Austria Italy Switzerland Germany France

1st September 17
Left Bratislava heading initially for Melk, another monestary town. Showers all morning, but stayed fine for our wander around Melk. After some of the goat tracks we've been on in Eastern Europe over the past couple of months, the Austrian roads are a joy. Started raining again as soon as we got into the car, and didn't let up for the entire drive to Salzburg. First time under canvas in 2 months, Lofer
Austria and it rained all night. Not pleasant.
Camping $68.25/night

Photos: Melk

2nd September 17
Hosing down with rain so not a day for sitting at a campground or any of the other activities we had planned went for a drive through the Austrian mountains and countryside, Michele - Austria still think is the most beautiful “country” overall, even when raining .As spectacular as Austria always is, even in the rain. The big news of today was Michele’s first haircut since leaving NZ. Looks very nice but indications are that we won't be waiting 3 1/2 months for the next one. Hadn't realised the very limited Sunday trading hours, so ended up at a local restaurant for dinner. With our limited cooking facilities in wet weather, not a bad thing. I suspect that the handsome waiter only added to the experience for one of us.

3rd September 17
Started the day with Father's Day skypes from the kids, and from dad, although I suspect he had some help with the technology. (Thanks to all who played a part). With the cloud lifting can now see why it is a bit cold. We are nearly at the summer snow line. Had the day in Salzburg, and although cold (max 10 deg) the showers didn't affect us too badly. Church great stone sculptures/carvings. A very attractive little city. Back to camp to produce a beautiful evening meal on our one burner cooker, by torchlight. Still quite cold but with the cloud lifting and rain disappearing, almost pleasant.

Photos: Austria Village over from camp ground,camp ground,Austrian Village , Salzburg x2 , Austrian country,Salzburg

4th September 17
Headed for the Eisriesenwelt ice cave which was quite impressive 24 euro each incl cable car.. Ice for the first kilometre of the cave. The cave system goes on for 42km, steep walk to cable car/steep walk to cave(heavy breathing at this stage) ,1400 steps up & down in cave and walk back, think we did our steps today. Drove to Halstatt which is a beautiful lake town and home via Lake Fuschi, which is equally as beautiful, but by then I had stopped enjoying the scenery because the car had developed a horrible noise in the front end. I suspected a worn wheel bearing so not a great nights sleep worrying about that.

5th September 17
At the local Ford agent at 8.00 who confirmed the left wheel bearing was very unwell. Long story short, he contacted the Salzburg city ford agent and by 11.30 we had a new bearing fitted and we were on our way to Italy. Once again total strangers show how good most

people are. Through the Alps (literally) and Into the Italian Dolomite mountains. Just awesome. These mountains are in a league of their own. Down the other side to a warm dry house on the shore of Alleghe lake.
Airbnb $75.78 per night

6th September 17
Housekeeping day. The house looks like a Chinese laundry with washing, sleeping bag and the tent all drying. Lunch in town and a wander of the village, with towering Dolomite mountains behind and still lake, bliss.

7th September 17
All dried out, and off for a slow drive down out of the mountains to Vobarno near s/w Lake Garda.
Airbnb $100.51 per night

Photos: Ice cave,Dolomites x2, Alleghe Lake, Ice cave part of walk up to cave, Alps , view from accomadation out Lake Garda

8th September 17
A quiet start then off to Salo, to take a look at Lake Garda. Beautiful lake when you can see it, which isn't often because most of the shoreline is Hotels, restaurants and big houses with even bigger walls.

9th September 17
A day at home to catch up on work, and sit in the sun. Attempted a run. Wish I hadn't. Hosts have made us a pasta dinner, yum Italian home cooking, getting some tips (good canned tomatoes & good olive oil++), should be an expert on return to NZ ?.

10th September 17
Spent the day in Verona. Great old city, particularly the colosseum. Hadn't intended going to Juliets balcony, but ended up there anyway. Cooler temperatures make the city walk a more enjoyable experience.

11th September 17
Spent the day in Vobarno which included another short run and a climb to the Monestary del Rocco, which is only opened for 2 days a year.

12th September 17
Headed for Milan and caught up with Murray & Raewyn. Lovely square with Milan Gothic Cathedral, beautiful as marble and clean. Spent the afternoon and evening in the city, having dinner just off the square - an interesting experience watching Murray negotiating with the waiters over which restaurant we would choose.

Photos: Verona x2, Galleria Vittoria Milan, Verona, Murray negotiating dinner, Milan Cathedral

13th September 17
A slow start, before a drive up the western shore of lake Garda, and a wander around Salo.

14th September 17
Lazy day before big day of travel, bit cooler today needed jumpers on and rain late evening. Get blog , working out forward travel and accommodation etc. 8 day break good. Cooking lesson tonight.

15th September 17
A long days travel from Lake Garda to Morzine in the French Alps, just south of Montreaux. Motorway driving across northern Italy, then up into the mountains and over the St Bernard pass. We chose not to go through the tunnel and very happy we didn't. Fantastic mountain road with equally fantastic views. Through Switzerland and into France, and all for 16 euro road tolls.
Airbnb $84.67/night

Photo: Salo, Pass Italy-Switzerland (Mont Blanc ), Switzerland

16th September 17
Nice warm bed, dark bedroom and oops overslept. Drove to Lake Annecy which is a really lovely lake town. Wandered the markets and waterfront.
Yet again left wondering why you would own a keel boat on a lake little larger than a bath tub, but ?.

17th September 17
Woke to a dusting of snow on the mountains around us. Drove to Yvoire, a very pretty little lake town and bought a hat. Left there and "we all we to down to Montreaux, on the lake Geneva shoreline". Not much there.

18th September 17
More snow last night. Walked up to lake Montriond above our village and a wander through the village. Cold but mostly the rain stayed away. Later went for a drive further up the valley to goat viilage.

Photo: Lake Annecy,Yvoire

19th September 17
Quite a long drive to Bad Krozingen on the German French border. Nice drive through rural Switzerland, avoiding the big motorways and their associated road tolls.

Airbnb $72.27/night

20th September 17
Took a look at a couple of the local towns. Through Bad Krozingen to Staufen and up the valley to Munstertal. Really nice towns, especially Staufen. Finished the day in Freiburg.

Photos: Lake Montriond,Goat Village, Freiburg
Photos: Colmar x4 (opposite page)

21st September 17
Headed for Colmar and their Thursday morning market. Stopped at a number of wine towns including Turckheim, Wintzenheim, Wettolsheim and Eguisheim and before heading home.

22nd September 17
Drove to Strasbourg. Couple more lovely French villages from Strasbourg to Soultz-Les-Bains to Obernai on Alsace wine route.

23rd September 17
Wandered a number of the French Rhine villages north of Colmar, including Kayserberg, Riquewihr, Zellenberg and Ribeauville. All really old, quaint villages and although there were similarities, they were each quite individual.

24th September 17
Headed slightly south, starting in Mulhouse, then up the grape growing villages from Than, north to Hattstat. After the picturesque towns of the past few days, today's were a disappointment. Partly because it is Sunday and absolutely nothing is open on Sunday. Small error on our part, so it was a vegetarian dinner.

25th September 17
With a travel day tomorrow and no down days since we left Italy, a quieter day was decided on. A Skype with the kids, some catching up on various tasks, lunch at home and then a leisurely afternoon at Breisach and Neuf-Brisach

Photos: Turckheim x2, Eguishem x3 , Riquewihr (opposite page)
Photos: Strasbourg, Kayserberg, Riquerberg , Ribeauville

26th September 17
Headed n/w to Verdun near the Belgium and Luxembourg borders. Drove through a number of the French wine villages south of Strasbourg, and spent the afternoon in Nancy. Almost certainly deserved more time than we gave it. Best park and ride system of any city so far.
Airbnb $91.96

27th September 17
Not much planned for today, so a slow start. Wandered Verdun, shopping, work and some forward planning
.
28th September 17
Spent the afternoon in Metz. Yet another magnificent Cathedral with extraordinary stained glass,which was clean enough to actually see. Nice historical centre of town.

29th September 17
A wander of the local market. Found a stall that just sells sheep meat, but we already had meat for tonight, and moving on tomorrow, so very disappointing. Visited some of the Battle of Verdun memorials. I don't understand, when most people we meet are kind, or at the very least civil, how do you end up with a battlefield of 300,000 dead men ? Standing and looking at 16,000 crosses in one field is just surreal.

30th September 17
Drove from Verdun to Ozoir-la-Ferriere on the outskirts of Paris. A slightly miserable day, so not wasted on travel. Wasn't sure about another attic studio, but this place seems really good.
Airbnb $69.55

1st October 17
Drove to the Chateau de Fontainebleu and town. Such decadence. What more can I say. Nice Sunday market in the square.

Photo: Breisach,Nacey x2,Battle Verdun ,Metz x2,Fontainebleu

2nd October 17
Out to Versailles, mainly to see the gardens rather than the palace. The formal layout and scale of the gardens is extraordinary, but I was quite disappointed by the gardens themselves. The palace? Extraordinary, although I still can't see why one family needs a house that big.

3rd October 17
Caught the train into Paris and walked the sights. Starting with a wander down the Chanel St Martin, which was quite interesting with its locks and markets. From Bastille along the river stopping at Notre Dame, through to the louvre and park, across to Eifel and back to the Champs Élysées and up to the Arc de Triomphe. By the time we walked back to the train station we were struggling.

4th October 17
A quiet day at home. The local market for a few groceries.

5th October 17
The morning at home and in the afternoon went to Meaux, just east of Paris. Not as interesting as the propaganda suggested. Cold and showery. I think we've seen the last of the summer heat.

6th October 17
Spent the afternoon in Provins, a town just to the east of Paris. Interesting cathedral that is only half the length it was supposed to be. Ran out of money in the 12th century and it never got finished.

7th October 17
Headed for Turquant, about half an hour west of Tours on the Loire river. Chateau everywhere.
Airbnb $57.38/night

Photos: Versailles x2,Paris,Provins x2, Paris x2

8th October 17
A quiet day with the Sunday market and a wander of Montsoreau, the next town, with yet another Chateau. Weather cooling off now with a few light showers through the day.

9th October 17
Drove to Saumur to look at the town and Chateau. On to Chateau de Breze, which was as quite interesting, as it had its underground excavations open to view. Home via Fontevraud l'Abbaye.

10th October 17
A late start then off to Chinon, another small town with Chateau/fortress. Home past the power plant that we knew existed, but hadn't realised that it was nuclear.

11th October 17
To Amboise, another small town with a very large Chateau. Really nice day with 23degrees.

12th October 17
Headed for the Rigny-Usse Chateau, complete with its private "chapel" the size of a small cathedral. On to Langeais and another fortress/chateau and old town then back to Montsoreau, to finish the town walk that we hadn't done properly the previous Sunday. Came past the nuclear power plant further up the river again. Just huge.

13th October 17
Dropped in to the local market to grab some lunch on the way out. So small we almost missed it. Drove to Loches and spent the afternoon the old town and fortress. The lemon tart from the local bakery was considered a great success.

Photos: Previous page Saumur,Chinon
Thia page Amboise,Rigny-Usse-Chateau,Montsoreau, Loches

14th October 17
Travel day. South, to a lovely converted barn at a tiny Village between Terrason and Montignac in the Dogorne region. Airbnb $75.27/Night

15th October 17
A quiet drive down the Vezere valley stopping at various towns including St Leon sur Vezere, Tursac and Limeuil, as well as a couple of ancient sites. One we couldn't go past was the ancient site of De la Madeleine.

16th October 17
A 3 hour canoe ride down the Vezere river from Thonac to Tursac. Very peaceful, and just enough current to make it not too hard work. The Chateau here may not be as big as some in the Loire valley, but the rolling hills, forests and meandering rivers make them a far

prettier option.

17th October 17
An easy day. Quiet morning at home with a short drive to Saint-Amand-de-Coly in the afternoon. The past few days have been clear skies which make the mornings a bit chilly but temperatures in the mid 20s in the afternoon. Very pleasant.

18th October 17
To Sarlat and arrived in time for a wander through their Wednesday farmers market. A resturaunt lunch, was a bit of a treat. On to Domme, an ancient hilltop village. Together, among the nicest villages we have seen in France. Weather was great all day, getting to mid 20s, then a thunderstorm after dark.
Photos:St Leon-Sur Vezere, De la Madeleine, Limeuil, Vezere river , Saint-Amand-de-Coly,Sarlat x2, Domme

19th October 17
Travel day again. Headed south for Revel (between Toulouse and Carcasonne) with a stop at Rocamadour. What an awesome mountain top village. On to Najac and Revel. Showers all day but cleared up for both our stops.
Airbnb $72.73/night

20th October 17
Drove out to Limoux and caught their weekly market. Got a bargain on some wool, which unfortunately was the only highlight. On to Mirepoix, a much nicer town. Our run of good weather continues (shorts and tee shirt).

Photos: Rocamadour x2, Najac, Mirepoix

21st October 17
Not much of a day so stayed local. Saturday market 300 metres down the street. Times must be tough for some French because ther was a guy selling cooked snails, and some poor people were buying them. Wandered the town after lunch, before the rain set in for good.

22nd October 17
Grey morning but chanced a trip to Carcassonne. Been looking forward to this for such a long time and it didn't disappoint. Awesome fortress and town. A little cold, but the rain stayed off for our visit.

23rd October 17
Spent the day in Toulousse. Plenty of sun but cooling. Nice city. Not too big or small. Plenty of old city but a lot of it is quite open so not overpowering like some cities. Largely brick buildings where so many other old cities have been stone. The French attitude to business opening hours continues to puzzle.

Photo: Carcassonne

24th October 17
Home until just after lunch, then to Castelnaudary, not much of a town but good view over valley and nice walk alone Canal, early 20’s and sun. Saw French Foreign Legion soldiers in, not sure if should be scared or feel safe?

25th October 17
Moving day again, heading for Carnon, on the beach just outside Montpellier. Stopped at Minerve, a small mountain village hanging on to the side of a gorge. Our run of great weather continues
Airbnb $47/night (monthly discount)

26th October 17
Found a GREAT supermarket. Quite important as we are here for a month. Walked around our local shops (not much) and went for a walk along the beach. The first time we had touched salt water since Lithuania.

Photos: Previous page: Carcassonne, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Minerve x2
This page:Carnon x2 (our beach for a month)

27th October 17
Drove out to St Guilhem -Le Desert, a town famous for the Abbey set up by William of Orange after he'd had enough of his career of rape and pillage. Lovely village with some mountain walks. Quite steep, quite stony consequently quite tired.

28th October 17
Saturday market day straight over the road. Spent a small fortune (13eur) on a warm shirt for around the house. Spent the afternoon in the Camargue national park and saw all the things you're supposed to. Flocks of pink flamingos, wild white horses, tame white horses, and the most awesome reversible jacket shop in the world.

Photos: Pont de Gard x2, Gordes,Roussillon
Next page: St Guilhem le Desert,Avignon,Lacoste

29th October 17
A small surprise this morning when we found out daylight saving finished. Off to Avignon and took a look at the old city and spent a couple of hours looking at the Popes Palace from the 14th century. The various popes who lived here seemed to understand how to look after themselves. Home via Pont de Gard. As impressive as its pictures would have you believe. How you could build such a structure without modern technology is mind boggling.

30th October 17
Quiet day, which included most of the day having a haircut.

31st October 17
A fairly long day in the car exploring a bunch of the hilltop villages east of Avignon. Did a loop starting at Gordes which just happened to have a morning market. Quaint little town, made better by the Christmas present for Alistair at one of the stalls. On to Roussillon which is built on a hill of red ocre sandstone ,so a different look to other sandstone villages. The third village, Bonnieux was a little disappointing with the last two, Lacoste and Menerbes again being lovely little towns, although not much happening by about 4 o'clock.

1st November 17
Quiet day at home.

2nd November 17
Drove south to Sete, a port town that had been recommended by several people. What a hole.

3rd November 17
Drove to Nimes. Best French large town so far. Well preserved old, alongside complimentary new, wide avenues with plenty of trees, large park areas with lots of small squares and inner city courtyards. Clean and well maintained.

4th November 17
Another home day.

5th November 17
Sunday market at Mauguio, about 20 minutes from here. More wool required.

6th November 17
Wandered the resort town of Palavas Les Flots. Not a lot happening by this time of the year
.
7th November 17
Explored the fort town of Aigues - Morts, built as a staging point for the Christian crusades, and still completely intact and habitated. Completely dark by 6.00 at night now, and quite cool in the wind but still sun.

8th November 17
Took a look at Le Grau du Roi and La Grande Motte, a couple of coastal towns just east of us. Probably quite nice places in the height of summer, but not a lot happening at this time of the year.

9th November 17
After 2 weeks on the outskirts of Montpellier we finally went into the city. Tram park and ride. So easy. Nice place with many of the same virtues as Nimes, wide streets and parks and gardens.

Photos: Nimes x2, Palavas Les Flots, Aigues-Morts,Nimes

10th November 17
A wander around the marina in search of a sports bar to watch tomorrow's All Black match. No luck. Lots of locals out play petanque, watched for awhile, some had very impressive skills.

11th November 17
Drove to Aix en Provence, and wandered its various markets. Three markets divided into seperate squares for food, flowers and clothes and handcrafts. Also being Armistace day there was both commemorations and a military security presence. A long way to go but an interesting morning. Returned home via Fos Sur Mer which was quite small. Got to watch the All Blacks/France test complete with French commentary.

Photos:Montpellier x2, Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier

12/13th November 17
A couple of quiet days "at home." High winds make the idea of going outside unattractive. Visit local flea market Sunday, lots of people. Shops Monday. Normal life stuff

14th November 2017
Home day. David read book, he wasn’t feeling that well (no kids not that he wasn’t feeling that right because he was reading??? Yes he has read several books).I went to go to chemist but found closed , surprise!!!

15th November 2017
Back to Montpellier , thought going to park but more residential area, but small market in square and pleasant walk though grand buildings and small park , still with Autumn leaves down to river, sunny but cool.

Photos: Chateau des Baux-de-Provence

16th November 2017
Drove to Chateau des Baux-de-Provence perched on a large rock with nice rock formations one side and flat land to the other with distant mountains. Then to Arles which wasn’t as polished as some other cities in South but still had charm, Roman amphitheatre and Theatre both still used today. Where Van Gogh painted sunflowers.

17th November 2017
At home walk around Carnon in afternoon lovely day warm & sunny.

18th November 2017
To local market in morning and drive to Vic-la-Gardiole for walk along beach and wetland with lots of flamingos (Diane not all pink some Black/grey). Perfect day sunny & warm.
Photos:Arles Theatre,Amphitheatre,Petanque Carnon,Vic-la-Gardiole

19th November 2017
Back to the Mauguio Sunday market No bargains today.

20th and 21st November 2017
A couple of quiet days at the end of our months stay. Have seen a lot while we’ve been here but needed the longer stop for a bit of non tourist R&R. On the road for over 6 months now and needed to refocus before the next leg, which we are both looking forward to.

Au revoir France Hola Spain

Photo Previous page: Arles Theatre,Amphitheatre,Petanque Carnon,Vic-la-Gardiole
Lovely still sunny days South France