Oct 24th to Oct 26th

Back at our house in the Vendee. Seems odd after the caravan, but we soon settle in. The Vendee Globe yacht race runs every 4 years, and this year is the one. It starts 2 weeks tomorrow, Sunday 9th Nov., from Les Sables d’Olonne, 15 minutes away. Today was open day, where the public could view all the competitors’ boats and absorb the razzmatazz of it all. So we went along and were duly impressed by the 30 sleek vessels on show and the vast array of sponsors’ displays in marquees on the quayside (3 Brits, but no Ellen MacArthur who won it last time).

Thur 16th to Mon 20th Oct

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.

Tue 14th Oct to Wed 15th

The lake towns are served by a comprehensive ferry service, some taking vehicles. On Wednesday we caught the ferry to Sirmione, via several attractive stop-offs. Sirmione is a town on the tip a 3 mile peninsula projecting into the lake, and is olde worlde and, of course, touristy. Out of the town there are lovely views, Roman remains & caves.

Our water pump packed up a week ago & we were directed to a local caravan shop, which we couldn’t find. No problem, as we can use the showers on site instead of the caravan’s. Today the mystery was revealed: you enter the caravan shop through a high-class glassware shop. There is no signage whatsoever to indicate this arrangement on the glassware shop frontage. And they actually had what we wanted - a spare pump. The set-up must do wonders for their sales of caravan spares & equipment!

Friday 10th to Monday 13th

They started to arrive Friday afternoon… the weekend rally. They were rolling in up to 11.30 pm and carried on coming Saturday morning. Over 80 campervans transformed this quiet, out of season site into the equivalent of an Italian market. The rally came complete with whistley, testing-testing 1-2-3 tannoy. They were, however, most kind and, I suppose in recognition of our being “swamped”, brought us all kinds of wine, food & cake during Sunday’s communal lunch.

Monday. Today we went by train to Venice. Venice has all the worst and best elements of a top tourist attraction. Yes, crowds, high prices, shops full of souvenir tat but in a unique setting of islands & canals, incredible architecture on a huge scale and the sense of living history as it’s a working city. It adds up to a thoroughly good day out!

Wed 8th & Thur 9th Oct

Gargnano is just up the road, a pretty lakeside village and a typical example of the numerous settlements around the lake. Mussolini had a villa here from 1943 to 1945.
Thursday was our trip to Verona, by train. Verona is full of beautiful historical buildings from Roman times onwards, but is probably best associated with Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. The story has a proper historical basis and there were indeed two feuding families, the Montagues & Capulets, with events unfolding in the year 1302. The picture is of Juliet’s balcony in the Capulet’s house, as featured in the play. The arena was most impressive, looking like the Coliseum in Rome, but everybody’s seen pictures of that. Top marks for Verona in general: more history than you can shake a stick at.

Thur 2nd Oct to Tue 7th

Only one problem with the campsite – it’s closing this weekend. So we found the only site in the vicinity that appears to be open and moved today. It’s again in a beautiful setting and on the lake shore. We visited the local supermarket this afternoon. Strange how certain foreign names strike one as inappropriate: the supermarket was called UPIM, which to us had the same ring to it as UP YOURS! TESCO sounds positively welcoming by comparison.


The Roman villa on Tuesday showed how sophisticated life was 2,000 years ago. Items like pottery and jewellery were most intricate and artistically decorated. Walls were highly patterned and the floors mosaic, with underfloor heating in some rooms. No evidence, though, of Roman i-pods (i-Claudius-pods?) or digital TV (perhaps they had some other form of digital entertainment?). The villa is located about 15 miles from our campsite, on the southern shore of the lake, and within the picturesque town of Decenzano.

Monday 29th to Wed 1st Oct

Monday was a visit to the Czech Republic, the town of Kaplice just over the Austrian border. Gloomy town & gloomy people, by comparison with Austria: the communist legacy is apparent even now. Unexpectedly, as you crossed into the Czech Republic, there were 4 or 5 casinos and also a large building labelling itself “Sin City”! There were numerous tarts in miniskirts parading along the roadsides in the vicinity, hoping to be picked up by drivers - and succeeding!!!

Wednesday – move from St Gilgen to Lake Garda in Italy. It’s a stunning run through the Austrian Alps and the over the Brenner Pass into Italy. Austrian culture persists for about 40 miles on the Italian side, including the speaking of German as their main language. Lake Garda is beyond that area, and is the largest Italian lake (32 by 11 miles). It is surrounded by mountains except at the southern tip, which is where we are now located. We’ve just pitched the van with an excellent view over the lake, and the weather this evening is dry & mild – who could ask for more? (Cold beer just being taken out of fridge).