France with a Quick Detour to Italy
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andrea bocelli at the Teatro de silenzio, lajatico
We had a date in Italy! About 12 months ago we purchased tickets to see Andrea Bocelli in concert at the Teatro de Silenzio, an open-air amphitheatre located in the city of Lajatico – the hometown of the man himself – in the region of Tuscany. In 2006 Bocelli convinced the municipality of Lajatico to build this outdoor venue where he now performs an annual concert; the rest of the year the theatre lives up to its name and is silent.
To get from our location of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc to Italy we had a choice, over the Alps or through them, via the Mont Blanc tunnel. Rather unwisely we chose the tunnel. It took us 1½ hours to travel up the 3km twisting mountain road to the toll booth at the entrance to the tunnel. Once there, the authorities were allowing one car through every 5 minutes after extracting the hefty toll of €52.30 per vehicle or, in our case €69.30 as we were recognised as a camping car. So what do you get for your money?? A journey of 11.5km through a tunnel, which when opened in 1965 was the longest vehicular tunnel in the world. At its deepest point, the tunnel lies 2,480 metres beneath the surface and is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes, particularly for Italy which relies on the tunnel for transporting as much as one-third of its freight to northern Europe. But having been thrilled by Norwegian tunnel building, Mont Blanc was a bit of an anti-climax, although there was one highlight. As we popped out of the tunnel darkness and our eyes adjusted to the sunlight, the first vehicle we saw was a beautiful, gleaming, black Ferrari, which would suggest we were now in Italy.
volterra
The concert was 500km from Mont Blanc and as we only had a couple of days to get there, we opted to pay the tolls on the A26, Autostrada dei Trafori (Autostrada of the Tunnels), aptly named as we counted 93 tunnels in under 200km, which for the price of €25 was rather better value than the Mont Blanc Toll. We had left the booking of accommodation for the concert until the last minute and we eventually ended up finding somewhere to stay in the walled mountaintop town of Volterra, the oldest continually inhabited town in Italy with over 3,000 years of history. Perched on a ridge 1,770m above sea level, in the province of Pisa, the town is surrounded by two walls that house various archaeological findings as well as the oldest Town Hall in Tuscany. It would be hard to imagine a more Italianate setting than that of the surrounding rolling hills and soft valleys with their rows of grapevines and olive groves outlined by centuries-old cypresses.
The Teatro del Silenzio is quite intimate in that its full capacity is just 12,000, but with just a couple of entrances, the wait to get in took well over an hour and under the hot evening sun was a feat of endurance. However, once past the ticket point and bag check, the amphitheatre afforded good views of the stage from all seated sections and the large screens were well utilised. It was all a bit surreal, there we were in the middle of Tuscany, watching Andrea Bocelli perform alongside a full orchestra, a group of singers clothed and masked in shining gold, flag throwers and a troupe of ballet dancers. The concert finished with the whole ampitheatre on its feet as Bocelli gave his all to Con te Partiro/Time to say Goodbye.
at the top of the great st bernard pass
The following day we were once again on the Autostrada, heading back to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc to do some trekking. This time though we opted to give the tunnel a miss and drive over the top of the Alps via Switzerland and the Great St Bernard Pass. At 2,469 m above sea level, the Great St. Bernard Pass is Switzerland's third highest pass, and is the most important link between Western Switzerland and Italy. Two very different heroes have made this pass famous: Barry the rescue dog, and Napoleon the military commander.
The pass links the Aosta Valley and the Piedmont region in Italy with Martigny in the Rhone Valley of Switzerland and has been one of the most important Alpine crossings since the days of the Roman Empire. It takes its name from Saint Bernard of Aosta, who founded the Great St. Bernard Hospice at the top of the pass in 1050. It was one of the first institutions dedicated to rescuing victims of mountain emergencies, and it achieved particular fame because of the St. Bernard species of dogs that were bred there by the monks. From about 1750 onwards, these dogs were successfully used to search for avalanche victims and travellers who had lost their way while crossing the pass. The most famous St. Bernard dog was Barry (1800–1814), who is said to have saved more than 40 human lives.
A famous painting, ‘Bonaparte Crossing the Great St Bernard Pass’, commissioned by King Charles IV of Spain, commemorates Napoleon leading an army of 40,000 men and heavy arms across the Pass to confront the Austrian troops near the city of Alessandria in Italy. The crossing was made in May 1800 at a time when the pass was reputed to be unnavigable due to heavy snow, thus being of considerable note at the time. However, there seems to have been a bit of poetic licence as instead of being ‘calmly seated on a fiery horse’ as depicted in the painting, he actually made the crossing on a mule.
The drive over the pass was spectacular, hairpin turn after hairpin turn before arriving at the top, where a beautiful view over the lake opened up. Considering the time of year and the fact that the road is only open between June and October, there were not too many people up there and the undoubted wear and tear on the brake pads was a small price to pay to experience this fantastic route.
mountain express that connects the towns of the chamonix valley, french alps
Back in the Chamonix Valley we were fortunate to get a spot on a campsite just outside Argentiere, one of five towns strung through the valley, all connected by road and the cute little red train the Mont Blanc Express. Bordered by Switzerland and Italy and dominated by the incredible Aiguilles de Chamonix Mountain chain which peaks at the top of Mont Blanc, this area is the heart of the French Alps and a look in any direction is rewarded with breathtaking views of glaciers and snow-capped mountains. The choice of hiking routes in the area seems endless with over 350km of maintained trails to choose from and we knocked off some of the more well-known which included a climb up to the Lac Blanc Refuge and the Grand Balcon Sud. It would have been easy to stay longer but for now we have marked the Tour du Mont Blanc, a 170km trekking trail through France, Italy and Switzerland, on our bucket list so there is a good chance that we will be back.
grand balcon sud hike
With our sights now set on Callais with plans to spend more time back in the UK, we mapped a route through Lausanne, Switzerland, the French Jura and Epernay with a quick detour into Luxembourg so that we could stick another flag on Bob.
epernay, champagne
Epernay, together with Reims, represents the heart of Champagne country and how remiss would it be to leave France without finding out more about a product whose exports during 2022 were worth 4.15 billion euros? To further our education, we joined a group at one of the small-scale grower/producers where we were immersed into the obsessive business of producing this world-famous celebratory drink. There are over 300 champagne houses (Moet & Chandon being the largest) and more than 16,000 growers in a region that is about 34,000 hectares and includes over 300 villages, also called “crus”. The options for tasting, range from calling into one of the champagne houses, many of which line the Avenue de Champagne in Epernay, to sampling a flight at any of the champagne bars that jostle for space down each of the quaint, cobbled streets. Not surprisingly, the business of quaffing this much sought after tipple is the reason most people are here and the sound of popping corks was a constant as we wandered around. Despite dealing with the hazards of climate change which has seen a decrease in production over the last 10 years, the region still managed to produce over 300 million bottles during 2022 and had we arrived just a few weeks later we would have had the opportunity to get involved in the annual harvest. It seemed that pickers were a bit thin on the ground and many of the growers were desperately attempting to persuade anyone that happened to be passing through to spend a couple of weeks bum up in the vineyards. Hard work I’m sure but not a bad way to pass the time, particularly taking into account the traditional celebration to Bacchus once all the grapes are in the vats.
saint quentin, northern france
Getting ever closer to Calais, our last few nights in northern France turned out to be some of the best wild camping experiences that we have had so far. With no parking restrictions, peaceful, countryside and an abundance of bird life, night after night we pitched up to a secluded spot right next to the water. With walking and cycling trails all around, which we mostly had to ourselves, it was the perfect scenario that every overlander dreams about.
Just before we said our final goodbye to France, we called in at one of the animal hospitals and managed to get a walk-in consultation for Leroy who was due his annual rabies top-up jab as well as the obligatory tape worm tablet and health certificate sign-off required to get into the UK. With his documentation up to date we were good to go but a bit sad to be leaving France. I think, out of all the countries we have been to so far, France is probably our favourite – along with everyone else, as it has been the most visited country in the world for the last 20 years.
One delayed shuttle ride later and we were back in the UK. Barely 5 miles out of Folkstone and parked up at Ollie’s Auto Electrics where we were relishing in being able to speak the language whilst hoping for some help to figure out why Bob’s water tank senders are not talking to the Pico Simarine system which, amongst other things, monitors our fresh water levels. We have two tanks a 40lt and a 60lt which are fitted under the chassis. We drained both tanks when we up in the Baltic States last winter over concerns about the water freezing and causing damage but when we eventually re-filled them the readings on the system were just sitting at 0% which is where they have been ever since, regardless of how much water we are carrying. Nothing urgent, but something we did want fixed and our efforts up to now had got us nowhere. Unfortunately, Ollie also came up short but suggested that we call in again on our way out of the UK and he would have another look. Next on the list was trying to get to the bottom of our central locking and immobiliser failure. We had previously visited a couple of garages in France as well as a LR Dealership in Italy trying to resolve the issue, again without success, and clutching at straws we contacted Matt at A55 Auto Locksmiths who fixed the issue in less than half an hour by replacing a blown fuse!!!! How embarrassing, but why hadn’t the garages diagnosed the problem?? Over the next few days we replaced one of the broken air vent covers on the bonnet – broken by me standing on it to access the roof rack, and put a new external handle on one of the second row doors – broken by Ian sliding stuff down from the roof. Pico system aside, all we need to get done now is new brake pads and gear box, but this is going to have to wait a few weeks as we are now heading north to walk the Pennine Way, a 270 mile (430km) national Trail along the central mountains of England. We have two weeks to get organised and are hoping that the summer the UK has been waiting for is just around the corner.