FRANCE, ITALY, SLOVENIA, CROATIA, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA, MONTENEGRO, ALBANIA, ITALY, FRANCE – Part 3
November 5, 2011


And then came Albania, a country closed for decades. Its people, its infrastructures, its countryside all show the resulting effects. It’s a Third World Country. The dirt road in the picture is one we took from the border for about 50 km before coming to reasonable asphalt. We had gone through a night of very heavy rains. Cemeteries in shambles, buildings either unfinished or in tatters yet a gas station every kilometer (with no cars at the pumps) and a carwash every two kilometers (with no one there either). First night we parked in a gas station. Rather ironic that a building in Durres on the coast calls itself “Wall Street” especially after what happened there in the last few years. Durres was where we would take the ferry to southern Italy. Should we have been concerned by the ticket kiosks? On the ferry at 11 pm. We booked a cabin for four to get some sleep. For me, not exactly feeling comfortable in the open ocean, it would help. Maybe. Well…it didn’t! From coast to coast we were in a violent storm with thunder and lightning and howling winds! All the way to Italy…9½ hours!

We drove up the shoreline of Italy in a mix of sun and cloud and with continuing wild winds. The building in the picture is one we’re considering renovating for a more permanent base. Much of the eastern coast of Italy is flat and populated but there is a small rounded nub which juts into the Adriatic Sea that is rugged and beautiful. Stopping for lunch was as eventful here as it was everywhere else.

Half way up the coast we turned west toward Assisi a town famous for its old buildings but especially for being the home of St. Francis of Assisi who was considered to be the patron saint of animals. An amazing town.


Some people look reasonable in the morning while doing breakfast dishes while others…well…don’t. In his 17 years doing the Paris-Dakar, Daniel learned how to look good! He does love himself though especially when he sees his twin in a cheap machine-dispensed coffee place.

Dawn and I had been to Tuscany twice before, once during one of our cycling trips and again to help an Australian friend celebrate an important and sobering birthday. Daniel and Jojo, however, had never been so we showed them around. First was Siena with its tall tower, shell-shaped square and incredible church the inside of which is even more impressive than the detail of the outside face. It was here during a bike trip in 2004 that we found a little restaurant and where Dawn fell in love with the joint’s calzone, the rolled-up pizza. It was so good she refused then to share with me and vowed never to have another (calzone that is) until she could come back. She stuck to her word and had one this trip which she claimed was just as good. I wouldn’t know since she refused to share with me…again!

Next stop…San Gimignano, a medieval village which had at one time 92 large towers; 7 remain. The towers were not built for defence of the town. They were built by rich individuals simply to outdo and out-ego the other rich individuals…kinda like the current Wall Street but with cheap labour. The surrounding area is incredibly beautiful will rolling hills covered in vineyards producing some of the world famous Chianti (by the way…to be the official Chianti Classico it must have the black rooster on the paper stuck to the neck of the bottle).

Then it was on to Florence where the combination of history, art, architecture, Italian cooking, outdoor markets and crazy traffic blend into a mix not to be missed and not seen anywhere in the world. The home of Michelangelo’s famous statue, David. Again this was our second time here. The real one is in a museum that takes forever to get in while the one in this picture is in a park above Florence with a magical view of the city. The cathedral here has one of the most beautiful exteriors, similar to the one in Siena but much larger. It simply cannot be taken in a picture. Here again we took Daniel and Jojo to a local restaurant called an osteria, because of its simplicity, a place Dawn and I had eaten in many times in 2004 during one of our bike trips in Europe.

After two days of intense site-seeing, it was time to move on. We headed toward the north-western part of Italy just below Genoa, a large industrial city. On the way we did a slight detour so Daniel and Jojo could see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. A second time for us and still appearing underwhelming as it did the first time.

The same day we continued on to our original destination, Cinque Terre. We found a campground, still very busy for this time of year just because this place is so famous. Cinque Terre is a strip along the Mediterranean coast of north-western Italy where five small very colourful villages sit precariously on cliffs. Originally fishing villages they are now more famous for the insanely steep vineyards behind them and for their sheer beauty. Access is by train, boat or on foot. During our three days here we used them all…sometimes more often than we wanted to because we would take a train that did NOT stop at the village we wanted to go to! As in most trains in Europe a ticket must be machine stamped prior to boarding. We did that…twice…but nothing seemed to print. We boarded anyway. A conductor in a chippy (not chipper) mood decided he was going to take a strip off us in public to show how important he was. He also demanded a 5 euro (about $7.50) penalty per person. That convinced my finger to get into his face which convinced him to shout louder which convinced me to…well…you get the picture. Once I demanded to see the police at the next stop, he suddenly went away. Daniel was standing in the aisle so I fuelled things further by taking a picture of him and the now wild-man conductor (that would be the fuzzy man to the left of Daniel…note Daniel’s smirk) coming for me demanding that I remove the picture from the camera as it was illegal to take pictures on trains in Italy. Really? This time he threatened the police to which I agreed. He again went away grumbling. A young Italian couple near me got my attention to say, “On behalf of all of Italy, we apologize for his behaviour.” Thanks but just the northern half would suffice.

Okay…maybe it was time to change countries. So France it was. The Cote d’Azur, playground to the rich and famous, yachts bigger than most towns, tax evasion, center of the world for the perfume business, a coastline to drool over, sunny warm weather…and a crush of people and cars to wreck it all. While here we visited one of Daniel’s brothers and his wife living near Marseille. Meeting them almost started badly. Daniel and I decided to play a joke on them (the two at the far end of the table). With Dawn, Daniel and Jojo hidden in our van, I drove into their yard and knocked on the door.
“Do you have a relative in Canada?” I asked.
“Maybe.” Was the curt answer. He looked at the plates on the van and asked if I was from the center of France given away by the number 41 on the plate. It’s a rental, I responded.
“Well, that person said I could come here to eat any time I wanted to.” I added.
“REALLY!!” Unhappiness was kicking in. (‘Had he met the Italian train conductor by any chance’ was rattling around in my head.)
“And another thing, you have a brother near Vendome who owes me money.” was my punch line.
“NO BROTHER OF MINE NEAR VENDOME WOULD OWE ANYBODY ANY MONEY. HE PAYS HIS DEBTS.”
Now the anger was showing, his breathing was becoming laboured and a fist was forming. Time to bail.
“No, no! Don’t worry. Daniel is in the van!”
Garbled anger-filled words were flying at this stage while I began to pound on the windshield to get everybody out…somebody…anybody…to save me.
Daniel came out laughing so hard he could barely stand with handshakes all around following none-to-soon. Daniel’s brother and his wife later said they thought I was a gypsy out on a scam.

We spent three days in the area, mostly with these two very nice people who had by now forgiven me. Apart from sight-seeing this beautiful and historical area, we spent a day at an annual festival celebrating things of 1720, a particularly important year in the history of the town, La Ciotat.
For about a kilometer along the shore displays of arts, cooking and the way of life of that year were represented. Many of the locals dressed up in costumes of the era. Music, symbolic “villages”, animals all representing that time made you feel that you were there…well, except for the Mercedes on the street next to us. It was loud, windy, dusty and fun.

It was then on to the auto route. The French must have the most expensive toll roads in the world. For about 500 km (300 miles) we paid over $100!! Lesson learned. Another lesson was to come. On the highway we filled up the van. Within a kilometer we were losing power and came to a stop.
I let Daniel know by CB he shouldn’t get to far ahead as we had a problem. We quickly figured it out. I had put gasoline in a vehicle with a diesel engine. That was not gonna work! Called our car insurance assistance number. Within thirty minutes we were loaded up and on our way to a garage. Problem was it was Sunday. Closed. The tow-truck operator, a mechanic himself, offered for a cash price to get it done. Deal!!. The gasoline was emptied, filters cleaned and diesel introduced. Vrooom! The White Night sure liked that a lot more. We continued on.

The next day we arrived in Toulouse, home to the airplane company Airbus. We were there to visit the A380 assembly line. The world’s largest passenger plane was well worth a visit.

Our last night out we wild-camped near an old castle. It was purchased by an individual who is in the process of renovating it. He started in 1958…and he has a very long way to go…hope he has kids.

Then back to our little apartment near Vendome.


Total for the France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Italy, France (PHEW!!) trip?? 58 days, 8069 km (4841 miles), 176 bottles of booze. And did we have a good time you ask? For us it was one of the best trips ever. Ya just can’t beat good weather, good food, good scenery and good friends in one sweet package.