Rob and I arrived Bale Friday 12th July and have settled somewhat into the village life with a busy week of socialising and beach activities…

I am surrounded by people speaking Italian, some Croatian and various dialects too. Shopkeepers speak Croatian and many tourists also speak German and French. At home it is all Italian so I am in a constant Italian lesson. Rob’s Zia (Aunty) Irene has the patience of a Saint and is determined to correct and educate me. “Capisco” is the most common expression (do you understand?).

Although holiday season with many tourists about, the little village of Bale remains charming.

Called the Stone City by Casanova when he visited in 1743 – 47 and fell in love with Bale, the original Castello (Cadtle) still exists with the newer village surrounding it. By newer i should say this is also hundreds of years old.

Dating back to the 800’s with Venetian influence in the architecture it is easy to see the attraction.

Last week we spent quite a lot of time at La Mare (Beach/Sea). Mon Perrin a 4 star “glamping” establishment has two areas, San Polo and Cologne. I like the beaches here as there is no sand but la rocche is a little difficult on soft feet :). The water is lovely and clear and just the right temperature after laying in the warm sunshine for a while.

We visited local Rovinj last Monday (Lunedi). About 3 times the size of Bale it was bustling with “touristi”. Roberto and I walked around the original Castello – similar to Bale in this way and the via’s were full of small markets. I brought la Sac and was pleased that it was all made from recycled material.

Roberto’s cousin Gabrielle and wife Claudia are also vacationing in Bale this week with their Bellissimo daughter Kiara. Both Rob and I are captivated by her, she is a truly delightful “bambina”. Claudia’s papa Vittorio and partner Louisa visited on Tuesday and we went to a local Macedonian restaurant called Lav where we had mixed Mezze grill and salads.

Vittorio speaks a little English and we talked of a shared passion for cooking so he promised to cook an Italian specialty for us the next day “Perdoci” spaghetti with mussels. There was also a surprise at the end of the meal with traditional Italian and Croatian music performed by a friend of Gabrielle’s and Vittorio. Bravo gentleman, what a splendid evening.

Last Friday Gabrielle bought a huge amount of Peschi (fish) caught that morning from the Lemska canal behind Rovinj.

Rob and I collected seawater and Irene cleaned the fish. Cooked on a BBQ and served with Aglio (Garlic) and Prezzemeteo (parsley) and Olio (olive oil) it was delicious!

Rob is excited that the Lions are doing so well, winning again on Saturday. My team the Swans quite the opposite this year unfortunately.

Today Monday we are back in Rovinj exploring the Park Suma Zlatni Rt which is opposite Rovinj proper and the marina.

Currently sitting in a cafe, this is the view. Hard work I know but someone has to do it. 🙂

Not sure if my photos are all loading in each post? If you can’t see them could you please let me know with a comment. GRAZIE!

Big shout out to my sister Kay for her hip surgery tomorrow! Thinking of you with lots of love, hoping it goes really well. Love Maryann and Rob.

Thursday 11th July 2019 – Friday 12th July 2019

Rob had planned our drive from Paris to Bale across three days. Day two would see us move from France across Switzerland and into Italy around Como which is North of Milano.

We set out from Ribeauville about 8:45am and headed for Colmar where we joined the Motorway and then onto Basel where we crossed the Swiss Border. We had to stop here to purchase a vignette (pass) which is required for Swiss highways travel.

Almost immediately across the border we could see Alpine ranges in the distance on both sides. If you zoom on the photo of Rob driving you will see the snow caps. Also most of my photos today are taken while moving so apologies in advance for the quality. 🙂

We travelled towards and past Luzern and then onto St Gotthards pass. There are lots of tunnels on this route, the longest being the Gotthard at 17km’s. The scenery was amazing and I took way too many photos!!!

We stopped for lunch at a rest stop at Piotta. The above photo looks back towards Piotta and the amazing Alpine mountains.

We passed through Switzerland to Italy around 4pm crossing the border at Chiasso near Como. Rob’s plan had been to drive around the spit and Lake Como stopping at Lecco. Good thing we hadn’t booked accommodation as we were thrust into very chaotic Italian traffic and the route to Lecco became very narrow. We took a wrong turn which wound up and around a steep mountainside with nowhere to turn around. It took 11km’s before we found a place to turn back. We returned to Como and found another route out of Como and accommodation.

It was like a movie where the Westerner is completely overwhelmed by the Italian traffic, people were whizzing past in their cars and it felt like a collision was imminent the whole time. Rob kept his cool though and we made it through safely. 🙂

We were only stuck in the crazy traffic around Como for about an hour and we found accommodation at nearby Albaville, arriving around 5:45.

Enrico our host, referred us up the road to a local pizzeria and ristorante “Elvis ” near the local supermercato!

I took this photo as I know this word well from an Italian lesson on grocery shopping and it’s my very first visit to one!

After a long days driving, over 400km’s, it was nice to sit back and relax over a glass of vino Rosso which comes chilled in a carafe with a choice of “House” or nothing else. It was Moulto Bene however and ideal to celebrate our first Italian meal together in Italy.

Rob was hungry so ordered Antipasto hot and cold plus a Seafood risotto for secondi! The antipasto ended up being three plates plus we received a complimentary pizza bread. I ordered Linguini Vorgola (seafood) and that was huge too so all up way too much food but it was all deliciosa!

Friday 12th July

We woke early to a beautiful morning – view from the flat’s balcony below. After a typical italian breakfast of cafe, biscottis, fruit and yoghurt we said arrivederci to Enrico and we’re back on the road by 7:40am.

Some days are great for photos, some aren’t. This was one that wasn’t with a cloudy heat haze hanging low on the horizon most of the day.

I couldn’t resist trying to get a photo of the Dolomites though. This is how they look on a clear day, courtesy of Google.

The very tips of the mountains slipped in and out of view for about 50 km’s. This my photo taken from Podere Pustot at 1:00pm when we had to stop for roadwork. The dark blue areas that look like clouds are actually the tops of several mountains!

We passed from Italy into Slovenia and then about 30 minutes later we crossed the Border into Croatia and before long, around 4pm we arrived at Bale. We will be staying here for the next couple of months, on and off as we continue to travel Croatia.

Wednesday – 11 July 2019.

We left Chateau Thierry early as we had a big day of driving ahead. Rob had booked us in at Ribeauville for the night and as fortune would have it the Tour de France would be going through Frapelle and Ribesuville; both on our way today, so we just had to get to Frapelle, the first spot to see it, 382 kilometres away before 1;30pm!

As we drove I was able to catch those wheat fields I mentioned in my last post and a bullet train, though not quick enough to snap the front aha!

We arrived at Frappell with 20 minutes to spare and with just a few minutes walk to the road closure. We even had a brief chat to a local that knew a smattering of English.

When they came through they were so close and so fast! It was all over in a few seconds.

Awesome! Great planning Rob.

We then jumped back in the car and headed for beautiful Ribeauville. Near Strasbourg, this picturesque town has many charming medieval houses and is surrounded by the ruins of three castles.

Our BnB on Rue de Chateau was just off the Grand Rue (main Street) and very charming it was.

At the top of the street and above the BnB on the nearby Rue de Temple the church bells rang on the hour which was really charming.

The town was like a postcard at every turn. This picture shows St. Ulrich castle high on the hill in the background.

Rob and I checked in, had a quick lunch of banquet, salad and terrine, stowed our gear and then headed out to catch the next leg of the Tour.

Once again it was an invigorating experience so I bought Rob a T Shirt as a souvenir and we headed back to the flat so that he could watch the end of the days race.

Meanwhile I headed back out to torment the local shopkeepers with my dreadful French! I had a wonderful hour wandering the shops and exploring the town. I only bought one thing – a lovely Tisane for Rob’s Sia (Aunty) Irena and all of the shops attendants were very kind to me.

Later in the evening we went out for dinner, again we opted for local specialties. This time – snails to share, charcuterie for Rob – 5 meats with Sauerkraut and a flambeau (bit like pizza) for me but we shared both.

After dinner we had a last walk around beautiful Riveauville which also has some rather amazing crane nests, complete with Cranes! One of which was a top this house.

And another had it’s own spire, no birds in this one thoughand we also saw a second one just like this which was also empty.

Beautiful Pinot noir vineyards embrace the village which has a long history of winemaking.

I couldn’t have asked for more from my first day in France. A real beauty, and on the way back up the Grand Rue we spied some very cute Mud Swallows.

Tuesday 9th July

Rob and I left the UK today after 9.5 weeks travelling through England, Scotland and a short trip to Ireland all of which was amazing.

With a few stays of 4-5 days we were moving around a lot, cramming in as much as possible each day. Due to this and poor or no internet in the remoter regions my blog has suffered so my apologies and I will catch up on all the missing posts! Promise!

Today we flew to Framce, after a small delay, landing at Charles de Gaulle airport around 3:30pm which with the hour difference became 4:30pm.

Shortly thereafter we collected our Renoit Darcia Duster to be known as “dusty”.

Dusty will be our car for the next six months and is brand new.

I’m so proud of Rob for tackling the driving, new car, steering wheel on the left, gear stick on the right and driving on the other side of the road today and what a great job he did too. That is the right side, not to be confused with the wrong side… 🙂

We are driving to Croatia,so this visit to France is fleeting as we drive through over the next few days.

Nevertheless the French countryside is enchanting with fields of wheat and corn in this area heading West from Paris. Some harvested, some fully grown and about to be. Some parts remind me of home; the colours and the blue skies on this warm sunny day of 23 degrees are like country NSW in Summer.

No photos though as I’m busy navigating with the Sat Nav so Rob can fully concentrate on driving.

We arrive at Chateau Thierry about 7:30 in the evening and what a pretty French Village it is.

We find our BnB for the night Studio Royale L’abbe, drop our bags and head into town for dinner. Rob has found a “beer hall” that does Tapas and we find a fairly traditional French evening ripaste which was amazing!

Immediately I am overwhelmed by the French language but smile and nod, say Bounsour and Tres Bon Merci at the conclusion of our meal and I feel I have gotten away with it. I must admit I miss the friendly banter and enquiry we received during our UK time a little though but hey, that’s what travel is all about isn’t it, new experiences.

The host is very keen to start teaching us French at the til, which was very kind and rather hilarious too.

After dinner we visit the marchet and I marvel at all the French groceries.

On the way home we visit the banquette vending machine!!! Grant, you never mentioned those!!! Two Euro later I am two baguettes to the wind, one for breakfast, one for lunch tomorrow.

I couldn’t resist though and had to have a small piece when we got home, with French butter of course. OMG! So good!!!

The walk home includes a peak at Chateau Thierry and a walk through the streets…

Our plan for tomorrow is to catch the start of the Tour de France at Saint Die Des-Vosges and then again at Ribeauville.

Let’s see how we go with that.

Bonsoir xx