Adventure – turnrightoutofportsmouth

Next stop on our Italian Adventure: Exploring Lucca and Pisa

The next stage of our Italian roadtrip taking in Lucca and Pisa 🙂

We set off from Celle Ligure hoping for a relaxing, picturesque run along the coast road to our next destination near Marina di Massa. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be; the road was far from picturesque or relaxing, so after suffering the clogged outskirts of Genoa, we decided to jump onto the toll road, which turned out to be surprisingly affordable (14.30Euros to go 73 miles). We looked forward to arriving in Marina di Massa, but were unfortunately rather disappointed on arrival.

The campsite, Camping Giardino, was not what we had been expecting and trying to find a supermarket was very frustrating involving cycling along a busy, uninspiring road to find a Carrefour Express with very poor produce ☹

However, the next morning brought a renewed sense of optimism as I ventured out for a short run along the coast. I ran the other way to where we’d cycled the previous day, which offered some slightly more promising scenery. We were in need of a rest though and chose to chill out by the van and around the pool for the day. We forgot to take our swimming hats though and chose not to use those that were offered to us (they’d clearly never been washed…)

We had some British neighbours for the first time and they told us about the region’s abundant marble quarries of Carrara. We had seen much evidence of this on our drive, seeing huge marble slabs waiting to be transported. Our neighbours had a motorbike with them and went up to undertake the quarry jeep tour, which they said was amazing.

After a restful 2 nights we moved on, passing through the much nicer area of Marina di Massa just a mile or so up the road…

Our next stop was the enchanting city of Lucca, a place that quickly won our hearts. We stayed at the dedicated motorhome parking area of Parking Luporini, which was absolutely perfect 😊

We had a quick wander down to the town in the evening but saved our main exploration for the following day when we were greeted by a vibrant and bustling atmosphere. Having to negotiate the city’s streets, competing with an eclectic mix of bikes, mopeds, delivery vans and even rubbish trucks was most certainly an experience! Even the supposedly pedestrianized areas were not immune to the bustling energy of daily life.

While in Lucca, I took the opportunity to collect a unique souvenir—a fridge magnet crafted by the talented artist Maria Guida. It serves as a charming memento, capturing a piece of Lucca’s spirit that I will keep with me.

Sadly, our visit to the iconic Torre de Guinigi was thwarted by its closure for maintenance. Nevertheless, we found solace in the city’s beautiful cathedral, its architectural splendour a testament to Lucca’s rich history.

For lunch, we discovered Undici Undici, a quaint restaurant with a mesmerizing view of the cathedral. The ambience was enhanced by the warm hospitality of a lovely waitress, who added a personal touch to our dining experience.

Later in the evening, as the sun set, we embarked on a bike ride atop the city walls, immersing ourselves in the vibrant tapestry of Lucca’s evening activities. The walls were alive with walkers, scooter riders, and an abundance of runners, all enjoying the shared space and the city’s unmistakable charm. From here we were able to appreciate all the sights of Lucca from a different perspective.

I wanted to start the day with a run along the city walls, but found myself succumbing to exhaustion from all the walking the day before!

From Lucca, we had just a short journey onto Pisa, where we finally fulfilled our long-held dream of seeing the leaning tower. The tower did not disappoint, and we realized that pictures alone cannot do justice to its unique lean.

The cathedral and baptistery in the Piazza dei Miracoli were equally impressive. We learned that the leaning tower started leaning during its construction but has been stabilized to prolong its lifespan – it’s thought by a further 300 years.

After enjoying a drink just outside the city walls, we walked along the city walls before finding our way back to the motorhome parking area, Camperisti Pisani, which had the added bonus of an old, abandoned running track nearby – so at least I managed to get a run in this time 😊

Our next destinations were Florence and Siena, and I will include details of both in my next post 😊

Note: for more photos see my instagram & facebook posts 🙂

https://www.instagram.com/turnrightoutofportsmouth/

https://www.polarsteps.com/turnrightoutofportsmouth/7279815-italy-etc-2023

Traversing the Mont Cenis Pass: A Motorhome Adventure from France to Italy

We unexpectedly ended up heading through the stunning Mont Cenis Pass, to get from France to Italy, and it was an experience that delivered breath-taking views, thrilling twists and turns (lots of them) and an abundance of historical and natural wonders to enjoy. This scenic route gave us Fort Marie Therese, from where you can take several via ferrata routes on the Via Ferrata du Diable up to Fort Victor Emmanuel; stationery chairlifts hanging empty and silent just metres above us; a beautiful lake at the summit and the remains of Grand Croix abandoned village which was the only village ‘saved’ when the dam was built and all the other local villages were flooded. Join us as we take you on a captivating journey through this picturesque mountain pass.

Fort Marie Therese and Via Ferrata: As you make your way through the Mont Cenis Pass, a stop at Fort Marie Therese is almost impossible to resist. This impressive 19th-century fortress offers up a large car park, a snack bar (not open when we visited), toilets, high ropes courses and picnic tables. We stopped to drink in the amazing scenery.

Serene Lake and Grand Croix Abandoned Village: After winding our way through the twisty, steeply climbing roads and hairpin bends, we were eventually greeted by the serene beauty of Lake Mont Cenis. Not particularly blue on the day we passed by, and with the water level not as high as it really should be, it is still breath-taking and certainly merited stopping, again…. At the head of the lake we stopped for a spot of lunch while it snowed lightly outside the van 🙂

As we began our descent towards Italy and just a short distance from the lake, we stumbled upon the ghostly Grand Croix abandoned village – I say stumbled, we could clearly see it from our lunch spot, but it wasn’t clear just how abandoned it was from there. Frozen in time, this ghost town offers a hauntingly beautiful sight. We explored the crumbling houses (I waited for Calv to head back to the van to get his raincoat before venturing inside 1 of the buildings) and overgrown paths, and imagined the lives that once thrived in this remote location. It would appear however that the chapel is still in use (much like the church in Dorset’s abandoned village of Tyneham). As we left I spotted the sign saying it was too dangerous to enter (as I said to Calv I’m not daft, and I was careful to not step anywhere dodgy…)

Customs and the Border: The village is behind a large car park and hut. This is the customs hut (no longer used). This isn’t the actual border as we first thought (hence the daft photo – we thought that 1 of us was in France and the other in Italy…), but where the border is, a little way further along the road, there is no possibility of a customs point. There is also evidence of the original road here. Whilst at the village we spotted some more Marmots running around and hiding from us behind clumps of grass – although we could still hear them squeaking to each other (and, who knows, perhaps to us as well 🙂

Overnight in Chianocco: By the time we were in Italy we were shattered, so made a quick stop at the first Lidl supermarket we saw – Calv stayed in the van whilst I went in to get a couple of essentials (it would appear that Lidl in Italy is way better than Lidl in France).

For our first overnight stay in Italy we headed up just beyond Bussonelo to the village of Chianocco. We parked up amidst the scenic beauty of the countryside enjoying views of mountains and grapevines, and enjoyed a restful night’s sleep after sitting out for the 1st time on our trip (with coats on though!!). This set us up nicely for our onward journey south through Italy (starting with a stay in the beautiful city of Cuneo)

Conclusion:

We’re so glad that we met up with Gary from @Happy2Dream who persuaded us (although it didn’t take much to be fair!) to abandon our plans to go through the Frejus tunnel (which would have cost us at least 68Euros – probably more like 80Euros) and head over the pass.

Because driving over the Mont Cenis Pass, even in an 8.5m motorhome, from France to Italy gave us an unforgettable experience, and is the highlight of our trip so far 🙂 (especially the village of Grand Croix). I watched Calv enjoying every minute of the drive – he said it’s so much better than using the motorways 🙂

So, if this is something that you’ve considered and dismissed, or are still undecided, our advice is to go for it (unless it’s snowing….) You won’t regret it – we didn’t 🙂

Our bike ride in the Mountains behind La Azohia

We set out today thinking that we would cycle back up the way we’d come through the mountains to the 1st viewpoint. Not the best idea! This is a main road with no proper verge and we realised after 1 1/2 miles that perhaps we should abandon the initial plan (when faced with a steep climb in those conditions I didn’t feel so confident..)

But we’re back into the ‘Everything happens for a reason’ territory here, as we took a left towards Campillo del Andentro. We got to examine one of those abandoned, derelict (okay, falling down – or even fallen down) houses – I have a thing about buildings; I like to explore them!

We still had a steep hill to climb, but on a very quiet road (we saw at least 2 dozen cars on the main road in the 10 minutes or so we were on it….). So up we went and at the top we stopped and looked down on a couple of little villages and what looked like a ruin of some sort of fort – guess where we were headed?!

So now for the 1st of my records broken today. Heading down I allowed myself to get up to 17.5 mph before chickening out (I know, it’s pathetic – Calv was way ahead, I think he got up to about 25mph on this descent…).

We came to the 1st village, Campillo del Andentro, and spotted a ‘local social’ (very cheap drinks in these, 1 euro – whatever you have..). We then went off to the left to explore the ruin that we’d found. Chained the bikes together and headed up the escarpment to the building. I really can’t tell you what this building was, but it was very large with numerous individual rooms and a couple of larger ones and a central courtyard, so I’m thinking maybe a hospital or asylum of some kind.

Unfortunately this was all observed through the window openings and the main door (which we tried not to get too close to as the plinth above looked pretty precarious). There was graffiti everywhere (this is really not unusual unfortunately), together with debris – pottery, tiles etc. strewn down the hill in front. Bit of a doer upper, if you like 🙂

Front facade of the ruin

Back of the ruin

Ruin found in Campello Anderos (on our mountain ride) – Not sure – perhaps a hospital or asylum??

View through some window bars

When we left there we followed the road round to the left where we’d seen a couple of cars heading. This turned out to be a road up the mountain, part of a cycle/hiking path. Cars were able to follow the majority of the route (although the map shows it as closed to motor vehicles). We decided to go for it and see how far we got (I should know by now that when Calv says that he means “I’ll just keep on pushing you until you can’t go any further…”).

It was all good, apart from stopping a couple of times – I absolutely cannot get going again on hills like this! Trust me I tried!! So that meant that I had to get on my bike while Calv pushed me to get going – it’s okay, I don’t think anyone saw us 🙂

We got to a point (I measured it on the way down – it was 2.25 miles in) where I just couldn’t go any further, so I sent Calv on by himself (turned out to be just under a mile further). I could see him (courtesy of his yellow fluorescent jacket)! Even from where I was the views were amazing – unfortunately Calv didn’t have his camera or phone with him, and neither of us thought about him taking my phone, so we didn’t get any pictures from the top. He said there was a viewpoint and the views were fantastic and that I should be kicking myself for not making it any further – rub it in, why don’t you? 😦

From our mountain bike ride looking back towards the campsite

On the way down I held onto my breaks most of the way (I’m scared of falling off, even more so when there’s a sheer drop down a mountain awaiting me…). I was so far behind Calv that he considered coming back up to find me! However, the very last bit I let the brakes go and got up to 24.8mph!

We’d earned our drink in the Local Social (I only had a Fanta!) Beer and Fanta – 2 euros 🙂

Then it was time to tackle the hill back up from the village – this one was hard work! But on the way back down to the main road, with an empty road and a better surface, I let go of the brakes again and got up to over 27mph! (Calv had hit 32mph). So I broke my own record 3 times in an afternoon!

Very enjoyable and I would do it all over again (next time I’d remember to take a drink with us though..)