We found a splendid river & gorge right on the doorstep! The river runs past the campsite, so we decided to follow it upstream along a dirt road. In half a mile it became a ravine, and in a further half-mile, when it had widened slightly, we were astonished to find a large factory-type building containing a paper museum. We had a conducted tour, in English: the valley had been producing paper since 1381 and at its’ peak contained 38 paper mills! We continued up the valley afterwards along the track and found ruin after ruin of these ancient mills, all in an idyllic setting on the banks of the river. The river was, of course, the power source for the industry, which employed hundreds of workers and achieved vast output despite the location’s difficult access. On Wednesday 22nd we’re leaving for the house in France where we’ll arrive on Friday, so this is the last entry for the time being. Lake Garda has been wonderful & still summer weather.
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