bazooka Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Hi, stopped on that car park for 8 nights 2008.There's a camp site a bit further on first left after liddels cross cycle track sighned right,you can go on after 6pm till 10am the next day use all facilitys reduced rate .Handy for charging up washing etc. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Caroline - 2009-10-21 1:01 PM Can I ask what sort of Motorhome you are in, and what is the name of the refillable gas (company) that you are using. Are filling stations widly available over their. Hi Caroline I suspect the refillable gas bottle that Berti is using is a Gaslow - we bought a set-up a few months ago and it's great - if you're interested drop me a PM and I'll let you have details of where we got it from - it easily saved us over £100! Mel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berti Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 back again from st genis laval just south of lyon had a great drive to hauterives... this deserves a post of it's own to continue the saga.. looking over to vesuvius from the fabulous viewpoint of the abbey, it didn't seem that far, so we set off at 2.30..i estimated arrival at the site about 5 ish...... the write up said fenced, secure opp carabinieri... how could we go wrong ? hmm the coolness of the high altitude rapidly gave way to a heavy, clammy heat, an accident caused a tailback and crawling traffic for 1hr, the road surfaces were horrendous and lots of frustrated drivers trying to cut-in didn't help we arrived at 6pm..so not too bad timewise..and followed the signs for the carabinieri....no luck...went up and down a long road for 1/2 hr, traffic building up and getting dark so gave up and drove out of town there was nowhere to stop so we parked on spare ground in front of what we took to be a scrapyard gateway, there were lots of fridges, washing machines, and put the kettle on then 2 large dogs appeared at the gate barking loudly, then 2 women came staring at us , then some teenage lads...no friendly smiles here ! i climbed on the roof to see it was a squatter camp..lots of corrugated iron/tarpaulin structures ..so we made a quick getaway down a 'road to nowhere' flanked by derelict business premises and lots of fly-tipping...eventually pulled into a wide junction under a flyover to decide what to do several trucks passed overhead , pipped their horns and gave us a thumbs up ..then i remembered reading that 'ladies if the night' used m/homes in laybys to conduct their business !!! not wishing to receive the unwelcome attentions of a bunch of lonely' desperate truckers we retreated back to the deserted road we were tired, hungry and feeling more vulnerable by the minute but i'm like the proverbial dog with a bone and said one more try then we will head for pompeii i retraced to the main road, it was pretty dark now, and i took the only turning i hadn't tried the street got narrower and narrower, cars parked all over the place, and opened onto a small , busy square with cars parked on both sides i couldn't reverse ! all the people in the cafes were waving and shouting...suddenly i saw that the road across was undergoing repairs and it was completely blocked off all the shutters were opening in the upstairs flats and all these people were trying speak to us but obcviously we hadn't a clue what they were saying...it was mayhem! panic set in !! and then 'a knight in shining armour' emerged from a restraunt to save us ! he spoke a little english and was a camparista himself, he realised we were looking for the aire !! he organised his wife and daughter to guide us whilst he moved all the irate drivers out of the way and we backed out safely !! by this time, the world and his wife were out watching the spectacle..we got a round of applause and cheers when we finally managed to get out !! boy, was my face red !!! our saviour got in his car , told us to follow him and after going down a warren of little back streets we arrived at a gated area. after more shouting a man came to open up it didn't look promising but we didn't have any options..we could see a caravan, broken car, lots of furniture and graffitti everywhere....it emerged that the custodian of the keys lived on site in the caravan with his family by this time it was 10 pm..we had caused havoc in the town, disrupted our saviour's evening meal and now disturbed the slumbers of this family !! not a good day's work ! after squaring things with the custodian, our saviour gave us directions to pompeii and wished us a safe journey....i was so relieved i could have kissed him but common sense prevailed and i shook his hand heartily instead and repeated our well practised italian phrase for 'thank you very much, you are very kind ' our accent must have been ok as he smiled and shook my hand again this phrase came in very handy as we lurched from one disaster to another !! we were shown a parking place and connected to an electric supply..by now all the kids were up and trying to communicate with us...we got the phrase book out and they asked to take it to their van to translate what they were saying ...came back 10 mins later with a note asking us if we were ok, if we needed anything and wished us a tranquil sleep... aren't people just lovely...i could have wept ( again ) we slept the sleep of the dead ( and this could have been literally as we found out later) next morning the man tapped on our window as he was going out and asked again if he could help us before he left..he gave us the directions to pompeii and after a quick brekkie we left at 9.30 what a palaver.. we doubt that we would have ever found it in the dark ...but all's welll that ends well and off we went to pompeii and that's another story we are off now to 'the house of chaos' apparently an 'avant-garde' artists colony...it looks a bit wierd to me!! cheers for now berti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Berti the suspense is killing me :-D I think this warrants a book !! THE ADVENTURES AND DISASTERS OF A MOTORHOMER. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 202 Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Hi Bertie Just got back from 6 weeks in France and Spain, had a few dodgy turns onto roads through forests, courtesy of the Sat Nav, but nothing like your trip. As I said earlier I hope you get published in MMM or maybee as has been suggested you write a book. I was glued to the PC screen reading your adventures, let us have the next episode soon please. Glad you are home safe mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazooka Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Hi mel would you please give me info about gaslow. thankyou bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Hi Bertie, Just caught up with your adventures great reading , glad to find out it not just us that's a disaster on four wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 bazooka - 2009-10-25 8:30 PM Hi mel would you please give me info about gaslow. thankyou bas Hi Bas I've sent you a PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwaviation Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Berti, Berti, Berti - What an adventure, bellissimo! :-D :-D :-D :-D 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Thanks Mel I thought it might be the Gaslow system, we have been looking at it initially it seems quite expensive, but having just filled a gas bottle i am beginning to doubt myself. Do you know what the coverage abroad is like for refilling. Caroline Berti keep up the good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berti Posted October 27, 2009 Author Share Posted October 27, 2009 hi everyone we don't cross till this sat 31st..apologies for the confusion...i think the stress is affecting my brain cell ! still time for another disaster !! we are at autun ...passing time on ....the aire is opposite the mcdonalds ..very nice as well..at the side of a lake the last few aires haven't been great...the only space left on one was next to sand pit for doggies!! ... it was well used and it was sausage & mash for tea...almost went for cheese and crackers instead !! so on we go.. abandoning the idea of taking the van to vesuvius and following the directions we had been given VERY CAREFULLY, we arrived at pompeii at 11am without any mishaps ( or so we thought ) at camping spartacus we were lucky to get a decent size pitch..it was packed had a wash and brush-up and went on a recce..on our reurn ..water was dripping from under bathroom door the vibration from the awful roads must have loosened some pipework to the basin, the cupboard underneath was flooded and .....so i spent all afternoon fixing it !! saturday was sightseeing day...and we certainly made the most of the day ...in at 9 and out at 5.30 !! we went to the house of mysteries first as it was the furthest point and we had the place to ourselves for about an hour...it was great to be quiet and absorb the atmosphere...it's easy to inmagine how it must have been... as we walked down to the more popular areas it became very, very crowded and it was difficult to get to see some of the inside rooms..especially the brothel with it's erotic wall pictures , which was very popular !! the house of the vettii was closed for renovation and we were a bit disappointed ....but would agree that €11 was well spent.. you can really appreciate just how advanced their society was. so, with aching feet and dying for a cuppa ...we opened the van door to be met by the most awful smell !! i knew it wasn't my sox..as i hadn't been wearing any all holiday !! a sniff around pinpointed the source to be the cupboard under the kitchen sink....more pipework had worked loose behind the wheel arch it was very awkward to get to it so we haven't been able to use the sink and have had to endure the awful smell from the waste water tank ever since !! to avoid any problems we planned to do a long drive on sunday so that we would be well clear of rome centre in daylight !! our destination was to be the etruscan tombs at cerveteri and as the weather seemed promising i felt a drive along the coast road to see the bay of naples would make for a pleasant days motoring well, hindsight is a wonderful thing ...the day proved to be the really low point of the holiday to be continued later cheers berti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berti Posted October 27, 2009 Author Share Posted October 27, 2009 we have been directed to the plug point ( mcdonald's staff are the best ) so we can catch up a bit apologies for not replying to individual posts promptly...if we are just on batteries it's a mad rush to check email and do other posts but here goes now caroline, bazooka and mel b sorry, we should have put on our original reply that it isn't a gaslow if you can wait for a post, we are due home on tue 3 nov will find the paperwork lots of gpl, lots of cars run on it, but mostly the attendant fills you up we have an outside filling point and so they didn't see it was a bottle perhaps it may be a problem if they do... we certainly got some funny looks when it was only a small amount...they obviously thought they were filling a tank to run the van bazooka could you let us have the name of the campsite...we do plan to return again and it's always useful to have as much info as poss mike glad your hol was a good one.....fate conspired against us on this one...but hey, can't grumble ...apart from breakdowns ( worst being cam belt in 2007, cost us 3 grand and lucky it wasn't more !) almost going over the edge of several cliffs, and getting stuck in places too numerous to mention, the last 8 years have been great fun !! going for a cuppa now will carry on later if they let us back in !! cheers berti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berti Posted October 27, 2009 Author Share Posted October 27, 2009 well they have let us back in.... so making the most of it SEE NAPLES AND CRY despite a sleepless night at camping spartacus, due to the late night revelries of a group of back-packers, we were up at 5am and left at 6 the roads and streets were deserted, it was so quiet it was eerie the satnav was behaving and just as i was starting to relax the dreaded 'route barred' signs appeared and i ended up yet again in a maze of narrow, side streets cars were parked willy-nilly, sheets flapping on washing lines strung across the street from upstairs windows, big waste bins overturned and rubbish everywhere.....instructions to turn right/left were impossible to follow, there was simply not enough room to turn..so i just had to keep going well, goodness knows where we were (i don't wish to offend anyone by saying this... ) but i can only describe it as 'hell on earth' the squalor was unbelievable..old mattresses and furniture just dumped anywhere, mounds of rubbish piled up in the street, stray dogs doing their business and ripping bags open ....there were even a couple of dead ones on the pavement with their insides hanging out ( probably the previous nights evening meal for the rat population ) the smell was bad enough at that time in the morning...what it must be like in the heat of summer i dread to think the houses/flats had render falling off the walls, broken/boarded up windows and every available surface was covered in graffitti the cobbled streets had large holes with grid covers either missing or raised above the surface a polish lorry driver was jammed in a side street trying to get out and looked at me shaking his head ( satnav problems too ? ) but no way was i stopping i just kept on trucking straight ahead by this time naples had woken up and people were staring at us in amazement..probably thinking we were deranged...obviously not many motorhomes ventured there !! now it wasn't only the dogs scavenging...people were tipping the bins up and trawling through the rubbish it was truly shocking and upsetting to see i've been in some pretty gruesome places over the years but nothing like this it was hard to believe it wasn't a 3rd world country eventually we came out of it and onto the coast road..we stopped at a viewpoint to see the bay of naples...it really is beautiful what a contrast to what lies a short distance away !! as we carried on young ladies kept appearing at the side of the road, smiling and waving ..iwas feeling quite flattered until i realised they weren't interested in my sparkling personality...only my money apparently, the phrase 'see naples and die' originates from the days when syphillis was rife and there was no cure...naples at that time was the prostitution capital of europe ! the sun was shining and we stopped for lunch at a viewpoint..what views..i was really enjoying the drive..for me that's the best bit of m/homing it was 3 o'clock, i was hot and sticky and suffering from ' num-bum' and when 2 cars left a parking spot at lido de ostia i made a fateful snap decision to pull in for a quick look at the sea and stretch our legs although the exit door wasn't visible from the road we were parked in front of some holiday apartments with people in them it was the main coast road, busy with flowing traffic and lots of people crossing the road to get to the beach it seemed perfectly ok..so i locked up, set the alarm and crossed over the road to go down the passage to the beach we had just taken our shoes off when we heard an alarm going off...we looked at each other in dismay... to be honest the next bit is a bit of a blur as everything happened so quickly... i dashed back to the road to see a car at the side of our van with 2 men in it..they pipped the horn and 2 more jumped into it and it sped off at high speed i disabled the alarm and approached the van cautiously..i could see the fiamma safety handle was open and so was the door all the cupboard doors were still closed and nothing had been disturbed..so i heaved a sigh of relief and presumed i had returned in time to prevent them rifling through it i inspected the damage..they had managed to wrench the safety handle away from the door, pulling the attached bodywork with it...it looked a right mess !! i was so busy doing this that i didn't notice that the side window was open ( it wasn't smashed,they had slipped the catch somehow and slid the big panel open ) then i noticed the ignition lock had been smashed out and bits of broken plastic cowling all over the floor they had kindly left a heavy pair of stilson's behind i kept calm and phoned the police rapid response number...hah !! i said i didn't speak italian and asked if anyone was available who spoke english..the line went dead...3 mins later a voice said he spoke dutch !!!i replied ' unfortunately, i don't ' and i hung up realising the van wasn't going to be moving anywhere soon i phoned the breakdown insurance..great response ..soon had things sorted and said a towtruck was on it's way we put the kettle on (not much else we could do really ) we were just calming down a bit when a mercedes car pulled up opposite us with 4 men in it...they didn't look the type to own such an expensive car..they kept on looking over and then a rather large black man got out , put on a surgical mask on and started across the road !! i was shaking like a leaf but i suddenly remembered a tip someone had given us to pretend to be phoning the police, so i picked the phone up, looked straight at him and pretended to dial...he ran back to the car and it drove off as you can imagine we were so glad when the towtruck arrived with a nice young man who said he would take us to a garage with a police station opposite..on arrival he went to the station to tell the police why we were parked in a prohibited area ( a paking ticket would have been the last straw !! ) came back and asked us if we were ok wanted anything else before he left....i was filling up again !! amazingly we had a good night's sleep..it must have been the shock at 8.30 the garage opened and after much sympathetic tutting and head shaking we were sorted out by 10.30 a new switch had been ordered and delivered the old switch removed and a new one fitted the bill typed out and given to us with an apology that the plastic cowling would take 2 days to deliver we were offered cups of coffee and seats in the office and the bill was €122 ( parts and labour ) how's that for service !! on a serious note we were obviously targetted by a professional gang of car thieves..not just opportunist thieves looking for a quick and easy snatch of something easily saleable it was a very slick/fast operation they were intent on actually stealing the van we couldn't believe how brazen they were and how little attention people pay to alarms going off on the personal safety front although i like to think i'm rambo...i'm not ...and the situation could have turned very nasty but if you stay with the van always then it becomes a liability...we were just unlucky this time !! so we left the garage and headed onwards undeterred to our next catastrophe got to go now ..mcdonalds is closing !!! cheers berti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libby Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 berti Are there any snakes or lizards where you are? Put them in your pockets or bags. It might deter a thief or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minstrel Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Berti You have certainly had enough problems to deter most people from travelling again. I admire your courage and attitude, I do hope the return journey is free from any more problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Wow Berti, You are a magnet for trouble remind me not to camp near you. Glad everything worked out OK in the end. Like you say you were just unlucky. We flew to Naples 3 years ago & spent a week staying in a funny little hotel in the old town, never felt threatened, wife got a bit worried once when we wandered into a slum area apart from that a thoroughly enjoyable week. Naples is a fascinating place but I wouldn't even take a car there let alone a Motorhome every car we saw more than a few days old had scrapes along the sides & door mirrors hanging of due to the narrow streets. Standard methord of parking is if the gaps too small bash the other car out of the way saw this even on busy shopping streets. If you are still in the area you might like to try the campsite at Solfatara it's in the crater of a smouldering volcano! & only a few minutes by train to Naples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catinou Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Hi Berti, You are certainly living life to the full ! ;-) I agree with others earlier - you should write a book - when I read your posts I am there with you. Keep it coming "we" need to get home yet..... B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Goodness me Berti and Co driver what a time you are having, unfortunate for you but enthralling for me to read. You are bringing to light your trip; it is really good to hear for once the down side of exploring as well as the up side. Your quick thinking is inspirational especially remembering what you had read under such conditions. I for one am pleased you are not writing a book as I would have to wait to long for the next episode. Things can only get better, and I am please to hear that there are some very nice helpful people out there and not just horrible ones. I most certainly can wait for November for further info on your gas system; in fact I will be sad when it comes as the tale will be finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazooka Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Hi berti Can't remember site name for sure might be( au coeur du lac) from the parking opp macdonalds it's 10to15 minutes walk south on the cycle track,the site is on the left a few yards from the track hope this will be of use sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwaviation Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 You've a lot more fortitude than me Berti :-D Can you lock your habitation door for the trip home? Gaffa tape should work wonders on the rest of the bodywork but you need to be safe® Take care and keep the posts coming... What an adventure :-D :-D :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berti Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 hi everyone we are at chateau thierry...passing time ..don't want to arrive at calais too early.. so..to continue we arrived at the rather spooky, but interesting, tombs at cerveteri without incident and left after lunch for our next stop it was busy, about 6 italian and 3 german vans we got some funny looks as we pulled on . . (the safety handle hanging off and the damaged body work didn't create a good 1st impression ) this was really my first chance to have a good look at it ...all the campers were looking so i rolled my eyes to heaven and shrugged my shoulders...well, i was almost killed in the rush... one of the german contingent spoke excellent english and some italian so he was able to liase between us all the response to our tale (roughly translated ) immigrants have become a major problem in many places in italy and there are many squatter camps scattered about..at one place the wife of the mayor had been robbed, raped and murdered, many people are very concerned on this issue petty crime and car theft has increased in many areas, not just the big cities the germans said it was the same there and some stellplatz had been targetted so it looks as if we had a narrow escape at 'the road to nowhere' leaving next morning, deciding to stick to rural areas, we came across an aree de sosta with an electric point which was working so we plugged in and went to read the notice at the entrance it said 72 hrs max stay no 'suits' to be hung out ( took that to mean washing ) peace to be observed no parking outside the designated area we couldn't believe our luck..it was just what we wanted after the last few hectic and stressfull days.. a quiet, relaxing stop !!! hmmmm about 7pm an elderly, lone m/homer arrived, waved and shut his curtains so we shut ours and settled in to watch a dvd 1/2 hr later there was a tap on the window..i looked out to see an elderly lady...after all that had happened i cautiously opened the window an inch ...she asked if i had a gas bottle connector, i said sorry, no..and she disappeared it seemed a bit strange, but all was still and quiet so went back to the dvd then all hell broke loose... within a few minutes we were surrounded by several caravans and watched in disbelief at the speed in which they set up camp within 10 mins there were tables set out, large generators and gas bottles arranged on pallets, more bowls and buckets than a £1 shop and even cookers....dogs were barking, cars were trying to park amongst the vans and people shouting ...it was mayhem within minutes, with screeching sirens and blue flashing lights, the carabinieri arrived and lots of shouting and arguing ensued we heard a whirring sound and 2 helicopters began hovering above us it was better entertainment than the dvd !! i was just about to get my rambo outfit and AK47 out of the wardrobe, where i keep it 'just in case' such a situation occurs... when everything went quiet the police had examined everyone's papers and told us we had to leave next day so we tried to get some shut-eye the following morning we awoke to find a scene of 'organised chaos' about 20 vans were there clothes on washing lines were hanging everywhere, children were being given breakfast and the men were having a shave at a large table ,all set out with mirrors, bowls, towels etc all the vans had windows open and mattresses and bedding were being aired in the fresh air the head man came over and introduced himself,shook my hand, and appeared to be apologising for all the commotion then some more carabinieri arrived and asked for papers again...they had cleared a wide path for us to get out and the other m/homer made a quick getaway however, we had decided to do a big drive along the coast into france on the sunday so had 3 more days to pass on we had electric and didn't feel threatened so we decided to stay put...it was obvious the gypsies had no intention of moving.. an afternoon visit by the local police ( and another check of our papers )put our minds at rest ....we were assured we could stay up to the 72 hrs if we wished, they would be keeping an eye on things ..so we decided to stop the men all came over to shake hands, attempts at communication were to no avail , as when i got the phrasebook out they indicated that they couldn't read we had more visits from the police ( papers checked 5 times in total ) and had to sign and put our passport number on a document prepared by the town council agreeing that we would not stay over the 72 hrs!! the group seemed to be a large extended family and the older ladies looked as if they had had a hard life...they did all the washing by hand, scrubbing away in cold water getting wet through in the process, all hung out by 7am the men were engaged in car repairs and had blow torches, angle grinders (more tools than b&q) all kept in a transit type van cooking appeared to be a communal affair, a large cauldron was heated on a sort of large bbq, and was shared out the older people helped with the children and preparing meals the children seemed very happy ..always laughing and smiling everything was spotlessly clean it was a very interesting experience to see how these permanent travellers live..they were from verona and were heading south for the winter our 72 hrs up, after many more handshakes, we left heading north going for lunch now carry on later berti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catinou Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Wow Berti ! You are braver than me ! I would have been out through the first space available. You seem to have the right attitude though - caution, followed by live and let live. When we stopped in a large car park one evening (used to be an Aire) on the way to Le Touquet we were approached several times by a lady, who appeared of eastern european appearance, signing that she was hungry and asking for money - offered food but she insisted on money. Then we saw the 3 "swarthy" men watching from a distance, packed up, and travelled straight to Le Touquet.....see what I mean? ;-) No she didn't get her money - at least not from us. (!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berti Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 hi catinou ..glad you are still with us.. by the way ..congratulations on your new van we are now plugged in ...mcd is empty....absolutely heaving before..how people eat the rubbish is beyond me our last days in italy travelling north we couldn't find any aires and eventually came to a small village in the middle of nowhere it had a community centre with a very large carpark several m/homes and 2 buses were parked up so we decided to spend our last night in italy here peace and quiet at last as we wanted a very early start we went to bed early then came the sounds of car doors slamming and people talking...my heart sank..i thought 'oh no' not again i looked at the clock..it was almost 2am i opened the blind very slightly to see about a dozen very, very fancy cars lots of young men and women (looked about 30 ish ..not young kids ) all dolled up to the nines, jabbering away on mobiles more cars arrived, all posh and driven by smartly dressed suited and booted young men apart from slamming the doors and a bit of loud music they weren't bothering us i was instructed to stop being nosey and come back to bed pronto ..... so i did !! they all left in a convoy at 3.30am what were they doing in such an out of the way place ? i spent the rest of the night pondering the question they could have been speed-junkies, running their cars at top speed down the deserted roads wife swappers or swingers or something of that nature drug dealers or even the mafia !!! i will never know so after yet another disturbed night we set off to take our leave of italy at 5am everywhere was quiet ( it's really nice driving at this time..it's like being in a different world...as if all the people have been abducted by aliens and it's just the buildings...when the sun starts coming up it's quite beautiful )the drive had been described to us as 'gruelling' ...but it was our best chance to keep to our schedule and get into france in the event, we found it to be bearable ( the dramatic scenery on the coast road was a wondeful distraction from the more tedious bits ) we stopped at viewpoints for tea breaks and lunch and we crossed into france suffering from 'num-bum' ...but at least nothing had befallen us on the journey!!!! we arrived at menton only to find that m/homes are no longer allowed to park on the little supermarket near the beach, and signs were everywhere saying ' no m/homes allowed' so we carried on ..and after spending the best part of an hour stuck in a traffic jam at nice we finally stopped at 7pm.. it had taken us 14 hours ( not to be recommended !!) our adventures ( or perhaps it should be misadventures !! ) in italy had ended would we get through france without incident ??? having a coffee break now carry on later berti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berti Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 this will probably be our last posting until we arrive home mid-week as we plan to drive all day tomorrow (friday) crossing on sat at 8 am catching up with an old pal on the way home our journey through france has been free from problems since leaving brignoles we have kept mainly to 'green routes' hardly seen a car....let alone any m/homes from the craggy peaks of the drome, with castles perched precariously on cliffsides.. through huge areas of forests..across the valleys of the loire dotted with quaint little villages..the scenery has been magnificent added to all this has been the most stunning backdrop of the trees in autumn...the colours of the foliage have ranged from deep crimson and purple through orange and yellow to russett browns so dark they almost seemed black.... contrasting dramatically with the skeletal branches of those trees already bereft of leaves just like the pictures of new england in the fall.....and it has gone on and on for miles and miles we feel very priveleged to have seen it we had planned our route around the lyon area to include the folly at hauterives and the house of chaos at st romain mont d'or the facteur cheval at hauterives is the creation of the poor, relatively uneducated village postman of the very small rural village..he was inspired by pictures in the magazines he delivered .. begun in 1879, it took him 33 yrs to complete it is impossible not to admire the dedication (or perhaps obsession ) of it's creator..the accompanying leaflet translates some of his thoughts which he incorporated into the structure...he was quite a philosopher ! adults as well as children were smiling with delight ..we thought it was charming and well worth a visit his tomb which he made himself is a 15 min walk over the fields €5.40 admission and an aire with free parking ..€2 to use borne i ask you..you would never get this in the uk..more like an exorbitant parking fee and threats of clamping if you overstay ..no wonder france is so popular !! we decided to stay on the aire and noticed several large lorries in the far corner...it was quite dark so we didn't take much notice having my morning cuppa, i opened the blind to come face to face with ..a camel in the field next door ..my jaw dropped open.. ...(not a pretty sight ) i thought i must be hallucinating..then another one appeared...well you don't expect camels in rural france do you ? i opened the door to discover that the vans were a travelling circus parked up for the winter and the camels belonged to them.. we continued to the house of chaos....perhaps not for the faint-hearted..it's certainly different a group of modern artists have installed themselves here in a house in this small village and use scrap metal girders and all manner of strange items as sculptures to convey their protest at what is happening in the world....it's radical and very political/ anti-establishment.. how they got all the stuff there is amazing..there's a helicopter, even a ship lots of people were there ..all age groups, not just youngsters.... the mayor has been trying to get it demolished since 2006 but has not yet succeeded as the village don't want to promote it..it isn't signposted and the parking is very tight..we were just about to give up and go when we spotted a place ...it was a very, very tight squeeze !! so, we continued heading north and are still going thataway..unless the satnav is wrong !! after 11 weeks and all the hassles we thought we would be glad to be going home...but as we've got nearer and nearer we're not too sure !! you know the feeling....kind of in limbo...passing time .. but i need to do the repairs and contact the insurance to see what can be done about the bodywork so thank you all for your interest ...it's certainly been a bit different to the usual mmm postings hasn't it we hope we haven't put you off either m/homing or italy... it certainly hasn't us ..in fact, we are already thinking of a return trip ! so, if we have made you laugh cry think 'there but for the grace of god',.. or even think we're 'a right pair of plonkers' send us a post.... but please be gentle kind reader, we are still bruised and battered (metaphorically speaking ) .... but it may be literally once she gets me home !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! will look forward to reading your comments cheers till next week berti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeti Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Thanks Berti, A very enjoyable and informative read. Where are you going next when the repairs are done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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