Sunday 5th of
July and we’ve decided to make the transit back to France in as big a hop as
possible, as we want to get over to the French Atlantic coast for a trip down
memory lane - and to meet up with Chris and Sue who have just moved from
Brighton, to Salies-de-Béarn in the Pyrenées-Atlantiques region.
After a quick swap of blog
addresses with Chris and Wendy who we met at Lido Salpi en route for Greece, we
headed off to Foggia and the Italian motorway network up the east coast of the
mainland. This was our first go at using the Autostrada for a long distance
trip and we had no idea of their standard, or cost, over such a big distance. The
motorways we had used so far on the west coast had been variable in standard – and
south of Naples and on Sicily, mostly free of charge.
So, just after 10:00 we set
off – into a Sunday morning traffic jam as peeps headed to and from the coast.
The Italians seem to be very organised at getting to the beach early and we had
seen a steady stream heading to the beach past the campsite from about 08:00!
Once on the motorway though,
we made good progress, stopping near Pescara for lunch and a view over the
beaches. The motorway hugs the coast for much of this coast and is very
picturesque, making driving very enjoyable.
We had largely clear roads
until we skirted round Bologna, where we slowed to a crawl for about an hour.
Once the other side, we made good progress again and stopped for a bite to eat
near Piacenza, using the auxiliary fan for the first time to help keep Mrs B
cool as she created yet another culinary treat to keep us going! The
temperatures throughout the day had been mid to high 30s outside and low 40s in
the cab - and they didn’t drop much as it got dark!
We left the motorway at Asti
and were pleasantly surprised at the €61.90 cost. This seemed like very good
value to us, given the very slow progress we would have made on the ordinary
roads - and the quality of the road surface was every bit as good as France for
the whole journey. Indeed, the Italian toll model of only charging at the point
of exit (rather than intermediate toll booths as in France and Spain), made the
journey faster and smoother.
It seems that the general
neglect of the Italian south and west is evident in its motorway network, which
although largely free and showing signs of major renovation in parts, is more
akin to Spain and Portugal 20 years ago. It didn’t bother us unduly, as the van
has a heavy duty truck chassis and suspension seats – but it clearly challenges
some vehicles!
As it was still too hot to
even think about sleeping, we pressed on into the night and eventually stopped
to have a kip at Fossano, north of Cuneo, next to another campervan in a small
carpark. It was still in the high twenties at 00:30 so we used the skylight fan
– also for the first time this trip – the gentle breeze was just what we needed
to help us off to sleep.
By 05:00 the noise of HGVs
on the move woke me up and we decided that I’d put in a shift to get us over
the French border and stop for breakfast whilst Mrs B had a lie in. By seven
o’clock we were still in Italy heading up over the Alps, so we stopped for a
quick cup of tea and breakfast and then headed off again into the mountains. As
we neared the French border at Colle della Madalena, we pulled over to have a
much needed coffee boost, overlooking a very picturesque valley and hills.
Not long after that we were
across the French border and heading to Gap, where we treated ourselves to a
French food shop and refuel at the much lower diesel prices (average in Italy
about €1.50 and France about €1.20). There doesn’t seem to be a network of
cheap supermarket fuel stations in Italy, unlike France and the UK – but it was
still cheaper in Italy than the UK, so no moaning!
The scenery as we crossed
the Alps was spectacular, with glassy reflections of mountains in lakes and
even a beaver crossing the road at one point!
As we started to drive
through small towns and villages, the general tidiness and absence of litter
along the roadside and in lay-bys was a testament to the very different civic
cultures in Italy and France.
The journey down the French
side of the Alps was as hot as the trip on the Italian side and by mid
afternoon we were so hot and sticky we pulled over by the river Aygues en route
to Nyon and went for a dip in the cooling water.
Although not deep enough to
swim in where we stopped, the effect was thoroughly therapeutic and we set off
again feeling refreshed and ready for exploring the options for our stop over
in France.
As France is just so much
better provisioned than Italy for Aires-de-Camping Cars and good value
municipal campsites (and we were out of our ACSI discount season) we opted to
just drive and see what turned up – knowing we could easily free camp if we
found nothing – but hoping to find a site all the same! By six o’clock we had
spotted a sign for Camping les Dolmens near Méjannes-le-Clap, east of Alés, and
managed to get a pitch for the night.
The shady pitch (with hedges
and attendant privacy – a rare sight in Italy!), a swimming pool and hot
showers, were just what we needed, and although we could have done without the
cheesy (and at times, unintentionally hilarious) piano bar chanteur who serenaded
the campsite until midnight, we had a lovely cool night and set off towards
Salies next morning, looking forward to catching up with Chris and Sue in their
new French home, after another overnight stop somewhere en route. We plan to
use the Autoroutes from Nimes to somewhere near Pau (depending on journey
times) – so it will be interesting to compare costs with Italy!
S.
No comments:
Post a Comment