One final excursion before we headed back towards Calais – a visit to Giverny and the house and gardens of the artist Claude Monet. It was quite crowded but still an impressive place to visit. The gardens are absolutely packed with flowers of all shapes and sizes – apparently Monet was a very keen gardener and did a lot of the initial planting himself. There is a large lily pond with wooden bridges – views recognisable from some of his most famous paintings.

The house itself has been restored to how it was when Monet and his family lived there. Many of the walls are bright primary colours, the studio is packed with reproductions of his artwork (the originals are in galleries all over the world). The are also many examples of Japanese art reflecting Monet’s interest in that culture.

It was an excellent way to end our 5 week adventure – tomorrow we head for Calais and then for home. We now have to start planning the next trip!

From Cinque Terre we started the long drive north. Initially we headed west along the Italian coast past Genoa – the road was amazing, alternating between tunnels and viaducts high over valleys that ran down to the sea. We crossed into France driving past Nice and stopped for one night at a campsite at Le Muy, close to Fréjus. The next day we set off north, around Lyon, and stopped at the municipal campsite in Auxerre. We had a shock on arrival as the road outside the campsite was full of police in riot gear! It turned out that the site was directly opposite the town’s football stadium and the local team were involved in a play-off against St Étienne for a place in the French equivalent of the Premier League (Auxerre eventually triumphed after a penalty shoot-out!). In the first picture the small building on the right with a red roof is the entrance to the campsite! We walked past the crowds into the town along the river – it seems well worth a future visit.

After a surprisingly quiet night we headed north again, stopping this time for a four night break at a site on the Seine between Paris and Rouen in the town of Les Andelys. It’s a very attractive town used as a stopping point for Seine river cruises. Looming over the town are the ruins of Château Gaillard, a castle built in the 12th century by Richard the Lionheart. It’s a steep climb but the view is worth it!

On Sunday we drove west, stopping at Lucca for some supermarket shopping. We had booked in for two nights at Camping Valdeiva, near the coast at Deiva Marina. The campsite ran a free shuttle to the town’s railway station which gave us easy access to the area’s major attraction – the Cinque Terre National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Apart from some world class coastal hiking routes, Cinque Terre consists of five towns built in to the cliffs along the coast: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. Each town has it’s own train station but we decided to see just three on our one day visit.

In Manarola the houses climb up the cliffs on both sides as you walk down the main street towards the sea. There were plenty of folks sunbathing on the rocks and even a few in the water. There was a path along the headland which gave access to some spectacular views back to the town.

Vernazza was similar but had a larger town square at the waterfront as well as the only safe harbour in the national park. I had to stop for ice cream and Sue tried the Lemon Granita which was a little sharper than expected!

Our last stop was Monterosso, which had all the vibes of a small seaside beach resort. We had a very pleasant lunch overlooking the beach. The food, seafood and pasta, was delicious especially the fresh anchovies.

As a train enthusiast I’m sad I’ve just missed the opening (at last!) of the Elizabeth Line in London however there seem to be a few things the Italians could teach us, for example – double decker trains running through 19th century tunnels! And how about positioning stations as close as this to the sea?

Tomorrow we start the long journey home – it’s really sad to be leaving such a beautiful part of the world – but heres to the next trip!

We finally arrived at the southernmost point of our journey – the city of Florence.

Although we had two full days here our travels were limited a little by the heat and the crowds – I hate to think how busy it gets in Summer! The city is absolutely packed with amazing sights and places to visit, we aimed for just a few of the main ones. Top of the list was the Uffizi Gallery, home to the finest collection of Renaissance art in the world. The building dates back to the 16th century and was built by for the Medici family.

Here are a couple of the better known works we passed: Primavera by Botticelli,Birth of Venus also by Botticelli, Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci and Venus of Urbino by Titian. There were also works by Rembrandt, Caravaggio and Rubens (and many,many others!).

Through the gallery windows you can get a good view of the Ponte Vecchio bridge. You can see the private corridor built for the Medicis that runs from the gallery (bottom right) across the bridge and off to their Palazzo Pitti royal palace the other side of the river. The bridge itself is one of the the city’s major attractions – the entire length of the structure is lined with jewellery stores !

The Cathedral was very impressive from the outside, the queues to get in were very long so we didn’t bother.

Lunch on the first day included some excellent pasta dishes in a well recommended restaurant ‘Trattoria Sergio Gozzi’. On the second day we visited the Mercato Centrale housed in a huge iron framed structure. It has a massive food market on the ground floor with a really big food court upstairs, all very good but very busy! If you zoom in on the menu in final picture you’ll spot the main ingredient of the local speciality Lampredotto – we gave it a miss!

The drive from Verona to Bologna, our next stop, took about 2 hours. It took us two attempts to find a good supermarket – the first seemed to be surrounded by multi-story car parks – not very helpful for motorhome users!

The municipal campsite we used had a major attraction of a direct bus to the city centre. The weather was still very hot but at least there was a slight breeze at times. The city’s central square, Piazza Maggiore, is in easy walking distance of all the main attractions. Just to the north was the Cathedral of San Pietro…

…. and just to the south was the even more impressive Basilica of San Domenico, one of the richest churches in Bologna in art history and was erected by the Dominican Friars as a place to store the remains of San Domenico di Guzman, founder of the order and who arrived in Bologna around 1200.

One of the delightful features of the town is the fact that most of the pavements in the centre are under huge archways – some very welcome shade on sunny days! Here are some examples:

We had a very nice lunch on one of the piazzas (followed by ice cream – Italy makes the best!). Nearby we spotted the most common form of local transport!

The Quadrilatero District was packed with cafes and food shops:

We walked past the Two Towers, tallest of the remaining guard towers of the city (in medieval times there were over a hundred) – both leaning quite noticeably! En-route back to the bus stop we caught a glimpse of one of the few remaining canals that once ran through the city.

On Sunday we made a last minute decision to drive east from Lake Garda to Verona, stopping at a Sosta 20 mins walk from the town centre. Unfortunately it was 20 mins in a very unseasonal scorching 30 degrees heat!

The town has an incredible history – at it’s centre is a Roman Arena, built before the Rome Colosseum and well looked after – restoration work started in the 13th century! Every year it hosts a summer opera festival – they were preparing the sets when we visited.

That afternoon we also visited the Museo di Castelvecchio and the adjoining Ponte di Castelvecchio. The Museum displays mainly religious artwork (have never seen so many ‘Madonna and Child’ paintings!) and is inside a imposing castle from the Middle Ages. It overlooks the river and has unusual ‘fishtail’ battlements. The Ponte is a brick and marble bridge built in the same style in the 14th century but completely rebuilt after it was destroyed in World War II.

By the next day we had worked out how to use the local buses and took a trip back into town for a more gentle amble. First stop was the Cathedral – a huge Romanesque building whose walls were covered in massive frescos. it was built on the site of Roman baths and the some of the original structure can be viewed through glass flooring. The Baptistery had the biggest font we had ever seen.

We then walked over the Ponte Pietra bridge – it also dates back to Roman times but had to be rebuilt after WWII. On the other side of the bridge a funicular railway took us up (much easier than the steps!) to Castel San Pietro, a hillside castle from where you could get some spectacular views over the city.

By now it was clearly lunchtime, we stopped to eat at a restaurant on the hillside. Sue had her first Aperol Spritz and I over-ordered the food! Had to try the pinsa – a version of a pizza – but didn’t realise it would be so large! We just about managed to walk back through the town, passing the market in Piazza delle Erbe before catching the bus back to finish off an excellent day.

On Wednesday (11th) we headed further south towards Italy. We chose to drive across Austria and into Italy via the Brenner Pass. A one point we thought this was going to be a big mistake as we encountered the biggest queue of lorries we had ever seen, lasting for many miles. After suspecting a major accident ahead, it turned out to be caused by the part-closure of one of the tunnels en-route (you can see part of the queue in the distance in one of the pictures below). The lorries were not allowed to use the outside lane but our motorhome managed to squeeze past them all! However, the trip should have taken 5 hours but took nearer 7! The drive through the Alps was quite spectacular with huge snow covered mountains visible in all directions.

We eventually arrived at Camping San Francesco, a very nice campsite on the southern shore of Lake Garda at which we had decided to take a break and rest for 4 nights. Our pitch was very close to the lakeside as can be seen fro the view through the windscreen. We went for the easy (but appropriate) option for dinner with a take away pizza and watched the sun go down over the lake.

We did have one excursion to the nearby town of Sirmione, regarded as one of the prettiest in the country. It was unseasonably hot – up to 30 degrees C – and the town was very busy but it was worth the trip. Sirmione sits on a very thin peninsula that sticks out into the lake and it’s narrow streets are guarded by an impressive castle. One unusual sight was a swan that had setup a nest on the steps of the marina! If you walk through the town to the end of the peninsula you will find the ruins of a huge Roman villa ‘Grotte di Catullo’ which has fantastic panoramic views over the lake.

On Monday night we arrived at Füssen at the southern end of the Romantic Road. We are staying for two nights at an upmarket Stellplatz (i.e. washing machine available!) to give us a full day at what is probably the biggest tourist attraction in Germany – the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles. The castles are facing each other across a valley just outside Füssen. Needless to say no photographs were allowed inside the buildings.

Hohenschwangau was built by King Maximilian II of Bavaria in the 19th century on the site of a 12th century fortress. The views over the surrounding countryside as we walked up the hill were impressive although we could have used the horse and cart service to save our legs!

Maximilian’s son, Ludwig II, was brought up here but when he became king himself he decided he wanted something grander so built the palace of Neuschwanstein high up on the other side of the valley. The interior design of this building is almost beyond belief showing just how wealthly the Bavarian monarchy was, although this project put Ludwig II into major debt. Unfortunately he died before the castle was fully completed (drowned under mysterious circumstances!).

The views as you approach the castle, down to the valley are fantastic. You can also see why this was said to have inspired Walt Disney’s design for the castle you see on the logo at the start of all Disney films. The best views are said to be from the Marienbrücke bridge which was closed on our visit for restoration – it did look a bit rickety from a distance!

Well, that’s the Romantic Road completed. Where next? We can hear Italy calling ………….

On Monday we continued south making a stop at the extraordinary Wieskirche. In 1738, tears were seen on a dilapidated wooden figure of the Christ situated here in the foothills of the Alps. The legend of this miracle resulted in a pilgrimage rush to see the sculpture and to the eventual building of this huge rococo church in the middle of nowhere, which is now on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

An added attraction for Mr H. was the local Wieskuchen – basically a flattened out doughnut, very tasty!

On Saturday we continued south stopping for a quick look at one of the more imposing castles on route at Harburg.

The stellplatz we looked at in Donauwörth was full so we drove to the nearby town of Rain (and yes it did but the sun came out later!). Their stellplatz was very peaceful and although it’s only a small town they still have an impressive town hall (and town gardens).

We moved the next morning to the city of Augsburg. This is the third biggest city in Bavaria so we were not expecting a very rural stellplatz however this is the view out of our window – hope the sound of running water doesn’t keep us awake all night!

We walked around the city visiting the Schaezlerpalais, a baroque palace built in the 18th century, now a museum. It featured the most incredible guilded, mirrored ballroom. The town centre also contained a few well decorated buildings as well.

After stopping for the german custom of coffee and cake mid-afternoon, we ended up at the Fuggerei. This fascinating place claims to be the oldest social housing project in the world – it was created by wealthly local Jacob Fugger in 1521 and is still going strong 500 years later with around 150 current residents!