The End!

We arrived in the Champagne region in the dark, so although we drove through plenty of lovely villages, we didn't get to see them this time. I can't believe I didn't even indulge in a glass of bubbles, I don't know what was the matter with me!!

Next morning we made our final tracks to Calais. A quick supermarket sweep, some cheap diesel and in the queue for the ferry. This really is the end of our Adventure before Dementia. We've had an amazing ten and a half months. Seen some gorgeous, and fascinating places, met some lovely people and made lots of great new friends. We've loved having visitors, so thanks to Roger and Julie, Chris and Lin, Dot, Paul and Pip, Barbara, Susie, Jackie and Lisa, and Charlie who all came to visit us in the Dordogne. Chris, Lin, Roger and Julie who also came out to Kefalonia, and Chris and Lin again who met us in Brittany. We loved sharing our adventure with you all.

 

 

We've got lots of favourite memories, probably too many to mention, but these are amongst our best moments:

 

 canoeing near Brantome, France

  les Calanques, near Cassis, France

  turtles in Argostoli harbour, Kefalonia

 

 looking inside Mount Vesvius, Italy

 

 

         Pompeii, Italy

 

 Rocamadour, France

 near Bardonnecchia, Italy

 'No Shoes ' beach, Kefalonia

 overnight on Myrtos Beach, Kefalonia

 Soca Valley, Slovenia

 Italian Dolomites

 

Sand dune at Arcachon, France

 l'Abyme, Dordogne, France

 

........... and many, many more!

 

The End!

 

 

 

 

 

Six countries in six days!

Whilst on Lake Konstanz Dave was keen to visit the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen. It traced the history of the airship, both in it's civilian & military roles, and it's passenger carrying Trans-Atlantic crossings, one of which finally ended in disaster with the explosion of the Hindenberg in the U.S.

 

 

This shows the size of the Hindenberg compared to the Queen Mary and a jumbo jet.

 

This model shows the cabins and restaurant on board.

 

Leaving there we drove around the lake, leaving Austria and into Germany, before finally crossing over the border into France. I'd always wanted to visit Colmar, south of Strasbourg, known for it's beautiful timbered buildings. Today was a cold, wet November morning, but we enjoyed a stroll around the town, and coffee and croissants in the square.

 

Typical colourful timbered buildings in Colmar.

 

Worth coming back here in the future to see the wine trail and the Vosges mountains.

 

From there we continued north towards Calais, stopping off about halfway at Reims in the Champagne region.

 

6 countries in 6 days.....Greece, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Germany, France!

The Italian Job!

We ate very well in our Slovenian hotel. Can't remember what some of it was called because my knowledge of Slovenian let me down, but it was all recognisable, wholesome and cheap! The hotel Gostilna Pre Martinu in Kranjska Gora comes highly recommended by us.

 

Next morning we left in glorious sunshine and deep blue skies, past the ski slopes where I learnt to ski, and ventured back into Italy.

 

They hope the ski season will start next month.

 

The drive to Cortina de Amprezzo in the Italian Dolomites was spectacular. High rugged mountains bathed in sunshine with beech forests turning all the impressive autumn colours was stunning. We are lucky with the weather.

 

 

Coffee stop with a view!

 

The town of Cortina,  was the playground of the rich and famous many years ago, and inspired Ford with a name for their newest model of car.

 

Always unhappy with the rising costs of fuel, Dave seeks alternative methods of transport!  How long would it take us to do our 1200 miles in this, and would I have to travel in the back???

Overnight in Italy in a hotel run by Germans, very confusing, and not entirely sure what we ate last, (but don't tell Dave that!).  Just about to leave now, drive through Innsbruck in Austria, and into Germany to Lake Konstanz. Sun is still shining, hooray!!

 

Autumn in Slovenia

We said our goodbyes and left Kefalonia in glorious sunshine!  Typical, once we'd decided to leave the warm weather returned. We enjoyed the 3 hour ferry crossing from Sami to Astikos on the mainland, docking briefly in Ithaca. The drive north then hugged the coast and was a lovely drive as far as Paleros,  after that it was dark but we continued on to Igoumenitsa which is on the mainland opposite the island of Corfu.
We were happy to be able to swap our tickets for the ferry to Trieste in Italy, bringing the crossing forward by two days. Whilst we were waiting to board we were treated to an entertaining game of 'hide and seek' between the Greek port police and some illegal immigrants who were hiding on the axles of some juggernauts!! It was a long crossing, 26 hours, but it was very calm and we had a comfortable cabin.
We docked in Italy at 2 am, so we drove for an hour to the border with Slovenia, then pulled in for a sleep for a few hours because we wanted to drive along the Soca Valley in the daylight. When we woke up the scenery was breathtaking, we were high up in the Juliana Alps. We headed for Bovec first and took a track up into the mountains for some fantastic views, but the best bit was the drive still following the river Soca up through the Vrsic Pass.

 

The river was an amazing light turquoise blue colour, and crystal clear, with the autumn trees as a backdrop it looked very impressive. The level was low, but normally this is an excellent area for kayaking and rafting, as well as walking and cycling.

The Vrsic Pass rose to an altitude of 1611m and consisted of 50 hairpin bends, but well worth it.

This lead us to Kranjska Gora which is where I enjoyed my first skiing holiday, about 30 years ago. A pretty alpine town where we had an overnight stop. Going down to dinner now for some typical hearty Slovenian cuisine!