Aigues Mortes is a jewel in the Petite Camargue. Less touristy than Carcassone usually missed by the tourists which is a shame because it is such an interesting place. Totally enclosed by medieval walls it along which you can walk. Founded in 1240 to provide direct access to the Mediterranean it is an area of marsh, sand, sea and salt. The city is heavily fortified and entered via La Tour Carbonniere an ancient watchtower which defended access to the city. Lovers of history and castles should visit . The city was founded by King Louis IX and fortified by Philip the Bold and Philip the Fair . After parking and there is loads of it under the walls the first thing you see is the Tour de Constance a great hulk of a building. There is ... read more

Sundays are lazy days for us. After driving for two days we always look forward to rising and eating late and spend the day just looking around the house and gardens. Our investigations began by looking at the swimming pool attached to our property. We had been assured it was nice and I looked forward to using it during the fortnight as it was still hot enough to swim. It was empty of water but instead full of leaves and mud. The owners assured me that it had only just broken down and would be repaired shortly however it didnt take a genius to work out it had been out of order for some time. I held out no hope of it being repaired whilst we were there. The gardens though were pretty full of lavender ... read more

Our last trip and in fact our farewell to Italy came as headed for Colonnata. Not quite culture but definitely it was in the broadest sense because ofits proximity to Carrera and the marble quarries which produced the materials for Italys sculptors. Large rocks were strewn along the roadside as it wound its way up the hill. Not beautiful place, in fact the scarred landscape was quite ugly in parts. Shops lined the roadsides selling marble products ranging from full scale large sculptures the type of which you would struggle to get on a plane to tiny perfectly formed owls. We bought Ozzie to join another marble owl purchased years before. Now he wouldn’t be so lonely with Ozzie to join him. For lunch we headed to the small town of Lerici close to La Spezia ... read more

Spring in Italy - what does it conjure up? Warm weather, sunshine, light showers and wild flowers everywhere. What did we get today - heavy rain as the Heavens opened. Rain falling like stair rods splashing in the deep puddles. There is a welsh saying about heavy rain - it sounds like old ladies with their sticks and this summed up the noise of the rain falling. Thunder claps filled the air and forks of lightening lightened up the sky. We knew that this part of the Garfagnana was dominated by hills and lush vegetation - none of which we saw due to the thick mist which enveloped everywhere. Barga was described as a pretty hilltop village. We saw very little of it as we ran from the car park to the small restaurant on the ... read more

One of our last visits of our holiday were to a castle, a deserted town on a Sunday afternoon and to see modern sculptures in a town square. Colle Di Val d’Elsa is a quiet little place a bit off the beaten track for visitors. As it was a late Sunday afternoon the town was exceptionally quiet. In the streets we saw weatherbeaten grandfathers smoking or playing cards, grey haired grandmothers knitting or crocheting and children and toddlers playing in the streets. A scene that must have been prevalent in England in the 19th century but lost now. If there was a downside to Colle it was that it was impossible to get food on a Sunday. All restaurants seemed closed and even if we found one that looked vaguely open there seemed no-one interested in ... read more