The weather is getting warmer as we approach Sicily, we spend our last night on the mainland on the beach at Scina, we have a fantastic back drop to take in a beautiful sunset over Sicily. Having seen our destination we start early next morning and arrive to board the ferry for the mammoth 20 minute trip across the Stretto Di Messina.Arriving in Sicily we set the Gps to take us to the village of Saponara.Let me tell you something for nothing, if you set your gps and tell it you’re a truck or bus in Italy it means nothing, we veered through the outskirts of Messina through the outer suburbs and into the outer village along laneways barely big enough for a 4 wheel drive let alone a motor home and just as you leave the low hanging balconies with the washing hanging in the windscreen, begins the climb up the mountain, now I won’t say it went straight up as I want to save that description for a road we endured a bit further along. Yet this road was very demanding on the Fiat and our decision to avoid motorways to obtain the best scenery pays off quite often I feel we could have avoided this Hour long 20 kilometer trip and used the motorway which actually has some great scenery on Sicily at a very low cost. We finally arrive at Saponara just in time for Siesta so we break for lunch. Saponara is where Debbies Grandfather or as we call him in Italia Nono a word which came in handy trying to find documents relating to his existence from some very helpful locals at the Municipo who spoke no English.With a few words like Nono matrimone, a lot of hand gestures and a few dates they were able to come to the conclusion that there documents did not date back far enough after they painstakingly went through some old ledgers page by page that went back to 1900.We trawled the cemetery for remnants of Debbies ancestory finding only the 1 De Luca.We crawled further down the coast and arrive at campsite Marinello and lo and behold all of a sudden we encounter other campers, mainly German a few Austrians and some Dutch. We meet a wonderful German family traveling for the winter. Daniel was very pleased as he was given a hand made windmill made out of old recycled plastic bottles.We shared some wine and travel stories and are now expecting Frank and Renate to visit Hotel Walkeden when they travel to Australia in 2009. Water has become a problem and we have had to revert to the antiquated system of carrying water to the van as the water pump has burnt out. We will have to slum it for a while until we reach a town big enough to supply me with parts. After 3 nights at Marinello we decide to travel along the coast towards Palermo, this is where we come across a detour on the already narrow road and with more hand gestures and limited Italian we discover the real meaning of term straight up. We turn left and in first gear we struggle up a hill winding around blind bends with Debbie stating that we should have just turned back and gone on the motorway, well what is the point of a family adventure if we can’t tackle one little cliff climb, fortunately it was only the Thursday before Easter so we only encountered a few cars and 1 truck coming down at us so we just pulled close to the edge while they scraped past us hoping that the old Fiat had enough power to get going again.Sicily, contrary to our beliefs is not full of mafia, donkeys and run down old buildings. It has fantastic natural beauty and an incredible history. The Valley of the Temples, ruins near Agrigento is an incredible example of the history and shows remnants of Greek occupation here 2600 years ago. The architecture of Sicily has influence from Roman Greek, Muslim and Indians all blending in together. We spend our last nights on Sicily at Camping La Timpa at Acireale. The setting here would have to rate as one of the best I have encountered. The campsite is terraced and overlooks The Stretto Di Messina.As we sit on the Terrace sipping our Rusticanello Vino (purchased in a 5 litre bottle at 3.99 euro) we watch as the fishermen row back to the marina (yes row) with their catch and the ferries and cargo ships sail out into The Mediterranean Sea.

After a week in Rome enduring a couple of days rain we enjoy the trip south towards Napoli under bright blue skies, although we are chasing the rain clouds, it seems as though all the bad weather following us has now overtaken us and we are chasing it.As we approach Naples we are overcome with a remarkable amount of rubbish piles on the sides of the roads due to a recent garbage collectors strike. It was very disturbing to actually see how much rubbish can be discarded in such a short time, some of the locals tried burning the piles only to make the situation much smellier. I would hate to be the person who has to eventually clean up this mess especially after a few inches of rain.As we approached Mt Vesuvius the jet black rain clouds were pushing out into the sea and a huge rainbow invited us towards Pompeii. Little did we know what effect the storm had conjured up for us, We entered the outskirts of Pompeii down what we imagined must have been the back roads as there seemed to be no drainage and the potholes were big enough to swallow a small car. Then as we ventured further down this road we realised we were on the truck route as semi trailers raced at us through the potholes spraying all the vehicles in there path. Eventually the potholes full of water united to become one and we found ourselves driving down a creek bumper to bumper as locals waded there way home from there days work.Like magic the water disappeared as we found our way into the Centro shopping area where the drainage was much better and the roads although cobbled much smoother.We spent the next day under perfect skies in the Lost (now found) City of Pompeii.Walking around the city for 5 and a half hours we wondered at the reclaimed buildings, artwork still painted on the walls and ancient graffiti. They really did have a fixation on nudity and there are remnants of explicit activities can still be recognied in all areas of the city.This is a highlight of Italy and a must if you are in the area.As we leave Pompeii we head for the coast, well sorry garmin but you have got your work cut out for you if you want to find a suitable roads for this leg, we encountered narrow, busy, congested motor scooter infested roads that our camper could only just squeeze through so we were glad when we arrived at a campground near Sorrento some 20 kilometers away 3 hours later.Here we met an expat Australian woman at the swimming pool coaching the local kids for an upcoming sports carnival, she invited Cointha and Daniel to race her student for a bit of fun. She lived in Positano which was our next destination so we picked her brain for local knowledge which proved to be very handy indeed.The road to Positano was around the edge of a cliff and due to a landslide we found ourselves tangled up in bumper to bumper traffic once again.
It was Debs birthday, so we parked on the outskirts of Positano as advised by the swimming coach and walked into town down some very steep roads and steps. We celebrated Debbies birthday at a lovely ristorante overlooking the sea, the food was superb and local wine was probably an extravagance as we did not consider the walk back up the ravine to the motor home. Debbie had a wonderful day taking in the scenery just as she had imagined it in the books she had been reading which was what inspired us to come to this area.There are no camping places in Positano as it is similar to the Cinque Terre and the steps and stairs we descended down to the village were much more difficult on the way back so exhausted after a great walk, meal and picking up some lovely souvenirs we push further south along The Amalfi Coast Well I thought the drive to Positano and the Verdon gorge were narrow, if you find your self in this part of the world and you like a challenging drive, then you must drive The Amalfi Coast. The scenery is amazing (when I am allowed to look, a phrase I here constantly from Deb while squeezing our motor home around these roads is wow that’s beautiful but don’t you look Bruce) and the roads very challenging. We were to here later in our journey that motor homes are banned from The Amalfi Coast which explained why all of a sudden we had not seen one for a couple of days, yet tourist coaches are still allowed, in fact we followed one for about 10 miles as he stopped and backed up to get around corners and blew his horn to force oncoming traffic to back up out of his way.The road is remarkable as it snakes it’s way around the cliffs and hangs in the air over gorges held up by who knows what, it would be interesting to go below and see the foundations of these roads that seem to have no access for maintenance yet they seem to be in remarkable condition.After a fantastic days driving we pull in at Paestum home of some wonderful ancient Greek ruins 3000 years old.We are going to spend a couple of days here enjoying the sun and the beach, after a week of exploring ruins, museums, culture and incredible art work we need a couple of veg out days.

Debbie in front of Dionysiac rites some art work on the walls of The Villa of the Mystries built in 200 BC at Pompeii

Leaving Florence we head south through the rolling Tuscan hills toward Siena, passing through Greve in Chianti where Maddy and Curl Haslem will be staying at the end of this month, we stopped in and tried to warn the locals to be on the lookout. Unfortunately we were unaware that the siesta here starts at 11.00 and finishes at 16.30, although we did find one good coffee shop that also sells gelato so we had a good break.
That night we found ourselves in a marvelous town, Castelini in Chianti, no camp ground but there was free camper parking on the edge of town with fantastic views over the valley. We set up and walked into town and had a lovely time strolling through the medieval streets and enjoying the marvelous views over the valley. We tracked down the post office next morning to post some long overdue postcards, while we were waiting for Deb to buy stamps in her best Italian accent (that’s with her hands) I kept the Daniel amused by sticking a rose thorn on my nose pretending to be a rhinoceros, while Daniel was amused Cointha was horrified as an old local woman came very close staring at my nose trying to figure out just what disease I must be carrying. When I had finished amusing the locals we took the short trip to Siena where we covered the same distance around town in search of a parking spot. As you can imagine, parking in cities is one thing but trying to find a spot big enough for a 6.4 meter long motor home is even more difficult. After a few journeys through very narrow alleys and up cobbled pathways I decided to head a bit further from the centre before we became wedged or ran over some ancient artifact.
We found a supermarket and parked there then climbed the hills, steps and pathways leading back into the city. Was it worth it? My oath it is, The architecture, shopping and food of Siena draws you in and you wander the curved streets wondering what might be just around the corner. Giant Pizzas, that’s what is around the corner, I could not believe the size of these things, I think we were in HOMER HEAVEN. They were the size of a four piece outdoor setting and the flavour is as big as the pizza.
We spent the night 20 k/ms from Siena in a campground with a beautiful view over a huge Tuscan valley which looks like a giant salad bowl.
Its still 200 kms to Rome so we decide to stay the night at Montefiascone, we found a free camper parking bay which had a beautiful view over Lago di Bolsena. Excellent as the view was we had to move after tea as the wind threatened to blow us over the edge of ravine so we pushed back into the shelter of the winery that the car park was situated. I feel this was a good move as we spent the night dreaming we were in a washing machine so I shudder to think what may have been out in the open where we were.
We hit one of our few motorways for the trip into Rome and arrive about 14.00 after negotiating some very confusing signs due to roadwork’s on the motorway. We spend the afternoon catching up on emails and contacts now that communications have been restored, for how long we are not sure so we make the most of it.
The colosseum is our first target in Rome and we discover that it is International day of the woman so if you are a woman or you resemble a woman you receive free admittance.
Try as I might my argument at the ticket office that he was discriminating against me as I was an ugly woman with a deep voice was not enough for me to gain free entry although they did believe Debbie.
Considering we only paid for me to get in I would have gladly paid for the other guys as it is just mind blowing walking in the footsteps of ancient Romans and imagining the atmosphere that was created by the festivities here in 80 AD when it was opened.
When you look at the size of the Colosseum and think that it held 70000 people cheering on there favourite Christian or Lion depending on whichever side you barracked for, I find it hard to relate that to a Collingwood – Essendon game.
Walking the streets of Rome in winter would normally be a pleasant experience but we found this day quite frustrating as the crowds were like summer crowds and there were tourists everywhere, how dare they upset our adventure. We were beginning to think that tourist season had started early but it seems that weekends are not the time to visit capital cities in Europe as people take advantage of cheap flights and accommodation in the off season so we head back to camp and decide to have Sunday off.
Monday we were able to see everything we wanted without the queues or hustle and bustle and enjoy a wonderful day strolling the highpoints that we noted for our return.
Cointha and Debbie particularly wished to return to the Torre Argentina where we saw over a hundred cats living amongst the ruins and as we discovered there is a sanctuary which cares for over 250 cats. It reminded me of the Melbourne Zoo when I was a kid where the lions would sit on the boulders looking over there domain, only these cats sat on columns and buildings over 2000 years old.
A trip to Rome is not complete without the obligratory tossing of a coin into the Trevi Fountain and visiting the Vatican with a walk around the Museum and the Sistine Chapel.
The art work is just fantastic and was a highlight for Cointha and Daniel who have been fascinated by the art work and loved the work of Michel Angelo.
Pompeii is our next destination where we will take in some more ruins and enter an entire city that has been excavated from the ashes of a volcanic eruption from Mt Vesuvius in 79AD.

South to Florence

David at sunset at Piazzale Michelangelo

As we reach the South of France we start to see the higher prices, all of a sudden we are paying between 30 euro and 45 euro ($50 $75) for a camping spot per night opposed to the 10 Euro ($17) we were paying in the north and the Alps.We leave France and wind our way along the coast through Monaco and into Italy trying to imagine just how much busier it must be in the middle of summer, it is hard to describe the chaos involved on the roads as everyone battles to push there way through the traffic towards there destination. The pavements are filled with cafes and restaurants that are not open this time of year and empty apartments and hotels tower towards the hills on the north side of the road. There must be an awful lot of casual labour running these coastal cities in summer. Diano Marino seemed at first glance to be a bit of a shabby old village as we pulled into Oassi Motor Home Park. Oassi was 1 of many parks we have discovered that are filled with campervans and motor homes squeezed in like sardines, they offer a very minimal service, parking, electricity and a dumping station, the more up market ones like Oassi even have a toilet and warm shower for extra cost. So we paid our overnight fee of 8 euro plus 2 euro for electricity and take a wander into the village for the evening which had all of a sudden come to life at about 7 pm so we had a pleasant time strolling around the shops enjoying the charms of the local community and eating gelato.Gelato by the way is not like the gelato we eat in Australia. The texture is much creamier and the flavours more natural and delicious, I am going to make a point of badgering our Australian/Italian friends to source this product in Australia.Our next destination is Cinque Terre a cliff face that houses 5 villages accessible only foot unless you are a local then you have very limited access to drive your car to the outskirts of town where they can park their car and walk 3 or 4 hundred meters with their shopping. The lack of an open camp ground means we will return to this area later on and walk the cliff face between the villages and enjoy the magnificent scenery.The motor home pushes further south and we reach Pisa finding our selves in a, how can I describe this, a shopping centre car park with pot plants dividing us from the rest of the car park. It is a down market version of Oassi but more expensive at 12 euro for 18 hours, you pay by putting your money in a parking meter, But it is 800 meters from the leaning tower so we stay the night and have a great time watching as the illegal immigrants pedal there souvenirs, belts, fake Ray Bans and leather handbags to the tourists as they get of their buses in the car park next to us.At the leaning tower the kids have a ball with the camera trying to achieve a photo of themselves holding up the tower along with the other 500 tourists, it is like being in the land of Marcel Marseau with people pushing against the wind as far as the eye can see.We get up early and head 60 kilometers east to Florence or Firenze as the locals call it. We book into Michelangelo camp ground situated next to Piazzale Michelangelo which has the best views of the city. Is a pleasant experience after our previous few nights, the showers are hot, the staff friendly with great tourist advice and the views from the park are glorious. Strolling the streets of Florence on a Sunday morning is very enjoyable; every body seems to dress like they are just heading out to a nightclub, wedding, or a formal function except us meager tourists who probably look more like gypsies.The kids enjoy a Puppet show in the Piazza S.Croce and we enjoy watching local artists painting in the streets and the kids were fascinated by a woman doing a chalk drawing on the pavement. Try as we might we could not find an affordable piece of jeweler in the gold shops on Ponte Vecchio so we will be looking for a Big W to find Debbie’s birthday present on the 15th.Inspired by all the artists the kids wanted to do some drawing so we spent the sunset on Piazzle Michelangelo enjoying the city views while Debbie, Cointha and Daniel sketched the Duomo, Deb gave up early embarrassed as people kept looking over shoulder thinking she was a professional.It was a wonderful setting where we managed to get some brilliant photos and finish off a fantastic day.

Le Verdon Canyon

What a relief, the weather forecast was wrong and it only reached -8, after we thawed out, the van started no problem and off we motored into Sisteron. Using a self cleaning public toilet for the first time was quite frightening for Cointha as she was closing the door we accidentally flushed it on her and she came out very fast and very white faced.Waiting till the siesta was over at 2pm, (good life here everything closes at 12.00 and opens again at 2pm) the tourist office opened and we were assured that no camping was open so after a coffee and posting some mail we headed to a smaller town where we got directions to a campground.The bikes were removed and well used over the next 2 days while we relaxed in the sunshine before and wandered the skinny streets of Sisteron before heading towards Castellane.Castellane is a beautiful village filled with narrow streets, crooked buildings and a wonderful campground with 800 places, we were the only gusts there at the time, I can’t believe that the French do not take advantage of these places in winter.We hiked to the church at the top of the cliff some 240 meters straight up over the town where the views of the town and Le Verdon (the Verdon river) are spectacular at the top we had a picnic before venturing down to skim stones across Le Verdon’s crystal clear waters, if you want to go white water rafting Castellane is the place to go and the scenery along Le Verdon would be well worth the trip.We hope to return here time permitting when the rafting tours are open.3 days were not enough time to spend in this area as we drive through Le Verdon Gorge which is the largest canyon in Europe. The drive is absolutely spectacular, the scenery overawes you and the water as it rushes through the canyon and enters into Lac (lake) De Saint Croix is a beautiful Aqua marine. A few miles from Lac De Saint Croix is a beautiful town set into the side of a cliff named Moustiers-Saint Marie, 2nd gear is all I could achieve to reach the town but it was well worth the trip as we were mesmerized by its beauty strolling through the streets admiring the Artists stores. It is renowned as an artists hideaway and houses many writers, Painters and fine china is the specialty of the town.The motor home is aimed for Canne so we travel the other side of the canyon for a while before turning south and heading back to civilization.

Eating frogs

On our Way to visit Sheena, Patrick and the gang near Lyon we spend the night at a truck stop, as the tourist information in Bourges can only recommend campsites 1 hour in away in the opposite direction of our destination. We have a wonderful meal of soup and a Calzone/ {half pizza half omelete} I picked up from a street vendor for 6 euro.
The parking bay was quite nice with vistas of N7 the main highway between Paris and Lyon, a little snack bar, about 40 trucks and 4 campervans. As we pulled in the ice was starting to form on the roads and the windscreen so we fired up the heater for a while and climbed into bed.
As a truck driver I am used to sleeping on the side of a highway such as the Hume with trucks flying by, but anyone who has slept in the town of Jugiong NSW before the the by pass was built will have some understanding of just how noisy this parking bay was.
The amount of trucks passing by this spot makes the Hume Highway seem like the Birdsville Track, now lets add the very fast train which we have now discovered is only
5 meters from our idyllic sleeping spot and seems to go past at 30 minute intervals.
Around 5 am the trains and trucks seem to disappear and the sleeping continues on with much greater benefit until 8 am so we travel on to Anse and partake in a bit of shopping as I need to obtain a mobile phone Sim card.
30 euro was the asking price for a sim card so I bought one with a phone attached for 35 euro with quite a bit of French/English difficulty I was quite pleased with the outcome.
Then we headed for McDonalds where I was able to get free Wi-Fi and post some emails and also post some blogs.
We arrive at Sheenas around 3pm to great amazement as I had not phoned for directions,(thanks Garmin).
Let me tell you after 15 years living in France she still has a strong Australian accent.
We enjoy several days there and the kids all got along well having lots of laughs over some of the language translations.
Sheena and Patrick entertained us with some wonderful French meals, wines, cheeses, walks and cultures, including frogs legs. We did some shopping and picked up a couple of cheap bikes for our journey.
A trip into Lyon on Sunday saw us travel to the Artisan markets and to the Catholic church at the top of the hill over looking Lyon.
Sheena and Patrick were great hosts and we really enjoyed the company them and there children.
Grenoble was the next large town we passed through and we kept on traveling and started climbing into the Alps south towards Sisteron spending the night surrounded by snow in a tiny village called Lus-La-Croix-Haute and braced ourselves as our host warned me that they were expecting – 10 degrees tonight,
Well if my fingers are not frost bitten in the morning I may be able to continue this page.

Well we left Holland and traveled through Belgium again to the North of France,this is where we first discover just how hard it can be to find a campground in Winter.
We decide that if we get off the motorway we might have more hope so we detour along some beautiful country roads and through some quaint villages, but it seems that civilization is hibernating for the winter. Eventually we end up at our planned destination of Villers-Bretonneux
Villers-Bretonneux is the site of an Australian war cemetery and monument commemorating the liberation of the village by Australian soldiers in 1916. It is also where my grandfather and his brother Allan were stationed and fought in the first world war.
Fortunately for me my Grandfather returned but his brother Allan lost his life here and his name is listed on the memorial. There is also an Australian War Museum housed inside a school which was built by the people of the State of Victoria so it was quite interesting and unpleasant to see a snapshot of the life these young soldiers endured during there time here and as we are here during winter we can appreciate a little more the weather conditions only we are not living in a trench and it is not raining or snowing.
We wake next morning in a pleasant little caravan park in Bresle It is -5 degrees so I turn the gas heater on psssssss oh oh we are out of gas think I will go back to bed for a while.
When I get up I convince our Spanish speaking host with my best French accent to make us coffee before we head off to Grande Paris!!!
We stop several times along the way in order to fill the gas bottle or exchange it but we are finding some difficulty and before you know it we have forgotten the gas as we are driving into Paris and we are acquiring little glimpses of the Eiffel Tower.
We find a good caravan park and I ask the concierge for directions to obtain some gas, well he sends me on a wild goose chase and I spend an hour negotiating Parisian traffic as well as the French language at several gas stations, deciding that I was getting nowhere I return to the park and confront the concierge, so he makes some phone calls and we discover that nobody will exchange an English bottle and there is only 1 place in Paris that fills bottles and as this is Sunday They are not open so I go to plan B.
I hire a European bottle, unfortunately the cross channel unpleasantries extend to gas fittings so we are unable to cook dinner just yet, after some French advice in French I have deducted that we need to find a French hardware department store by the name of Castorama so we are back in the van and crossing the Seine in search of fittings.
Let me tell you at this point our Garmin Nuvi 660 GPS unit purchased from Johnnyappleseed has been worth more than anyone can imagine, but it had a little bit of trouble when we entered a tunnel which opened into roadwork’s that had altered the course of the route we were traveling causing the GPS to become totally confused and ensuring we give up our chase for fittings. Never to be outdone I figure we can turn this disaster into a wonderful adventure and turn off the GPS and line up the well lit (by this time) Eiffel Tower navigating the Parisian streets we finally entered the craziest roundabout I have driven around the Arch De Triumph (I don’t know what the rules are I think it is biggest first) and down the Champs Elysee, back over the Seine and past the Eiffel Tower to the squeals and delights of Cointha and Daniel.
If you think the Tower is magnificent then make sure you see it at night if you ever get the chance.
Next day sees us on a red double decker bus (English hmmmm) which allows us 2 days of sight seeing hopping on and off at all the major sight as many times as you like. Oh and a trip to Castorama where I get all the fittings I need and few extras.
Our 3 days in Paris was fantastic the weather was beautiful blue skies and we are looking forward to returning here in June.
Lyon is our next target and we set off again heading south in search of another camping ground between Paris and Lyon lets see how we get on.