary drops had crash barriers, which the French side did not. Maybe the Italians are catering for Italian drivers?!
 |
| Vauban fort - Mont Dauphin |
 |
| Vauban fort - Mont Dauphin |
 |
| Vauban fort - Mont Dauphin |
 |
| Vauban fort - Mont Dauphin - looking down from an Alpine pass |
We followed that road into Borgo, where we took a wrong turn into a dead end, and a lady rushed out of her house to move her car so we could turn round - but it was badly parked. The road goes through several towns with very narrow streets, and lights each end ensure one way traffic - it would be impossible for the HGVs on the road to pass in the towns. At Borgo we turned southwest to Campeggio Valle Gesso at Entracque. In true Italian fashion they demand to see both our passports, details of which are dutifully recorded for the police - a hangover from Mussolini they seem reluctant to get rid of. This is the main reason we prefer staying on aires, none of this constant form filling and ID checks.
 |
| Into Piedmont |
 |
| Into Piedmont |
The main reason for needing a campsite was the need to catch up on the washing. The machine cost €5, but completed in 43 minutes, and spun it nearly dry. We have them on our drier, under the awning of a nearby permanent caravan (unoccupied), as there is often dew overnight, Most Italian campsites have large numbers of permanent caravans and chalets that make the place look like a traveller encampment, but bring in a good income. And mostly they are unoccupied for most of the season.
1008 miles
Fri 9th September
The campsite is delightful, the people who run it are lovely, and there is good free wifi, but we have decided to move on. This meant getting our electricity box unlocked so we can retrieve our cable. I wish they wouldn't do that! As we left we drove into the village to buy supplies. The bread was nice but the fruit and veg looked rather sad, and we bought a selection of biscuits to try. (Later - they weren't brilliant:()
We drove about 30 miles to Saluzzo, a hilltop town in the Po valley, which gets a good write-up in Lonely Planet as being old and unspoilt. There is also a purpose built free aire there, which currently has 2 Dutch motorhomes taking up 6 spaces. It is a 30 minute walk from the aire to the old town. The modern town is at the foot of the hill. Quite hot and oppressive in the lower town, but the old town had a refreshing breeze.
 |
| Saluzzo - old town |
 |
| Saluzzo |
 |
| Saluzzo - old town |
 |
| Saluzzo |
1144 miles
Sat 10th September
We had considered moving on today, but decided to stay another day, and take a look at the new part of town while the shops are open. We are glad we did - there was the biggest market we have ever seen, at least 20 times the size of Salisbury market, and bigger even than some we saw in Turkey. Fruit, veg, cheese, meat, fish, as you might expect, but such quality! We were very impressed with one fish stall - custom built, based on single decker bus, the entire side and back dropped down to provide the counters, with cold rooms behind. We bought 10 very large prawns/crevettes for less than €4, about £3.50, and I paid €40 for an excellent pair of shoes (destined to become my slippers when I have worn them in). The prawns were intended for lunch, but we then bought a whole hot roast chicken and roast potatoes for less than €10, and had that instead.
 |
| Saluzzo balconies |
 |
| Saluzzo - a very impressive fish stall in the market |
Rosemary wandered around the old town again in the afternoon, and came across a wedding - the photographer had, as well as a bank of lights, a drone that he was using to shoot from above. We've not seen that before at a wedding - and not something I'm planning to add to my wedding photography repertoire.
We like Saluzzo very much - and the free aire, close to the town centre, is better than many campsites we have been to. (NB to motorhomers - there is a second aire here somewhere, but it can't be any better than this one, which is superb)
Sun 11th September
There is a service point here - water, drains, and loo emptying - all essential stuff. The water (€0.50) and drain worked fine, but loo emptying, also €0.50, refused to deliver (so to speak!) despite taking my money. A little bit of ingenuity, and we by-passed the machine completely.
Then on across the remarkably flat Po valley to Cherasco, about 20 miles away. Well that was our intention, anyway. When we got there we found ourselves in a long queue of cars going round narrow streets looking for somewhere to park, with cars parked all over the place. Much of the town was closed off for "an event" - no idea what, but we did see lots of stalls selling bric a brac - but that was an awful number of cars just for a flea market! We managed to extricate ourselves successfully, and headed instead to Castiglione Falletto. (hands up all those who misread that) another small Italian hilltop town with a free aire de camping car - again, better than many camp sites we've stayed at.
 |
| Castiglione Falletto - castle walls |
 |
| Castiglione Falletto |
There is a small privately owned castle at the centre of the village, and the grounds were open Saturday and Sunday afternoons, at no cost. There are 3 restaurants, and we lunched at Locanda del Centro (and used its wifi). We are complete novices at Italian food - at least, Italian food in Italy, but the waiter spoke excellent English and explained it all to use. We also enjoyed the crisp local white wine he recommended - often white wine can taste quite vinaigry, but not this one. One of the dolcis included "sale di Maldon", which we took to mean Maldon (in Essex) salt, well known for it's salt pans.
 |
| Our meal, Locanda del Centro |
 |
| Our neighbour, Locanda del Centro |
Back at the aire, we find we have been joined, noisily, by the 2 Dutch vans from the last aire. We listened to a Dutch TV comedy - quite obviously very funny, but the jokes were lost on us.
1181 miles
Mon 12th September
Another walk into town to admire the views again, and buy bread from a tiny local shop. When we got back the 2 Dutch vans had gone. As far as we could tell they had not ventured more than 5 yards from their vans, let alone spent money in the town. We feel that spending money in the town is quid pro quo for them providing a good aire for motorhomes.
We are now back in Cherasco, the town we crawled through yesterday. It was indeed a flea market, although they gave it the fancier title "antiques fair". The air at Cherasco is closed temporarily - they appear to be building a huge beer tent on the site, ready for next weekend's Oktoberfest (in the middle of September). I am in desperate need of fresh milk. You can't make decent tea with UHT milk. And we are parked close to a machine that dispenses draft fresh unpasteurised milk, €1 per lire, bring your own bottles (or buy an empty bottle for €0.20). We have bought a litre, and it tastes delicious - but if we go down with bovine TB or brucellosis, you'll know why. And I don't suppose for a minute it has a long shelf life. Even closer is a machine that dispenses draft mineral water, either still or carbonated. There is a steady queue of customers for this, all with crates of bottles to fill. Still water - €0.03 per litre, carbonated - €0.05 per litre. Bring your own bottles.
 |
| Cherasco - Draft milk - (unpasteurised) |
 |
| Cherasco |
 |
| Cherasco |
This evening we walked to the 13th century castle. English King Edward III's son the Duke of Clarence was married here, bur died shortly afterwards from "indigestion from truffles", And Mad Queen Joanna is reputed to have dropped her lover through a trap door because he arrived too tired to perform - the story of my life!
 |
| Cherasco - sign outside the castle |
Close by is a long avenue of closely planted plane trees, and there is a sign, in Italian and English, "It is forbidden to walk along the avenue and stop under the trees during strong winds, storms or snowfalls because of the danger of falling branches or lightning. Offenders will be fined." And in one part of the avenue, of 48 trees 21 had been struck by lightning.
 |
| Cherasco |
 |
| The original model for Captain Pugwsh? |
We are right beside a "walk thu" set of fountains, although the only person I saw walk thru was me. They are quite noisy and we wondered if they went on all night. They don't. They started again at 0650
 |
| Cherasco. Not the aire, but where we spent the night |
Tues 13th September
Moving on again - but before we left we had another stroll around this really very pleasant town. No problems at all with parking in the central car park overnight.
Our first stop, less than 8 miles away, was La Morre. A local guide leaflet describes it as a "typical Italian village". Very pleasant, lovely views, but a typical village?! Only if you visit tourist sites only!
 |
| Almost every hilltop has a village. A view from La Morre |
 |
| Chimneys, La Morre |
So on a few more miles to Grinzane Cavour, also not a typical village, but it does have a spectacular castle, and a free aire. The Count of Cavour was, briefly, prime minister of Italy when it was first unified, only 150 years ago.
 |
| NOT Harry Secombe, but the Count of Cavour - a "good egg" |
 |
| Grinzane Cavour castle |
 |
| Grinzane Cavour castle - a guardian lizard |
It is fortunate we have a solar panel on the roof - we are travelling too few miles to give the leisure batteries a proper charge. Later, we were joined by 2 French hired vans, travelling in convoy. They arrived noisily, and continued chatting loudly all evening. We were pleased when they moved away from the motorhome section to a different part of the car park.
1207 Miles
Wed 14th September
The aire is beside the school, and the school run started at 7.30, and is in full swing at 8.30. We are surrounded by cars and motorbikes! The French vans left shortly before us - and we watched one back out of his space too fast, straight into a lamp post. The lamp post shook violently, and I half expected it to topple - but it didn't, and there seemed to be surprisingly little damage to his van, either.
 |
| "Merde!" |
Our planned stop was at Alba, a whole 4 miles away (that's 4 miles by road, not as the crow flies). The aire was part of a campsite, and costs €8 per night. However it didn't have a good feel, and as Alba is not on a hill (and so likely to be airless) and also a mile and a half from the aire, we moved on. In fact, we should have learnt from experience - aires on campsites rarely work well. They don't really want you on the aire, but on the campsite, whereas at a municipal aire they are keen for you to visit, see their town, and spend money in the restaurants.
So instead of Alba, we are on an aire at Neive, another 10 miles or so. This is on a small sports ground, and costs €10 per night, "payable at the sports centre". We are unsure if the small office with barred windows is the sports centre - but it is closed. Neive is yet another charming, understated hilltop Piedmontese village. We have identified a likely looking restaurant for this evening. Surprisingly, we came across a Macedonian Orthodox church, stuffed full of icons - and there are Alpha Romeo sports cars parked all over the place, part of their club's Piedmont rally.
 |
| Neive map |
 |
| Cats in Nieve are fierce! |
Later - the small office with the barred windows is indeed the sports centre, and is now open- primarily as a well stocked bar. I dutifully paid my €10, and was given a free glass of white wine. The lady spoke as much English as I do Italian. Having paid my €10, I plugged in to the electricity supply, the other side of a gravel track. I don't like running cables over roads - but she insisted.
And we ate in town in the evening. Not at our previously identified restaurant, but at another, family run business, "Osteria". Excellent food, excellent prices, and very friendly. (AND they had black loo paper in the toilets!) And the blond 3 year old son of a Dutch couple kept everybody amused all evening, including the staff. And I don't think I've eaten raw veal before...(Lots of "And"s at the beginning of sentences, I notice. What would my English grammar teacher have said?! Maybe that's why I'm called Andy?)
 |
| Osteria's black loo paper |
1222 miles.
Thurs 15th September
Overnight - rain! And this morning - rain! We don't come to Italy for rain!
We has intended to stop at Canelli, but we found the town was much bigger and dingier than we had expected, and the aire had a rather threatening feel - just a large and busy car park with gangs of men just hanging around. OK - we shouldn't jump to conclusions, but it made us feel uncomfortable so we moved on another 7 miles to a campsite at Agliano Terme - and a very nice site it is too, with good free wifi and spacious shady pitches.
The rain has stopped, one load of washing is on the line drying and another is spinning as I write.
A feature we have noticed in much of Europe is the paucity of lighting in toilets in bars, restaurants and campsites. Bars can be lit up like Picadilly Circus, but the toilet is illuminated by a superannuated glow worm that is only coaxed into life when you have shut the door and standing in complete darkness. The same is true on this campsite. Lovely hot showers, but unless someone else comes in you suddenly find yourself all soaped up - and in total darkness - and the motion sensor is nowhere near the shower cubicle. Disconcerting! Luckily I know where everything is.....
1242 miles
Fri 16th September
No rain today, but not very warm either, and overcaste. We walked into town - about 1 1/2 miles, and involving quite steep hills even by Shaftesbury standards. We found, to misquote Churchill, a modest little town, with a lot to be modest about. On a clear day the 360 degree views from the viewing tower would have been spectacular, but otherwise the town has nothing of interest - but maybe we didn't look in the right place.
The site has a very nice, large swimming pool, with a mirror surface because it is hardly used. Rosemary ventured in for half an hour, watched by a lifeguard. And about 10 pm a family arrived at caravan near us - it sounded like a cage full of budgerigars - children running around screaming, adults chattering like chimpanzees - absolute bedlam! A cartoon caricature of an Italian family - but most Italian families we've come across have been quite the opposite.
Sat 17th September
2 nights in one place! Time to move on! We have discovered we have left the bag for one of our folding chairs at a previous site, at Neive. As it's not far away, we headed there first (NOTHING is far away in Piedmont!). Not surprisingly, after this time, it was not to be seen. As we know the aire, we swept in, and filled up the fresh water tank from a tap. Two Italian motorhomers gave us a good glaring at - no idea why.
 |
| return to Castigliano Felleto |
Our target destination is another favourite aire, Castigliano Fellato - hope I spelt that right, where we spent last Sunday night and had a superb Sunday lunch. We have seen very few supermarkets since we've been in Italy. Small shops are fine if you know what you want, or can ask for it, but supermarkets are so much easier, and the parking is (usually) much easier for a motorhome, too. We found a Mercato supermarket at Grizane Cavour, close to Castigliano, and on our route. We must remember that is there - a useful source of fresh mik;)
Back in Castigliano Felleto we have booked a table for this evening, and visited the Cantina Communale - where they offer tasting wines of the region, and sell it. Some very expensive wines there! We have purchased a half dozen bottles of the crisp white we had last week, and a half dozen bottles of a more reasonably priced red from a small local producer, o be delivered to the camper area tomorrow.
Thunder and heavy rain later in the afternoon, but it cleared before we walked to the restaurant.We are beginning to get the hang of Italian food - throw money at it! But we are saving money on accommodation.
1267 miles
Sun 18th September
 |
| to Acqui Terme |
At last, sunshine again! It's interesting how you get used to constant blue skies and the shock when it is occasionally cloudy or wet.
 |
| La Morra, top right, from Castigliano Fellato |
 |
| The views from Castigliano Fellato - a village on every hilltop! |
The wine was delivered as promised, and easily stowed in the boot. We have room yet for another couple of dozen bottles of vin ordinaire - which this wine decidedly wasn't. Another walk into town, and coffee on the terrace with a view towards Serralunga d'Alba, on a hilltop only 1 1/2 miles away. 2 cappuccinos only €3.
 |
| Serralunga from from Castigliano Fellato |
Moving on, we headed for Serralunga. 1 1/2 miles away as the crow flies, 9 miles by road, where there were good views back towards Castigliano. Better, in fact, because the light was right. Serralunga comprises a castle on the hilltop, surrounded by a ring of houses, a village street, and another ring of houses. Very nice, very quaint, but not interesting enough to spend long there.
 |
| View of Castigliano Fellato and surrounding area from Serralunga. |
 |
| View of Castigliano Fellato from Serralunga. In the full size image you can see the terrace we had coffee on this morning - not bad from 1 1/2 miles! |
 |
| Shield bugs at our picnic spot |
We headed for an aire at Cortemilia. not far away but outside of the UNESCO wine growing region, and completely different scenery. Sally took us along some very scenic narrow roads with spectacular views and hairpin bends that could have been "interesting", but fortunately we met very few cars and no lorries or coaches.
Cortemilia, both aire and town, proved very disappointing - run down and unkempt. We didn't stay there long, but moved on to Acqui Terme. This has an aire for 150 motorhomes, at €8 per night. That does include electricity, but there are more places for vans than there are electricity points. A pleasant aire, good surface, shady, & the pay machine actually works - but adjacent to a busy road - still busy at 4 am.
 |
| the aire at Acqui Terme |
 |
| remains of Roman aqueduxt, Acqui Terme |
 |
| Acqui Terme |
This morning we bought some truffle flavoured crisps, truffles being a local delicacy. Apparently they either train dogs, or use a female pig, to find them underground. The female pigs hunt them because they smell like a really sexy male pig. Truffles are ridiculously expensive, so we thought maybe truffle flavoured crisps were a cheap way to try them. DON'T! The smell (of sexy male pig?) was bad enough, but I have had to break out our emergency whisky to hide the taste, and the crisps are in the bin. Maybe the real thing is indeed ambrosia, but I'm not spending (a lot of) good money to find out!
 |
| No idea who, but I love the trousers! |
 |
| In the church, Acqui Terme |
1315 miles
Mon 19th September
 |
| fountain disguised as a hip bath. I lived in hope of finding a young lady using it... |
Walked into Acqui Terme - a pleasant spa town. There are two spas for "taking the waters", both expensive, and a fountain that cascades scaldingly hot water into an unfenced pool. You naturally dip your fingers in to feel the temperature ...and pull them out rapidly. While we were there the Google Maps street-view car drove past several times. Who knows? We might appear on an Italian street view...
 |
| Google street view camera car |
 |
| The source of scalding water |
We are spending a second night on the aire here, moving on tomorrow. We have been impressed by the courtesy of the drivers here - just stand on the kerb and they stop to let you cross, whether or not it is at a pedestrian crossing.
And another observation - we have seen very few overweight/fat people here - no more than one or two. The meal portions are substantially smaller than in the UK, - if you have only antipasti and secondo courses, there is very little carbohydrate - and we never saw a menu with chips outside of the tourist cafes.
Tues 20th September
 |
| we just can't keep away from Castigliano Fellato! |
A definite autumnal feel to the morning air now, and leaves are falling around us. We're moving on today, but first another trip into Acqui Terme. Today is market day - but it all seems pretty poor compared to that at Saluzzo. However, we need the fruit and veg, and 10 large prawns for €3 was pretty good value.
We headed for an aire at Mombrazzo, but we were unimpressed with what we found (to say the least!), so on to an aire at La Morra, which had visited earlier in the trip. The aire here was found to cost €10, but the killer was it was right at the bottom of the hill, a long steep walk up to the town. So instead, we parked for a few hours in the town itself, and went to see the spectacular views it is famous for - and spectacular they are. You can see why the area has UNESCO status.
La Morra is only 4 miles from our favourite aire at Castigliano Fellato, and that is where we have ended up for the night.
 |
| Castigliano Felleto from La Morra. The aire is in the trees, middle right |
 |
| The view from La Morra |
 |
| The view from La Morra - vineyards |
Wed 21st September
The autumn equinox - and heavy rain overnight. Morning overcast, with drizzle. We have decided to use the wet day to drive on, and into France again, after another stroll around Castigliano.
 |
| Over the Alps and back into France |
We took the same route to the border in the Alps that we used coming in, but instead of going north into the French Alps, turned south heading for Dignes le Bains (French for "dingy bath"). A mile or less after the border we came across a small part of the Maginot line - French fortifications built after WW1. It claimed to be a museum, and open, but was firmly ferme. There was very little to see above ground, most of it is underground - it was described as "the submarine of the mountains" We had always thought the Maginot line was only on the border with Germany.
 |
| Part of the Maginot Line, close to the Italian border |
Before we got to Dignes le Bains we asked Sally to find us an aire en route - and we are on an aire at Selonnet - a small village in the foothills of the Alps. Not a lot here. We did consider eating at a Logis de France hotel - but it looked a rather depresssing place.
1496 miles
Thurs 22nd September
News from home, Rosemary's father might well be moving into a retirement flat in Gillingham (Dorset) on 4th October, so we have revised our plans so we can be home in time to lend a hand. We had intended to have a proper look at the Gorges du Verdon, which we skated by 5 years ago on our way back from the Camargue, but instead we are heading for the Luberon, to the west of of current position.
 |
| to Roussillon and Gordes |
The road we took down was one we had used before, the N100, and was very attractive indeed. Lovely scenery, good road but not fast (to say the least!). In a number of places there were superb avenues of lime trees, in one case at least 1/2 mile long. The trees were right at the edge of the road - rather intimidating to drivers of English motorhomes!
Our first stop was Roussilon. where the colour ochre has been mined for millennia. There is an aire there, some distance from the town, €2 all day, and €5 overnight. The town itself is nice, but very touristy. Lots of (very good) art shops, cafes, and with spectacular views. There is a walk around the ochre beds, supposedly very scenic, at €2.50 per person. We didn't take it, because we weren't wearing the right shoes - it was rather a rugged trail. I picked up wifi at a cafe, and read that Boris Johnson didn't really believe in Brexit, he only did it to further his ambitions....My comments on this aren't suitable for a family publication...
 |
| Roussillon - red ochre |
 |
| Roussillon - the Mairie |
 |
| everything here is orange! |
 |
| 3 cardboard cutouts... |
(Later - we felt this seemed familiar, and looking back at my photos I see we were here in 2007. Well, I never made any claims for my memory)
 |
| The same Mairie taken 9 years ago |
We decided not to stay in Roussilon, but carry on to an aire at a nearby even more touristy town, Gordes. This spectacular town cascades down the hillside - Just look at the photo below. And can you believe it was bombarded during the war...! The aire costs €8 for 24 hours. (and, disappointingly, the photos don't do the view of the town justice)
 |
| Gordes |
1588 miles
Fri 23rd September
After a stroll round the town, an expensive coffee and failing to find wifi, we set off for another tourist site at Fontaine du Vaucluse, where a river comes out of a mountain. The whole area is VERY touristy, with stalls of tat lining the path up to this famed spot - and when you get there - there's nothing to see! VERY disappointing. We have seen something similar at Blagaj (pronounced Blageye) in Bosnia. Not all touristy, and you can actually see the river flowing out of the rock, which you can't at F du V (and there is a whirling dervish sanctuary overlooking the Blagaj fountain.)
 |
I had to scale a safety barrier to get this view. The water there is 300 metres deep. The view from the "safe" side of the barrier was remarkably unimpressive!
|
 |
| Just for comparison, this is a similar site at Blagaj, in Bosnia. The building on the left (with the scary ladder) is a "whirling" Dervish sanctuary |
 |
| The water really is emerald green. due to the vegetation underneath |
 |
| ...and used by kayakers |
We have read that there is a famous market on Saturdays at Apt, about 40 miles away. There is no aire at Apt but there is a municipal campsite, which is where we are now. There is also free wifi, but the site is rather nondescript, as municipal sites often are. (But also cheap, - €16 per night inc electricity)
Sat 24th September
There is indeed a market at Apt - not just in he square but through many of the narrow lanes and side squares. If you don't buy something when you see it there's a good chance you won't find it again. All the usual fish, meat, fruit, cheese, veg, and clothes of varying degrees of shoddiness, but also lots of lavender stalls (this being a lavender growing area), and some speciality stalls. I spent €150 on a 4 metre long branch lopping set, to tackle the laurel hedge at the back of our garden that is currently completely out of reach.
And whilst we have wifi at the campsite, I have booked our ferry home - next Sunday, DFDS Seaways from Dunkirk st 10.00. Only €63.
We need to vacate our pitch by midday, and have moved on to Rustrel, a village about 12 miles from Apt. Near here there are more ochre beds, with scenic walks, but car parking for motorhomes is expensive, so we declined to stop. After a brief look at a village called St Saturnin les Apt, which gets a good write up in Lonely Planet, but not by us, we are back in a car park in Rustrel, with a plan to dine out this evening.
 |
| Ochre bed |
 |
| Absinthe can make a real mess of your brain! |
 |
| Seen in Rustel |
 |
| Add caption |
 |
| walking country! |
While we were negotiating narrow French lanes, my phone rang. As we are expecting calls at the moment, Rosemary answered. It was a junk call "Have we been involved in a car accident which was not our fault...."!!! My phone is on the TPS (Telephone Preference Service) list, so technically they were breaking the law. I shall be complaining to the Information Commissioner when I next get an Internet connection. If enough people complain about junk calls the government will eventually crack down on them. (If you're interested, the number that rang was 020 7950 0834)
Late afternoon - thunderstorm and heavy rain
Later - we did dine out, at the local auberge. Very nice meal, and the chips Rosemary had were probably the best I've ever tasted, but we are agreed - we much prefer Italian food. We are parked up beside the village picnic area, and a number of other vans have joined us. We were surprised to find 2 small tents pitched on the picnic area when we got back from the auberge
1650 miles
Sun 25th September
A nice fresh morning, we followed a trail around the village. Lots of little twittens (Sussex word for alleyways) and courtyards, bought some olive bread - baguettes get rather monotonous after a while.
On our way to an aire at Sault, we stopped at Simiane-la-Rotonde (French for "fat monkey"?) for a couple hours. Classed as an "ancien village" it is very attractive, built on a very steep hillside, with a medieval round tower ("la Rotonde") at the top. Gentrified - meaning it has been done up and no longer derelict, with a modern art studio ("Chez Brian") and 2 antique shops. Charming, and not at all touristy.
 |
| at Simiane-la-Rotonde |
 |
| at Simiane-la-Rotonde |
Sally's final assault on Sault took us up a narrow road with hairpin bends, 2 of which required two attempts to get round, they were so sharp. Later we discovered the easy way - but that's for wimps!
1672 miles
Mon 26th September
The famous landmark near here is Le mont Ventoux, a 6000 foot standalone hill which has its own climate, and seems to be a Mecca for cyclists. It often features in the tour de France. The road up is not particularly steep, but has a huge number of bends. The scenery at the top is really quite barren, but on a clear day the 360 degree view would be spectacular - naturally, it wasn't a clear day! But it was an interesting to drive up. It is a popular destination, but by ascending reasonably early on a weekday we had the road to ourselves - except for lots of cyclists. Very cold at the top - we had the heater going full blast. As always, the descent was even more excting - 20 mph in 2nd gear - I REALLY don't want to repeat the overheated brakes scenario.
 |
| Le mont Ventoux |
 |
| Le mont Ventoux |
The towns hereabouts are all cycling towns- hubs for European cyclists tackling the Ventoux. We first headed for an aire at Bedoin. Quite a fancy aire, there was a barrier to negotiate before you can get in. You had to buy a card (€4) and then add cash to it - €10 per night required. However the machne that did all this was not working. There was a number to ring, and a nearby English speaking Frenchman said it often went wrong, and suggested I rang the number to get it fixed. But this was all too much hassle just for somewhere to park for the night, and we moved on.... just 6 miles to Malaucene, which is a nice historic town with lots of good cycle shops and crap restaurants and a large aire that doesn't require jumping through hoops to get into. The fee of under €5 was collected by a very friendly chap with excellent English.
 |
| definitely a cycling town.... |
We have noticed that many street signs are in 2 languages. We asked in the office de tourisme, and she said the second is Provencale, quite different to French - a local patois, spoken in the countryside and, apparently, in Piedmont (italy).. There is a French TV station that broadcasts in Provencale.
 |
| French and Provencale |
Tues 27th September
A short tour, returning to Malaucene. Firstly, to another old village, Vaison-les-Romaines. It has been restored and gentrified - meaning there are at least 3 art galleries. The bridge is said to be Roman. The old town is largely empty - everyone lives in the new town (but "new" is relative), and had a lively market under way, much of it aimed at tourists.
Secondly, a tour of the valleys adjacent to Le Mont Ventoux, taking in St Auban, Aulun, and Montbrun before returning to Malaucene.
 |
| Malaucene |
 |
| Any Shirley Hughes fans? - Alfie |
Tomorrow we start the long trek home, so we ate out at Le Blueberry. So far none of the French restaurants we have eaten in have come anywhere near the quality of the Italian restaurants. What we don't know is whether the standard set by Piedmont restaurants is common across the whole of Italy.
 |
what do you make of this? It is NOT what it may seem....!
|
Wed 28th September
Time to go home - but first, there's a market in Malaucene to be attended to. And although the market was quite small, it was of a higher standard than many we have been to. I bought my most expensive cheese ever - €29 for some 3 year old goats cheese (the cheese - not the goat!). As it is the end of the season, much of the tourist type stuff is being sold off cheaply - I bought 5 short sleeved shirts at €5 each. For lunch I bought some HUGE prawns - 6 cost over €10, and I have to say they didn't taste any different to the cheaper and smaller crevettes we normally buy. Finally, we bought a roast chicken off a rotisserie. We have found we can get several good meals from one of these.
 |
| Paella on a market stall |
The route home is almost due north, battling up the Rhone valley in nose to tail traffic, and skirting Lyon. Sally took us to an aire about 20 miles north of Lyon, at St Andre Sur Vieux Jonc. That took us about 5 hours driving, during which we saw our first storks of the year - 12 of them in a field following a tractor.. It's a lovely aire - well laid out, surrounded by parkland, and a jolly English speaking official came and collected €5 for the night.
1960 miles
Thurs 29th September
Continued our way north - better roads now, and made better time than yesterday. We settled on an aire at Thaon les Vosges, beside a canal off the Moselle. A busy aire - and a busy town - but uninspiring. It was also home to a famous bearded lady, Clementine Delait, 1865-1939 - and you can see from the picture that she had a magnificent beard!
(http://www.sideshowworld.com/81-SSPAlbumcover/Beard/French/Bearded-Lady.html)
 |
| Mural, Thaon les Vosges |
Thaon les Vosges isn't far from the aire at Charmes, which we have been to 3 times. On each of the second and third visits we were surprised to discover we had been there before - but it is a nicer aire and a nicer town than Thaon les Vosges. On the way, near Demoiselle, we passed the Mediterranean/Atlantic watershed. On one side, all the rivers flow into the Med. on the other side, they all flow into the Atlantic
2150 miles
Fri 30th September
We are beside a canal, but only one working barge has passed by, several times, carrying rubble. A British registered narrow boat is moored not far from us, flying a red ensign. I had intended to ask the owner how he got across the channel - very risky in a low lying narrow boat - but our paths never crossed.
Later: We have driven across country in France, to an aire at Banteux, south of Cambrai. Another pleasant aire beside a canal, costs €5 but that does include electricity. So far we have seen only one barge and, impressively, he went through the lock completely single handedly. The battle of Cambrai took place here in 1917, the first use of tanks in battle, and the town was largely destroyed, and rebuilt in the twenties (just in time for WW2!).
 |
| Marine le Pen, Front National leader |
The plan is to do a mega shop up at the huge Auchan just west of Lille - but it is further from this aire than I expected - 1 1/2 hours.
2390 miles
Sat 1st October
Firstly, to the big Auchan supermarket just west of Lille, mainly to stock up on wine whilst we still can - that won't be possible once we've left the EU. Maybe not a good idea to go on Saturday - it rather resembled a jumble sale at midday.
The Auchan car park has height barriers at every entrance, and this had us confused the first time we went, because we could see motorhomes inside. You need to stop near a height barrier, go and press a button, and speak to a controller who opens it for you remotely. Sounds complicated - but it really isn't. The trick is to find the right barrier.
We moved to an aire in Belgium for a few hours, at Roeslare. The aire is right beside the canal terminus, where barges are loaded and unloaded - potentially a very interesting spot, but being Sunday, nothing was happening. We shall return.
We have friends who live in Bruges whom we often drop in on as we go past. Usefully, they have a drive we can spend the night on, following an evening of jollity. They have an entertaining dog called Dougal, who likes to pretend he is a cat, and curl up on your lap. Bruges is a beautiful city, remarkably undamaged in either of the wars. We had a late evening in Bruges...
 |
| one of these is a dog called Dougal... |
Sun 2nd October
...followed by an early start to catch the 10.00 ferry at Dunkerque, about an hour's drive, with booking in an hour before. Security was the tightest we've ever seen. Firstly, armed French soldiers checked us into the port, coming in and checking inside. Then there was the usual ticket book in kiosk, followed by UK border control, where yet another official came in and checked inside every locker and under the bed - there wasn't room for another bottle of wine, never mind an illegal immigrant! (But he took his shoes off as he came in the door!)
Dunkerque to Dover is 2 hours, and we went straight to Dover seafront to eat the sushi we bought yesterday at Auchan, before carrying on to Rosemary's dad's place in Horsham - where we spent another night on a drive. I have an old navy friend who lives only 200 yards away, so I spent a happy evening swinging the lantern.
 |
| On Dover seafront - no, I've no idea who they are either! |
Mon 3rd October
And so to home - and a mountain of mail. I find we have missed one 70th birthday party and one funeral.
2750 miles
