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.  

 

Yet another sunny morning promising to be a hot day.  Did yoga, then went for a bike ride. Headed east, then took a side road south that curved around back towards Papiano – it was the back road that I had taken Mo for a walk on and met the ferocious dog on the foggy morning a couple weeks ago.

Turned around and took another side road to the north – it ends up at a T where you can turn either right or left.  On the corner is the local ‘community stadium’, which is just an overgrown patch of dirt surround by a falling down fence and no bleachers or anything.

Turning left (west) was a fairly steep hill with excellent views across to another village on a hill – eventually got onto the road that led back down to Papiano.  I enjoyed the downhill much more than the up and glided past the ‘other church’ ending up at Poppy’s where I had a nice cappuccino.

Back at the house it was time to get to work – I emptied out the china cabinet and washed everything in it while Colin vacuumed, washed and re-stained the tile floor.  We moved the cabinet to a different wall then I re-filled it with all of the clean glasses and dishes.

On the way down to Poppy’s for our usual nightcap I checked the planter that I’d deposited the injured bird into yesterday – no sign of it, although there did seem to be a fair amount of soil on the pavement around it.  I think it’s likely dead bird, happy cat.

Monday was another beautiful day with a bit of work mixed in.  I cleaned the fridge, and while the freezer was defrosting went with Colin to the pottery place we’d passed on the road to Perugia.  He picked out two fairly large pots with flattish backs and pretty designs on the fronts, then headed to Marsciano and got a beautiful jasmine plant to put in one of the new pots.  He already has a clematis, and Neil had fixed an extra fence section to the back wall to be used as a trellis for the climbers – it’s going to look awesome once they get going.

Back at the house did a load of laundry in the machine, then put them to dry on the rack outside – didn’t take long.  Watched a recap of the day’s Dauphinee – can’t wait to get up there for the final couple of stages.

Went to bed fairly early for once, foregoing the evening trip to Poppy’s.

Saturday was another gorgeous day – started getting hot by 9 or so.  I swept the outside stairs and the terrace from all the dust caused by the air-con installation, then spread out the yoga mat for another nice stretch.  

Just after noon we left for a day-trip to Trevi, which was very lovely.  We had lunch at a little place on the main square – we both had the lasagna-of-the-day, which was very good – tasty, with lots of cheese.  There were 3 or 4 eating places all next door to each other on one side of the main piazza, with a large parking area for cars and tour busses.  I thought they all had inside restaurants and we were just at the small outside area but, at least the one we were at, was more like just a kitchen and small counter area for 2 or 3 people to sit and drink, along with a very tiny bathroom.

After lunch we took a walk around the old part of the town – it’s quite high on a hill so has sweeping views of the whole valley below, including Foligno to the north and Montefalco to the west.

The town is really pretty, with many beautiful lanes, doorways, flowers, wall paintings, etc.

 It was lovely to walk around and everywhere I looked there was another thing of beauty or interest, whether it was a painting, a flower pot or a door-knocker, or simply the lane itself.

Back in Papiano again when we were walking from the campervan to the house I noticed what I thought was a dead bird in the middle of the lane – but it was actually still alive.  I told a fellow down the way about it and that is wasn’t dead yet and he said ‘oh well – that’s life – or I guess that’s death’. We had left-over meat-loaf for dinner followed by our daily trip down to Poppy’s for a nightcap.  On the way back I saw that the bird (a lark) had flapped and flopped its way down to the small piazza/parking area near the house so I tried to help it – I picked it up with two hands (and got bitten on the finger) and lifted it into a nearby plant in a large pot.  Maybe it’ll survive and maybe not – as the man earlier said….

A beautiful morning but didn’t have time for anything other than a cup of tea and a quick bite to eat – the air-con installers arrived just after 8:15.  We sat outside on the terrace and Mo barked every time they moved their big ladder, although she didn’t seem to mind the drill or small power saw. I took her for a walk down to Poppy’s for a cappuccino, then along to the little park and up the hill on the other side of the road.

Back at the house the two workers were still at it – they knocked off for lunch at 12:30 so we took the opportunity to also grab something to eat, then sat back in the courtyard until they finished.  It took them almost all day but they seem to have known what they were doing and it looks pretty good.

It works good too – the living room was much cooler in no time.  It will be very nice to have in the summer when it’ll be even hotter.

I made a meat-loaf with baked potatoes for dinner – it turned out not bad.  Went down afterwards for a drink at Poppy’s then stayed up much later than I should have reading another book.

After some rain during the night it wasn’t terribly surprising to wake up to an overcast morning.  The mist lifted but it was stormy and the rain did come – I hurried out and put the seat-cover on my bike just as the first drops hit.  The thunder was booming and Mo barked and barked, not liking it one bit – it seemed like she wanted to be louder than the big monster that she was hearing outside.

It didn’t rain long, then the clouds passed and it got sunny.  After trying several times to get thru by phone to Cascade Designs, who make my MSR tent, we figured out that we needed a ‘00’ before the country-code and the rest of the number that Dominic had forwarded to me.  Once the extra digits were entered we got thru easily and I was shortly speaking with a lady in the warranty/repair department. I told her what had happened and without asking any questions all she wanted to know was where to send a replacement part!  She needed my email address and immediately sent me an email with a diagram of the whole pole/frame apparatus and all I need to do is identify which part had chipped and broken, and tell her where to send the new one. She also assured me that it was very easy to take the broken piece out and replace it, and that people do it every day.

Colin and I then took a wheel-barrow full of old electronics to the tipping place – well, he took it while I walked Mo down to the campervan for the drive.  We stopped at a hardware store in Marsciano intending to see if we could pick up a jubilee clip as a temporary fix for the tent pole, but the store had closed 2 minutes previously for the (very annoying) 2-hour lunch.

Back at the house it was too hot to do any more door-staining so I stayed inside and continued reading a very good book that had been left in the house.  The previous owners had left, in addition to all of the furniture and dishes, an assortment of books and dvd’s.

Some time later the clouds moved in again, along with heavy rain, lightning and more thunder – no sitting out on the terrace this evening.

Thursday morning was so foggy you couldn’t see past the next house.  The sun slowly burned it off and the day gradually cleared. Took Mo-mo for a walk and got a cappuccino at Poppy’s – another kind of lazy day.  Colin did some more door-staining – the front door looks great with only two coats and the back now has its base.

The terrace is so lovely to sit and relax in – but having a mosquito coil burning definitely makes it more comfortable.

 

Spent most of Monday doing loads of laundry and cleaning the kitchen while Colin went to the home-store to arrange for the air conditioner to get installed.  I also vacuumed and dusted, in addition to wiping down all of the cupboards and washing all of the dishes that are used regularly.

The space sure looks bigger with all of the tools out, and we’re going to move the china cabinet after the air-con is done.  I took Mo for a walk down to the village store and then when we returned wiped off the outside table and a couple of chairs.  Sitting there on the terrace with a nice glass of wine is about what I had expected – just fabulous. (Below is the view from the terrace’s sitting area)

One of the black neighbourhood cats was sitting on the upper wall above the terrace and little Mo was down beneath going a bit mad trying to get at him – he didn’t seem at all worried, though, and just sat and lounged there looking down at us.

Tuesday was a bit of a lazy day for me, although Colin got to work putting the first coat of black stain on the front outside door.  He also re-painted the mailbox and it looks very sharp.

All I did was take Mo for a little walk down the hill to the store and back, then down again later with Colin for a drink at Poppy’s.  The owner seems to like us – he came out a couple of times and we chatted about where we had been the last week. He said he wishes he could do what we do, and that he wants to have his son take over the bar in a few years so he can move to Portugal.  He also told us that there are no fish anymore in lago Orta because of the chromium – ewww – it kind of taints my memory of how beautiful it was, and I’m sure glad I never jumped in for a quick swim. Oh – they also serve Caffe Vergnano 1882 here – now I’m noticing it everywhere!

After a nice shower and quick breakfast I got on the bike and rode into Cavour.  I took a quick circuit of the ‘Rock of Cavour’ then made a small detour to see the painted cow.  She has a new paint job that’s quite different from last year’s.

I ended up at the Fontana Cafe, which is where is spent many hours last year, sometimes going there twice in a day.  They have wi-fi whereas the campground doesn’t, although it’s not very fast. The waiter recognized me and seemed very happy to see me again.  I had a cappuccino while waiting for Colin and Mo to arrive, then had another once they’d joined me. Church had gotten out while I was there and the place was hopping busy, at least for awhile.  I mentioned to Colin that the cafe seems to have two names – maybe it changed names but they kept the black cups and saucers that said ‘Caffe Vergnano 1882’. Colin thought that was pretty funny – that is the kind of coffee the cafe serves and they get all kinds of things from the coffee company to promote their brand.  Now that I’m thinking of it I believe they had the same cups at the cafe we stopped at in Saint Vincent – ha ha!

It was kind of sad for me to leave Cavour as it’s one of my favourite places from last year’s trip, but I hope to be back again at some point.

We headed southeast and entered the motorway not far from Fossano and reached the coast at Savona.  From there it was northeast to Genova where it veared southeast again. We passed Carrara, where all the beautiful marble comes from – you can see the mountains that have been hacked almost in half from the quarrying  – if you didn’t know different you might think it was snow, and there are stone-mason places everywhere.

We left that motorway and got onto another one just north of Pisa and headed east towards Firenza where we then headed south past Siena.  Somewhere along the way Colin told me to look at what was passing us on the left – there were 5 Ferraris in a row (all just beautiful, of course – red, red, yellow, red, silver).  A short while later there were two more – maybe stopped for gas or something so got separated.

At some point in the long day’s driving the toll-slip that we got when we entered the motorway had disappeared but when we exited it was at a place that actually had people at the booths rather than just machines.  Colin told the fellow where we’d gotten on and showed him our map – he did a quick calculation and let us on our way (after Colin paid, of course). I figured that if someone was going to lie about how far they’d come they would have said ‘oh – I only entered the motorway 20 km ago’ not the several hundred we honestly admitted to so he believed us.

Before actually going home to Papiano we went into Marsciano for food supplies, and arrived back at the house in the early evening.  The kitchen looks spectacular and the terrace outside is lovely and very inviting.

Had a nice dinner and early to bed – even tho I wasn’t driving it was still a long day.

 

Had a really good sleep – maybe it’s the fresh mountain air.  Took a walk up to the summit – they’re erecting a banner and barriers, and more and more people are arriving, including many on bikes.  I looked up at the hill across the way and wondered if my eyes were failing – there was a light mist over everything.  It turns out it wasn’t a mist – it’s very fine pollen from some of the trees and it was blowing almost sideways in the breeze.  I guess Froome – and all the other ‘asthmatic’ riders – will be huffing on the puffers like mad today.

Colin got the flags up on the campervan and a couple more cars joined us.  One of the dutchmen next to us went for a ride on his bike while the other two went for a walk.  Colin and I ended up talking for quite awhile with a couple from Guernsey that recently retired and sold their house and are now travelling all over in a campervan.

We took Mo for a walk along one of the upper trails – it winds up fairly gently towards the west for quite awhile before it switches back and onwards and upwards to the east.  Where it turns it opens up so you can see the whole valley below with the wonderful lush fields and small villages. You can also see the road that the racers will be on, and all of the campervans parked wherever possible.

Back at the campervan we had figured that we were about 100-150 metres from the summit of this, the second of three climbs in today’s race, and we are actually right at the 150 metre mark – they erected a sign right beside the campervan.

Still more people arriving all the time and one more car squished in beside us – I didn’t think there was room but she backed in with just enough room to be able to open the door and get out.  The road is lined with fans on both sides from well below us to over the summit.  The crowds are mostly all so nice – some are a bit ‘exuberant’ but still friendly – we’re all there for the same reason.  Except for one Swiss woman – she was standing on the small wall across from the campervan and I had put my coat there to save my spot (we were the very first ones here, after all).  When I went to take my spot she started going on and on in French to her partner, who was down at road level beside me.  I did understand part of what she said so I looked up at her and the look on her face was just nasty – rather than respond in kind I chose to move further down the road, which turned out to have a better view anyway.  Too bad some folks just can’t enjoy where they are and what they’re doing, but try as she did she couldn’t ruin my day.

The riders came into view shortly after we saw the heli’s and heard the crowds below us cheering.  The first 10 or so were strung out in singles or 2 or 3 together, then the peloton arrived with Sky leading the train.

Froome was in the middle near the front with Dumoulin not far behind.  One of the dutchmen had told us that Yates had cracked yesterday and Froome had broken away with 80 km to go – he couldn’t be caught and is now in the pink and almost assured of a win.

Poor Pinot was having a bad day and his whole team dropped back to help him, followed shortly by the sprinters as usual in one big bunch just trying to make it up the second to last climb of the entire 3 weeks.  (We found out later that Pinot was admitted to hospital in the evening and treated for pneumonia)

When the last racer had passed we packed up and hit the road, having decided to get partway back to Papiano.  We stopped at the fruit-farm near Cavour (where I had stayed for 9 days last year) and when I walked thru the courtyard to the washrooms I was met by the two little doggies – mama Maya and her baby Spreet.  I asked where the big dog was and was very sad when told that he had passed away last year. They’re having some sort of dinner tonite – I estimate there were 80 or 90 people in attendance, including many children.

 

Kind of sad to leave the campground – it’s so beautiful here looking out over Lago Orta.  We followed slightly slower roads generally west then northwest until we reached Saint Vincent which is just off the highway.  We know we’re on the right road at the moment as we see decorations for the race.

We stopped at a cafe for some cappuccino and to check tomorrow’s route from here again to make sure we take the correct small mountain road to camp on.  We met an older Dutch fellow who’s travelling alone in a campervan and is going to the finish of the stage but we’re planning on being near the top of the second climb.

Saint Vincent seems to be a popular place to go hiking from.  There is a large map in front of the cafe that shows miles and miles of hiking trails in the area.

We found the right road and it winds up and up the side of the mountain, going thru beautiful alpine villages and past lovely open fields.  We passed a couple of spots that would have been good to camp at but they were taken already. We had almost reached the top of the climb when we saw a place that had two cars – we guessed they were hikers as there are tons of hiking trails around here.  

We drove a bit further then, as we were going downhill towards Torgnon decided to turn around and go back to the spot we’d passed.  

It was a lovely place – the air is really fresh and it’s very peaceful.  You can see a structure just below us and there is a trail to it so I took Mo for a little walk.  It almost looks like a church, with paintings on one side but I’m not really sure what it is. The door is very sturdy and is locked – it’s definitely not a hiker’s refuge.

Another campervan pulled in to join us – three friends from the Netherlands.