rbcameron

We just arrived in Venice, but I want to catch up on our hike in the Dolomites. From Salzburg we took the train to Bolzano, the main town of the Alto Adige (if you're Italian) or Sudtirol (if you're Austrian). There's still a very strong German-speaking presence here, even though the area was grabbed by Italy after the First World War. On Monday we took a bus from Bolzano to Selva, a small town in the beautiful Val Gardena, and started our hike. At first it was a pleasant stroll up the gently climbing valley, enclosed on both sides by towering, jagged peaks. Before long the terrain became much steeper and we climbed up on stony trails to the first rifugio, Puez. It sits in a high meadow, just above the cliff over the valley. It's ... read more

Yesterday we spent most of the day at the Schoenbrunn Palace, Vienna's answer to Versailles. Originally the emperor used it as a summer palace, but the last few lived there full time, right up to the abdication of the last emperor in 1918. We toured the state rooms, which are highly decorative in an 18th/19th century way. Unfortunately, no photos allowed inside. Like Versailles, the palace is surrounded by huge, beautifully designed grounds. We spent a couple of hours exploring the paths and looking in bemusement at the faux Roman ruins and strange fountains. Back in central Vienna we had our best dinner yet at a (mainly) vegetarian restaurant. They did veg variations on some standard Austrian dishes, such as the mushroom schnitzel I had. Very delicious! Today we took the train to Salzburg and spent ... read more

Moustiers turned out to be a pretty village clinging to the side of a tall limestone cliff. A rushing stream runs right through the middle of the village, dividing it into two parts that are joined by two or three bridges. Above there are two tokens of religious fervour: a chapel perched on a rock perhaps 100 m above the village, and a gold metal star hung from a chain that spans the gap the stream has carved in the cliffside! I climbed up to the chapel, just because I wasn't already tired enough after 66 km of riding. The next day we embarked on the challenge of the Gorges du Verdon. The ride actually started with a long descent from Moustiers to the point where the river emerges from the gorge, to feed a hydro ... read more

After Mende we spent two more days wending our way through the quiet, green hills of the Cevennes. Then yesterday we stumbled into Tourist France. The first hint was the flotilla of multi-coloured kayaks floating down the Ardèche river. Then we reached Pont d'Arc, an incredible stone arch carved by the river over millennia. An awesome spectacle - and a destination of bus tours and helicopter charters... We stayed at a chambre d'hotes nearby, and had another brush with meteorological disaster. Minutes after we arrived at the house, the skies opened with a furious deluge. The thunderstorm lasted all night and into the morning. We were starting to wonder how we could avoid getting soaked on the day's ride when the storm ended (after 16 hours!) almost as abruptly as it started. A good thing, too, ... read more

We've just spent three days crossing the Périgord. We stayed in Les Eyzies, where we visited the Font de Gaume, a cave with marvellous prehistoric wall paintings. It's the only French cave with multicoloured wall paintings you can still visit. (Lascaux, for example, is out of bounds - but they've built an exact replica of it that you can explore!) We were with a small group and led by a really enthusiastic man. He gave the tour in French, but every once in a while tossed and English word or two at us ("bison", "engraving", "don't touch"). The next day we stopped in Sarlat, a very beautiful town full of buildings glowing with the local golden stone. Also full of tourists - especially since we were there on market day. And what a market! Lots of ... read more