Over the mountains to Italy

We left France on Monday after five and a half weeks and made our way through the mountains to Italy.  The scenery from Puget Rostang through Guillaume to Barcelonnet, Cunio and beyond was amazing, somewhat like New Zealand's South Island, changing around each corner with pretty villages, lots of cyclists and many windy roads and hair pin bends bringing us up to La Col de la Cayole and back down the other side into Italy.  It is a popular area for walkers too, with many parked at the Col, gearing up to explore the trails in the national park.  We drove through mountain meadows of summer flowers and had to stop to capture the views many times.

This valley leading into Guillaume has very red rocks, compared to the grey shale like rocks in the rest of the valleys we drove through

After Cunio, we hit the Autostrade with some trepidation but it wasn't too bad as long as you keep your speed up to 130kmh and don't look in the rear-view mirror!  We drove through a myriad of tunnels (great engineers) before we reached La Spezia, our jumping off point for the Cinqueterra where we caught the train which runs regularly up and down the coast along with all the other tourists!  The sea is blue and clear and Europeans will always find somewhere to swim and sunbathe even if it is on a very small and crowded quayside!

Growing up hearing about the seven wonders of the world seeing the Tower in Pisa for the first time was a bit underwhelming in size, however the exquisite external carving and the amazing lean and its setting in the lovely Piazza dei Miracoli along with the cathedral and lots of green space made it pretty special.

The tree is there to compare the lean! Leaning Tower of Pisa

How's this for a doorbell? Lucca

We drove up into the Tuscan countryside to Lucca where the change was immediate - affluent and relatively undamaged in wars this small town is off the normal beaten track so we had time and space to wander, bike ride and check out the sights in a leisurely fashion. The religious influence everywhere is quite over-powering, the basilica are many in number and colossal in their size and are packed with paintings and icons.

Florence of course was next and as we had chosen to stay outside the city near Sieci, to the east, we just bit off small chunks each day and then retreated back by train to our rural retreat in the  forest. There were hoards of tourists, both group travellers and loners like us everywhere in Firenze and that meant queues, something we are not into anymore. So we wandered around and visited a couple of Chiesa that didn't require queuing - Santa Maria Novela near the Railway Station is well worth a visit and only 5 euros to get in. The Uffizi Gallery took all afternoon to see everything and their time based entry system means it doesn't feel packed out.  We went at 1.30pm (with a reserved ticket) and got in straight away.

Palazzo Vecchi, from the roof cafe of the Uffici Gallery

In the past six weeks' of touring we have managed to stay in 16 Airbnb's and have been very impressed with the high standard of accommodation and the friendliness of all the hosts. By not booking until a few days before arriving somewhere we are probably narrowing down the field somewhat but so far it has gone well. As we are driving, finding a carpark is essential, so often we will opt for an out-of-town stay and always an apartment so we have some privacy. The only let-down is often there is no kettle and Sally must have a cuppa!