Towards the Fjords - France 1/6

TRAVEL DIARY From Italy to France via the Gran San Bernardo

Friday 30.07.93

Departure from Milan at 14 with the camper. Heading for the Gran San Bernardo. The road leading to the G.S. Bernardo climbs steeply for the camper. The final stretch before the tunnel is a covered gallery. You pay the toll for the tunnel and, at the Swiss customs, the motorway toll (a sticker to apply to the car). A long descent towards Martigny. It is the apricot harvest season; we can't resist and buy 2 baskets of apricots from a farmer. Stop at a service area near an artificial lake for dinner. During the stop we could smell something burning; we discovered the next day that it was in the engine compartment of the camper: a cable of the charge regulator of the auxiliary battery. After dinner we continued, still on the motorway, among the vineyards of the hills surrounding Lake Geneva. Beautiful lights at sunset over the lake landscape.

Motorway stop to spend the night in a parking area. (377 Km)

Saturday 31.07.93

Departure at 8.30 towards France. Once past the Alps the climate is very comfortable. A beautiful road among the mountains and woods of the Jura; it is a continuous succession of climbs and descents as we cross the Alpine folding perpendicular to its contour lines. At 11 we visit Besancon. We cannot enter the city with the camper: the height limit for passing the walls does not allow it, so we park the camper along the river below the Citadel. Visit to the city, purchase of material to fix the camper's breakdown. The road leading to Troyes is less interesting. Visit to the city, ample parking 700 m away on foot: a lovely historic centre and gardens with half-timbered houses from the 1400s-1600s. The historic centre is called 'the cork' because its plan is shaped like a champagne cork, and the ruelle des Chats. Churches beautiful but not exceptional.

Back on the road towards Reims, on the motorway we stop at a very large service area for dinner and the night. (393 Km)

Sunday 01.08.93

Departure from the area at 8 in the morning. At 9 we are in Reims, we park the camper on the avenue of the Cathedral. Visit to the cathedral, where we find a coach of Italians. Then on the avenue we buy bread and champagne chocolates and 3 bottles of 75 ml of champagne. Reims is the city of Champagne! Here you find fantastic bottles with truly incredible shades of aromas and taste. Of course there are various tastings and the bottles on sale are 75 ml, so that you can buy different types. We leave the city still with the taste of the fantastic chocolates in our mouth (bouchon - because they are shaped like a cork). We follow the sign for Calais and have lunch at the border with Belgium. At 15 we are already visiting Tournai, in Belgium. Historic centre around the Grand Place and the cathedral, a visit to the cathedral treasury, a few rooms with precious pieces and paintings.

Outside the historic centre, a dusty and poorly kept city, especially when compared with touristy French cities. Camping stop at Ooidonk, near a lovely green residential area. After dinner we take a walk to visit the castle-villa enclosed by woods and a moat. Belgian power sockets cannot be used by us. (440 Km)

(the account continues with the country Belgium)