Today is the first day I got to be an official photographer of a cycling race, and got to be ‘behind the scenes’ the whole time!!!  Ok – it was a local kids’ race, but it’s a start…

Colin and I headed down the street to the main square just before 10:00 (Mo had to stay at home) so he could help load up the local cycling team’s van, which he is driving today in the race in the nearby town of Saint Angeau.

There were already barriers setup, as well as a covered food/coffee area and a podium, and they were setting up a sound/mike system.  We were called together with the other volunteers just before noon to a small building across the street where we were given lunch – wonderful crispy/soft baguettes with very tasty pate, ham and tabouli, and some of the tartest pickles I’ve ever eaten.  For dessert there was a flan-type thing that I didn’t care to try, and the creamiest, most delicious camembert ever.

As soon as we were finished it was back to work for the rest of the folks, and back to taking photos for me.  The kids were starting to arrive and sign in – as they registered they were given a number to be pinned to the back of their jerseys.

They ranged in age from about 5 years old to 14 or 15, including several girls, and the first races were sprints one-by-one to the line – about 100 metres for the smaller kids, and 150 or so for the older ones.  The road of the village was closed, so the main drag was just for the racers.

Then the road races were on – Colin was driving the lead-out car and I went with him on the first round, which was the little ones.  They did a warm-up ride halfway around the course, then they lined up for the actual race back to the finish line in front of all of the ‘fans’.  

They were so cute! Each of the youngest racers had an older one riding behind them to encourage them and make sure they were ok along the route. And the road wasn’t actually totally closed – they let cars thru from time to time and it was a bit annoying – I felt somewhat ticked-off on behalf of the racers.

After the first race with the little ones I jumped out of the van so I could take photos of the next races as they passed the finish line – the next oldest group did 3 laps, then the next did 5, followed by 8, then the oldest racers did 13 laps.

There were two of the older riders that were far faster than the rest – they lapped many of them at least once, if not twice, and were only a couple of feet apart at the end.

A man that had a couple of kids racing came up to me to ask (in French) if I got a shot or two that I could email to him – I downloaded what I’d already taken to my ipad and he found a couple with one of his sons, then I identified a few more.  He wrote his email address on a scrap of paper for me but I couldn’t read his writing – Colin gave him a business card later so he can get ahold of me. Maybe I should have my own business cards – ‘Sally McKenzie cycling photography’!

After the last race was over the medals were given out – every single racer got one, and the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st placers got trophies as well.

Most of the racers looked like they had a lot of fun, but of course there was the odd parent that was a little too serious – happens in every sport.  Maybe there’s a budding Sagan or Contador in the bunch. One of the littlest girls got a medal a small trophy and some flowers – she held them up and didn’t stop smiling for about 10 minutes.

As soon as everyone started leaving the volunteers began tearing down the barriers, etc, but then we were all called together for a celebratory drink and some snacks.  I told Colin that I thought it was peach juice, but it was definitely spiked.

After the van was loaded we headed back to Mansle, and I sat at the bar while Colin helped unload the van.  It ended up being a fairly long day – starting at 10 and not getting home until around 8, but it was so much fun.  All I needed was an ‘official pass’ slung around my neck – maybe next time!

Did yoga again, with Mo doing her own version on the rug beside me.  Colin took me out for lunch – we went up to La Cagouille in Ville Jesus and when we went to park Colin commented about the lack of vehicles in the parking area.  We wondered if maybe it was closed, but the door wasn’t locked so we went in – the place was completely empty.

We soon found out why – the chef/owner saw Colin and was very sorry, but they wouldn’t be able to serve us and just then his wife/co-owner came out and said the same thing.  They’re actually expecting a tour group to arrive for a set lunch and will be completely full. Too bad – I wondered to Colin on the way back to the car if they might just put a little table outside the back door for us and slip us the leftovers…

Went instead to a small ‘snack bar’ at the nearby ‘lake’ Saules (willows).  The menu was actually a portable blackboard featuring a choice of 3 entrees, 3 main courses, and 3 desserts, with prices varying according to how many of the 3 courses you chose.  We both ordered the warm sheep-cheese salad, and I asked for the veal with mushrooms while Colin got the lamb. After taking the orders the waitress (who was extremely nice and spoke pretty good english) said she wasn’t sure if there was any of the veal left but would check.

I ended up with the lamb, but that was quite alright.  The sheep-cheese salad was excellent, and the lamb was falling-off-the-bone tender.  Along with the quite good red wine to wash it down with it was a really nice meal.  Mo was so good and quite we hardly knew she was there, sitting under the table waiting patiently for handouts.

The place also is a campground, along with fishing rights.  There were a couple of tents, and at least one fellow fishing at the time.  They call it a lake but I’d call it a pond – not very big, but apparently does have good fishing – carp and trout, from what I could understand.

After lunch we went by the village of Ligne to visit some more friends of Colin’s, Elizabeth and David.  

They have a just lovely (and fairly large) stone house that must have had a good deal of renovations.  They were very nice, and we stayed and chatted for about an hour or so before heading back to Mansle.

Stopped at the bar on the way home for a quick glass of wine (me) and half-beer (Colin).  As we had had a rather large lunch neither of us really wanted a full dinner so just had bread and cheese.

Stayed up way too late watching tv after Colin, then Neil, went to bed.

Finally did yoga again, then after lunch went out with Colin to the bar.  The local cycling club was leaving on a ride from the square across the road and Colin was there to see them off.

Later in the afternoon we went for a drive to Fontenille to see some friends of Colin’s, Tony and Joyce, who also happen to be Neil’s ex-in-laws.  Tony had framed a couple of posters for Colin, and has a wonderful workshop where he does paintings and other artwork.

Their house and yard have been completely re-done (by Neil) and it’s a very beautiful and inviting place.  I especially liked the corner water feature and hanging flower baskets. We ended up visiting for a couple of hours – they seem like very nice folks.

Thursday I actually went for a bike ride!  It was really nice to be out again, and I covered about 18 km – not much, but fresh air and exercise just the same.

I rode as far as the village of Mouton, and then down a couple of side roads to see where they went.

Stopped at the bar for a quick glass of wine, then dropped my camera back at the house and rode to the store to get fixings for BBQ burgers for dinner.  

A little later Colin and I went down to the bar – the very nice lady that owns it always gives me the kissy kissy cheeks now, and Mo loves her because she always gets treats from her.

There’s a yard on the walk home that has a curious collection of bird ornaments that are very cute.

Burgers were delicious – Neil manned the BBQ while I did the fried onions and mushrooms.

 

Up very early – saw some of the resident rabbits hopping about, but none of the black ones.  

We were on the way before 8:00 under a very cloudy and rainy sky heading west towards Lyon.  Miss GPS took us on what seemed like a strange route to bypass the city – we hit morning rush hour and going was pretty slow on the inner ring-road, but she did have a method to what seemed like her madness.

We ended up on the road west, then north to Roanne – there was a series of strange looking geometric sculptures on the side of the highway.

As we were driving I was taking photos of some of the tourist billboards on the side of the road and Colin reminded me that we had travelled this road last year in the other direction.  I had thought that some of the billboards looked familiar and when I looked back in my photos from last year I realized that I was taking some of the very same photos, although from the other direction.

We then veered northwest to St. Pourcain-sur-Sioule – saw a really cool sculpture of a cyclist in a roundabout – think it’s for a stage of the Tour that will be coming thru here in mid-July.

We then went west to Montlucon – had to follow a short diversion as they were doing road-work on the main highway, but it didn’t take too long.  Continued on past Gueret, then Bellac, then home to Mansle.

There we hundreds and hundreds of semi-trucks on the minor highways – we assume they don’t like paying the tolls on the motorways, and thus take the smaller roads with no tolls.  There must have been about 85% semi-trucks compared to cars, which seems counter productive on more than one level. The toll highways are missing a lot of cash and the smaller roads get beaten down from the weight of the trucks, not to mention the traffic rumbling thru all of the small towns and villages.  Perhaps if they lowered the toll-rates for the big rigs more of them would use the motorways and the local roads wouldn’t get so damaged?

Everything is lush and green here – they’ve had lots of rain, including some fierce storms.  Reached Colin’s house at around 5:30 and relaxed a bit – Colin started a load of laundry almost immediately – we had brought a bunch of towels and stuff from Papiano so had a few loads to do.

Started to get a bit caught up on my blog – first time in a week that I’ve had reliable wi-fi.

Tuesday was a bit of a lazy day.  We took Mo for a walk down to the campground – passed a couple of cats lounging on walls, but Mo didn’t notice them so they just watched as she went by.  

Colin’s friend Cassandra runs the campground – they’ve added to the outdoor bar and put in a really nice roof over it with lights, etc.  The cappuccino was, once again, very large with not much milk-foam and very very strong. After a whole packet of honey it was great – I’ll have to fill up my tiny honey jar and carry it in my camera case from now on.

Watched today’s stage of the Tour de Suisse on tv, and had a really nice salmon dinner with mashed potatoes.

 

Took a walk after breakfast up the hill towards Les Saisies (the summit of this climb) but it’s a bit further than I thought – probably more like 3 or 4 km instead of 2.  

Spent some time scouting out the best place to watch from, then settled in on chairs right in front of the campervan.  The racers will round the corner just below us and likely be on our side of the road. I set my camera case out in front of my chair with its Cdn flag proudly displayed.

The race started early today so it would be over before the final of the French Open starts.  Some motos and a bunch of team cars came by, but no busses. We could hear and see the heli, and then the motos started coming more steadily – Colin asked one of them how long until the racers arrive – 5 minutes?  He was told – no, 1 minute.

The climb we’re on is pretty long, and is the 2nd or 3rd or the day but the racers still came pretty fast.  There was a break-a-way of about 6, then about 2 minutes later a huge peloton led by the Sky-train.

They straggled up after that singly or in small groups, with the last racer about 25 minutes behind the first.

It’s the same here in France as it was in Italy – almost anyone will wave back if I smile and wave to them – even the moto-cops.  It’s quite funny, and I even got a couple of whistles.

We took a little time taking down the flags and setting off down the road back to Beaufort, where we turned west/southwest to Albertville.  

Leaving the big mountains behind we got on the motorway southwest, then northwest to Chambery, then west to several km before La Tour-du-Pin.  

Got passed by another small group of ferraris – white, red, red, red, yellow – it seems they travel in packs.

Exiting the motorway we got into a campground that Colin has been at before – it also has a very good restaurant.  I tried to setup the tent again, using the jubilee clips that Colin had gotten for me but it just wasn’t working.

We were both hot and sweaty – it’s 30 above here – and badly in need of showers after being on mountains for the last few days, but we ended up spending a bit of time with our neighbours first.  Colin had taken Mo out for a little walk and lo-and-behold the campers in the next site had two little jack russells and some friends of theirs had a very small yorkie. Luckily Mo and the others got along really well – no growlies from any of them, although the little yorkie, being male, was interested in her!

We sat down and had a drink with the 4 – all from the Netherlands, and they had only met each other earlier in the day at the campground.  After about an hour’s visit we left to get our showers – there is one tap that you push for the water, and twist one way or the other for hot or cold.  The water only stays on for about 5 seconds so you have to keep pushing it the entire time, and the difference on the dial between scalding hot and freezing cold was very minute, but despite that it was really nice to be clean and fresh again.

Had a nice glass of wine outside the campervan, then went down to the restaurant for dinner – the Dutch folks had saved seats at their outside table for us so we happily joined them.  The menus they had for us were in dutch – apparently they get lots of visitors from the Netherlands so even have menus for them. We exchanged ours for english ones and had a look at the offerings.  I ended up getting a baked dish with potatoes, cheese and bacon – my three favourite foods all in one dish! It came with a green salad, and 3 kinds of cold meat – ham, prosecco and salami, all of which were delicious.  

Colin had one of the specials that included appetizer, main course (veal in tomato sauce) and dessert, one of the dutch ladies (Anna Marie) had frogs legs (which apparently they eat a lot in this area) and one of the men, Tom, had a special that had 5 or 6 courses.  I was totally stuffed with my one-dish meal I don’t know how he put it all away, but he did, and he’s not even fat. One of the dutch couples had their little yorkie in a small backpack on an empty chair – I didn’t even know the little guy was there until he poked his head up at some point to have a look around.

One of the waitresses inside helped me get connected to the wi-fi so I quickly face-timed Dominic for the first time in many days.  As I was saying good-bye I walked back to the table to show the dutch folks that, yes, I really did have a husband back home. He didn’t want them to see him because he hadn’t shaved or combed his hair, but they heard his voice.  It’s funny that, no matter what we say, hardly anyone will believe that Colin and I are just friends. We’ve even quit telling most people since they don’t believe us anyway – they just nod and smile (nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more, say no more….)..

 

No one else had joined us overnight, but one car and one other campervan got in during the first part of the morning.  After breakfast we walked up the road, passed a bunch of cows, cut across a field uphill and into La Rosiere. We are parked just below the ‘2 km to go’ sign as we passed it just around the corner and up the hill a bit.  There were, contrary to what we’d been told was allowed, quite a few campervans parked in various places.

We saw a small area of cement next to a building near the upper end of the village – it was fenced in and had a dog house in one corner.  I looked in and there was a real St Bernard lying inside looking very unhappy. We read the sign and apparently she (her name is Cybelle) gets walked 3 times a day for an hour each time, but I don’t think she wants to be in a cage with cement the other 21 hours – poor thing.

The fnish is quite something – a whole large area for the tv crews, along with a huge screen showing, at this moment, the end of yesterday’s stage.  Much of it is roped off from the public, but we got around it and over to the other side for a cappuccino at a nice outside table overlooking the finish area.

It was the most expensive cap we’ve had yet – almost 3 times what the previous high was.  It was also very different from what I’d become used to in Italy. There wasn’t nearly as much creamy foam, and it was extremely strong but very good.  I added the rest of a packet of honey that Colin had taken from a previous cafe for me, and that wasn’t enough so I added the small chocolate that came with my cup.  I know, for some people that’s almost like sacrilege but so I made a cafe mocca – I don’t care, it was now delicious.

Walked back down to the campervan and looked at various places to park a chair – i ended up across the road and down a bit from the spot I’d originally chosen so I wouldn’t get the group of campervans in the background of all of my shots.

I took Mo for a little walk down the hill towards the campground, and there are several campervans parked right across from the entrance.  At least a couple of them are British, and there’s a fairly large group of folks in yellow shirts that got off a tour bus that’s parked in the campground’s driveway.

Not long before the racers arrived a white van came along honking it’s horn and hanging pink t-shirts out the window – I thought it was like at other races and they were selling them for 20 euros each, but they were actually throwing them out for free.  The Belgian lady next to us got two and when she saw my look of disappointment she gave me one! I was so happy – I ran inside the campervan and changed into it immediately – it’s beautiful and long and fits great.

The fellow in the car that arrived this morning set up a table and is selling knives that have wooden handles with bike racers on them – apparently they have ‘lock-blades’.

The Belgian man had the race on his tv so we knew how close they were (in addition to hearing the heli’s somewhere below us).  About 1 minute before the first racer appeared two amateur riders came up – I almost shouted at them to get the -blank- off the road.  What were they thinking? That would never happen at the Tour.

Finally the police motos and the first rider arrived, followed about a minute later by a group of four that contained Daniel Martin, Adam Yates, Geraint Thomas and Romain Bardet.  The camera-moto was driving right alongside them and was pointed directly at me – maybe I’ll be on tv!!

Nibali came along a good 10 or 11 minutes back of the leader – I guess this is just a warmup for the Tour for him, although he did look good – not as if he’d cracked or anything.

It was at least ½ hour until the last rider passed, and within about 20 minutes or so we had taken down the flags and hit the road.  Downhill on switchbacks for miles and miles to the town of Bourg-St-Maurice – must have been a horrible climb up for the racers.

Just after the town we turned up a small road that is on the route of the final stage of the race tomorrow – there were signs that said it was closed and a couple of campervans came back down towards us – they said they were taking a different route but we decided to keep going.  The Belgians were right behind us, as well as a couple of other campervans and once in a while we saw a black arrow on a yellow-green background pointing us ahead so we knew we were still on the right road.

We passed through an area called ‘Valley of the Glaciers’ – I took a photo of the sign, then my next one was of a snow covered mountain.  Colin pointed out later that it was almost the exact shot that had been on the sign, and I hadn’t even realized it at the time.

We pulled over for a moment at the summit of the next pass, and the Belgians and others passed us.

Down down down, past the Lac de Roselend and the town of Beaufort, then up up up again – time to start looking for a camping spot.  We passed the Belgians at a place that had 3 or 4 others in it, but there wasn’t room for anyone else.

We continued on a short ways almost to the town that is at the summit and decided to turn around and go back to a very small spot just below where the Belgians are.  It is the perfect size for the campervan so we pulled in and got settled.

After dinner I took Mo for a walk – just across the road from us there’s a sign that indicates that 3 different walks start there – one is 5 minutes, one 20 and one 45.  I followed the very small paved road down and it ended very shortly in the yard area of 3 houses and a small barn. No indication of where any of the trails went from there so we hiked cross-country up the hill and back to the road.

Just before 8:00 we saw a farm-lady walking in the middle of the road, and then looked out the door and saw a couple of cows along the side of the road, then more and more cows coming right down the middle of the road.  

There must have been 30 or 40 of them, and we figured they were coming from fields up the road and back home to be milked.  A small car coming up the hill had to stop right in front of us, but he kept on edging forward, then tried to drive (slowly) right through the cows!  I yelled at him to back off, and hoped that one of the cows would kick his car, or maybe drop a big pattie on it, but no such luck.

 

Little Spreet came out to see me when I was walking back across the courtyard after my shower – he didn’t bark at all and even let me pick him up!  He cuddled for a bit, then I had to put him down and get back to the campervan for a bit to eat.

Got on the road just after 9:00 – back up past Torino, then north/northwest past Aosta and onto a small, winding mountain road heading southwest in the Alps.

Stopped at the lovely town of La Thuile for a cappuccino – seems like both skiing and hiking are really big here.

Not long after leaving the town and climbing up yet more hairpin turns we hit the snowline – several feet piled on each side of the road and no trees in sight.

The summit, which is the ‘Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo’ in Italian, or the ‘Col du Petit San Bernard’ in French (almost all signs here are in both languages) is at 2,188 metres, and there are carvings of St. Bernard dogs everywhere, as well as a couple of statues of the man Saint Bernard.  Also lots of depictions of marmots as well as the odd ibex.

Not far after the summit we crossed over into France – you could tell the difference immediately – no guard rails or fences or anything at the side of the road now.  Getting close to our destination of La Rosiere, which is the finish of tomorrow’s stage, we started seeing ‘no parking’ signs and tapes in every available pull-out or possible parking space.

When we reached the town we parked and went into a cafe and were told there would be no overnite parking anywhere in or near the town – not even for the Tour de France which is coming thru in July.  She advised us to ask at the tourist information centre about where we could park for the night – it would be open in about 20 minutes. We looked at the price of a cup of cappuccino and decided not to wait there but strolled around a bit instead.

At the tourist centre Colin spoke with a ‘very officious’ lady who told him there is a campground down the road a bit and the race will be going right past it.  Apparently there is a trail from there back up to the town if we want to see the actual finish of the stage.

We drove down out of town and very shortly at the first hairpin saw what would have been a perfect place to park – it was already occupied by 3 french campervans and there wasn’t really enough room for us to park without being on a steep tilt.  The folks were very nice and told us there was another space on the side of the road not much further along.

Sure enough there was a large pull-out with only one other campervan there – a couple from Belgium with four dogs (!).  We got parked and settled in – got the satellite dish going – reception is perfect. Got to watch the last 30 km of today’s stage on tv, and noticed out the window 3 or 4 VW micro-busses go by, then a few more, then some more along with some beetles.  All in all there must have been 20 or more busses and 6 or 8 beetles – don’t know if they’re here for the race, or heading somewhere further.

After the stage was over on tv we walked down to the campground that’s only a couple hundred metres away on the other side of the road.  Used their bins to dump our garbage and recycling in and checked out their bar, which wasn’t open yet.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening more campervans arrived – last count was a total of nine.  We’ll see if any more can squish in tomorrow. Had fresh tortellini with Italian tomato sauce for dinner – it was a bit spicy.  I looked at the ingredients on the label and it did include peperoncino – one of the spices used in a lot of the Italian cooking shows I like to watch so much at home – no wonder they only use a little bit at a time.

 

Yet another gorgeous morning – it’s very quiet and peaceful at the campsite.  It’s a little out of town and on a steep hill with lots of trees. We had a visitor that was perfectly happy to come inside the campervan and see Mo – another little dog that got along great with her.  It might be some kind of spaniel, and Colin thinks it belongs to someone staying in one of the bungalows up the hill from us.

Took Mo for a little walk around – saw which of the bungalows the cook is staying in – her cat was watching us from the safety of the deck.  Walked up some steps and found the organic garden that a lot of the produce in the restaurant must come from.

Got going around 9:30, heading north to the motorway.  Got a little frustrated at one point as the GPS was misleading us slightly, but it all worked out.  

Covered a lot of miles towards the west quickly, but the scenery just isn’t the same – we can see the Apennines just to the south almost all the way, but the plain itself is kind of boring.  The drivers here are just crazy – one small car ahead of us looked like he was going to exit the motorway, but at the last instant he pulled back right in front of us, then veered halfway into the left lane, then back and forth, back and forth over the line of one side or the other.  We finally got by him and when I looked down at the driver he was texting – stupid idiot!

Stopped in Pinerolo for food supplies, then on to Cavour, where we went first into the town and my favourite cafe for a cappuccino.  Had no luck at all with the internet, but the coffee was great and just being there made me happy.

Got to the campground around 5:00 and were met, as usual, by mama Maya and baby Spreet, both barking up a storm.  Parked in the ‘usual’ spot and had gnocchi and a greek salad for dinner while it thundered and threatened rain outside.

Just after dinner I took Mo for a walk-about and when we crossed the courtyard the little ones came yapping up to us – Mo didn’t quite know what to do – she didn’t get all growly or anything, but I scooped her up just in case.

As we were heading back to the campervan the sky opened and the rain starting pouring – not as bad as when I got here for the first time last June, but wet and noisy just the same.

Colin and I walked to the place next door (that has the excellent restaurant) and got a glass of wine and used their wi-fi.  Even though we weren’t having dinner the waiter brought us a stack of bread sticks and a plate of cheese cubes and some kind of salami.  I ate almost constantly – never had so much white bread in my life as I’ve had in Italy! When I went to pay the waiter he mentioned the lousy weather – not sunny like last year – he remembered me!

 

Pretty early start after a quick breakfast – on the road north before 9:00.  Actually went thru a very small part of Firenza after taking a wrong turn, then got onto the motorway for a bit.  

At one point we were stuck behind a smelly big truck and there were lights and sirens behind us – it was a ‘search and rescue’ type of vehicle, not really an ambulance, but definitely on a mission.  We slowed and pulled over (as much as we could on the narrow road) but the truck ahead of us didn’t even try. When the emergency vehicle did pass the truck he stuck his hand out the window – Colin wondered why he was thanking the truck but I was pretty sure he was giving the truck driver the finger.  Awhile later Colin saw a helicopter that looked like it was airlifting someone out – perhaps an injured hiker or something that the van that had passed us was speeding to help.

We exited the motorway to go north to Pistoia, then partway across the Appennines northwest thru Abetone to Pievepelago, where we stopped for lunch.  It was a small cafe with a nice outdoor area. Colin ordered a proscuitto and cheese panini, which turned out to be two pieces of white bread, not even toasted like a panini should be, and no condiments of any kind.  About 15 or 20 minutes later my tortellini and wine finally arrived – and the pasta was just excellent. It was stuffed with ricotta with a light covering of crushed tomatoes and was hand-made – really tasty.

When I went in to pay an older lady was there in addition to our waiter – I think she might have been the cook (and maybe his grandmother) because when I said how delicious my pasta had been she started talking with me.  I told her I was from Canada and she thought that was quite something – she went on a bit in Italian and I didn’t actually catch much of it but she was pretty happy.

We decided to pick a campground to go to and chose one in Zocca that wasn’t supposed to be that far away.  We couldn’t find it on the map so keyed it into the GPS – talk about taking the ‘scenic route’ to get there.  I’m only partly kidding – it was very picturesque (as the whole drive today had been) but darned if we could find the campground once we got to Zocca.  We must have gone up almost every road, and asked some very kind people for directions, before we finally found it. One fellow, that was a long way down a very small road, told us that the road ended at his house – we couldn’t turn around as the road was too narrow, but we could follow it to the end and just drive right around his house.

Once we located the campground the cook came out and told us that the owner wasn’t there at the moment but she showed us where we could park and plug-in, etc.  We went to the bar for a glass of wine and the owner returned – took our passports for a minute, then said we could pay, etc when we left in the morning. He asked if we might want dinner – after my large lunch I said maybe only a salad, but Colin said he’d have a meal.  Much of the menu here is organic, and actually grown here, and tonight there is no meat.

There are at least two cats and two dogs that have free-run of the place, including the bar and restaurant.  The cats are both pretty small, and one of the dogs is fairly large – looks like a cross between a german shepherd and a lab or something – all are very friendly.

Dinner was so good – started with some really nice wine, then an antipasto plate, along with my mixed green salad.  The antipasto was excellent – six or seven different things and all were hand-made and delicious – humous, chickpeas with tomato, focaccia, soft white cheese and other things – not sure what it all was, other than it tasted great. The salad was so fresh – grated zucchini, fresh garden peas, lovely greens – very refreshing.  Colin had the pasta – I believe it was rigatoni with tomato sauce – he said it was good. The owner told us that the cook had only been there about a month so he was very happy when we told him how good the meal was.

Had a wonderful long hot shower after dinner, and tried not to stay up too late reading.

Got a fairly early start – showered, had a bite to eat, then started packing.  Took a couple of things down by hand to the campervan, then loaded all the panniers on the bike and rolled them down together.

Colin did a final cleaning of the bathroom while I took all the perishables out of the fridge into a cooler, and what we needed out of the cupboards.  I took a bunch of ‘after’ photos of the outside of the house and terrace, then when the last bags were out of the house I took photos of the new kitchen and the re-arranged living/dining area.

We made it on the road just before 1:00 but didn’t get far – Colin stopped to pay a bill at the post office, then asked if I wanted a final cappuccino (or glass of wine, perhaps?) at Poppy’s – what was I going to say?  The door was actually locked but I had seen the owner’s son go into the little store while we were parked outside the post office and he returned just as we were about to leave.

Had a nice glass of red, then when I went in to pay I told the son (really should have gotten their names!) that we were leaving for France and would perhaps be back sometime in October – all in Italian.  I think he understood most of it…

We headed generally west and a bit north to the south side of Lago Trasemino – it turned out it was the same road we’d taken in the other direction on one of our excursions last October.  We then skirted the west side of the lake and stopped for a quick lunch at a pullout on the side of the road.

At the northwest corner of the lake we got onto a highway that took us right into Siena, passing through yet more beautiful countryside.

Once in the city Colin headed for a camping/parking place he’d been to before and we took the ‘scenic route’ to get there.  It’s basically a large car-park with some toilets, and has fairly busy roads on each side – cars zipping by in one direction on one side, the other direction on the opposite side.

Having been here for the finish this year’s Strada Bianche Colin knew the way up to the old city. It was a bit of a hike uphill, but luckily there is a series of escalators once you reach the steep part.  

Not far from the last one we entered a small square and I said ‘oh my god!’. It was the back of a church with all sorts of carvings everywhere – we continued on via a few small lanes and ended up at the front of it – again I said the same thing.  

It was georgous, but the more I looked the more I thought it was also kind of gaudy – too much, too much.  Also Romulus and Remus and the she-wolf that suckled them are very big here – they are portrayed everywhere.

The sun hit at the right place at the right time and some of the frescoes/painting shone just beautifully.

We walked down a bit and came across some young fellows doing a ‘flag dance’ of some sort.

A little further on we took a right lane downwards and came into the main piazza Mercato.  It is surrounded on two sides by restaurants and cafes and was filled with hundreds of people.  I felt quite ‘touristy’ but we ended up choosing a restaurant and sitting down for lunch. As we sat there the bells (of course) rang and we both agreed that they need a new set – they were the most ‘tinny’ sounding bells we’ve heard yet.

I had a ‘club panini’ which was the best sandwich I’ve had here yet.  Very luckily, it turns out it was Colin’s treat – my glass of wine alone was 7 euros!  

When we left the restaurant we took a different lane out and ended up going in a large, although interesting circle – another ‘scenic route’. We eventually found our way back to the escalators, then down the road to the campervan.