Cassoulet in Carcassone

It looks like something out of a film set or as if you have stumbled into Disneyland but no, this the old medieval city of Carcassone. Henry was in heaven - loads of swords, knights, drawbridges and even a trebuchet (ancient giant deadly slingshot)...what more could you ask for?





We are just stopping over here for the one night- en route to Bergerac for a week long stay in the farmhouse. The lovely people who ran the Hotel Saint Anne in Apt said we must have an authentic French cassoulet in Carcassone which we did - check it out!








It was delicious and I've never tasted white beans so soft, tender and tasty before. We are so dragging out the Julia Childe's recipe book and spending 2 days preparing our own cassoulet when we get back to Melbourne! Finally, for the insect phobic amongst you all, this last pic is for you. Taken as we left the restaurant - Henry yells out 'it's a scorpion!' and we all go 'sure Henry' and then we look a little closer...viva le France!




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Russell Crowe, Bonnieux & Rousillon

I must confess that while A Good Year may not have been Ridley Scott's finest film to date, I've watched it many times over. No, not because I secretly lust over Russell Crowe but because I DO lust over the gorgeous house/location in which it was filmed.


Imagine my excitement to discover Chateau la Conorgue, the house where the A Good Year was actually filmed is in Bonnieux, a village only 15 minutes drive away from our lovely Hotel Sainte Anne in Apt! Pics are of the driveway leading up to the house - unfortunately for me, the house is private so we could only glimpse the beautiful patio shaded by massive trees that featured in the film - still, the glimpse was worthwhile and the village of Bonnieux very lovely.


Next stop for us was Rousillon - another Provencal village with a very 'arty' theme. Steep narrow streets, loads of expensive art galleries and a great mineral/fossil shop that was a highlight for the kids. Pic below says it all...this is a fossil of some giant crocodile-type dinosaur jaw found in the area..


Tori looks pensively at what was possibly the worst cappuccino experience we've had in the last month. I keep ordering cappuccinos in the afternoon and getting these bizarre puffy fake cream topped coffees - this one was definitely the worse. I think it is the French way of saying 'you should be drinking espresso like everyone else does in the afternoons...!'


I just loved this painted gateway in Rousellon - wouldn't you love one on your fence...?


and finally, for everyone and anyone who has travelled in France on a budget with kids...not another bloody cheese baguette......!



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Colorado in Provence

This is officially the first (and only) pic of the trip with all of us on it AND everyone smiling - for these reasons alone it is going up on the blog! Pic taken by lovely man who runs Hotel Saint Anne in Apt, Provence where we are staying for the next three days.


There are many beautiful places to visit in Provence and we're planning to visit as many as we can while we're here. However, one of the things we hadn't counted on being here was the 'grand canyon' of Provence..


This amazing sand/rock formation is a 10 minute drive from our hotel. Called Les Sentiers des Ocriers, we walked all around these giant rock formations that are surrounded by the most beautiful green forests..


Definitely one of the best (and cheapest) tourist activities we've done yet. Slowly getting the hang of not saying 'grazi' and 'bongiorno' anymore!

Italian service stations are not like ours

We left Umbria today, heading for the Ligurian coastline that will take us into France tomorrow. Before we leave lovely Italy though, Earl and I felt we had to show people just how fantastic the humble highway roadhouses are here. Below is an action shot of typical roadhouse taken this morning showing the espresso bar serving the BEST coffee for 1.3 euro - unbelieveble!


Fully charged up with Italian coffee, we headed off to the Italian toruist destination we just couldn't drive past without dropping in...


Tor probably won't forgive us for posting this pic BUT we just couldn't help ourselves. This tourist site is actually much more lovely than we'd expected - loads of soft green grass, open spaces - so much so that the 1000's of tourists that were there with us just didn't seem to be too much of a crowd. The tower has been restored and is very white, beautiful and much more intricately detailed than you would think. Quick lunch and off we drove to our final Italian overnight stay - Finale Ligure.


Above and below are some little snaps taken this afternoon at Hotel Florenz - an 18th century former convent that is now a hostel/hotel in this little seaside town. Really friendly staff and just simply lovely place. Only 2 hours from the French border, we're heading for Provence tomorrow...goodbye to 'bella' Italy and 'bonjour' to Apt in Luberon tomorrow.



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Location:Via Marco Filelfo,Finale Ligure,Italy

Civita - the 'dying village'

Today we headed off to visit Civita - a village that both Nikki/Brett and Earl/I had been told to try and visit when we were in Umbria. An hour's drive later - we could see why..


This crazy little village is perched right up on the top of this mountain - connected to the rest of the world by a long, steep concrete bridge. Anyone with height issues - don't go! Just before we got to the bridge, the girls had to say hi to a friendly donkey - too cute.



Once you get over the bridge and up into the village, it is absolutely amazing.





Everywhere you turn, there is a photo opportunity - seriously picture postcard stuff.


We had a long lunch at a local restaurant before heading back to the villa for our last night in Umbria. We all head off tomorrow morning - nikki/brett and kids off to Venice and we're heading for 3 days in Luberon, Provence before a week in French farmhouse in Bordeaux. Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Siena and Lake Tresimina

Every night, we've been making the most of having a lovely house that we can cook in. Food and wine is so much more affordable here - a 6 pack of beer is 2.8 euro (about $4.50), nice red wine 4 euro and groceries in general loads cheaper (trolley packed to the top with food, Parma hams, cheese etc 139 euro!). See how happy Nikki and I are in the kitchen.....?


Another sunny day, another beautiful place to visit. Today was so gorgeous, we decided to brave the rubbish parking and visit Siena - how lovely is it?





The kids were happy to get into their 1000th gelato (!) and I have found that heaven is cherry flavoured gelato - OMG! Siena was beautiful but crowded so we decided to head for cooler, less crowded places. Lake Tresimino was on the way home so we dropped in, hoping to catch a ferry across to Isla Povlese.


Unfortunately, we missed the last 3.00pm ferry. Fortunately there was a shady ristorante nearby serving cold vino bianchi and crusty margarita pizza all overlooking the lake - cant think of a better way to spend 2 hours on a Wednesday afternoon!

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Eat Swim Eat Swim Eat Swim

Yes, this is really all we are doing at the moment - eating, swimming, more eating, sometimes sleeping, reading, drinking, more eating...it feels incredibly indulgent and I couldn't have imagined myself doing it 3 weeks ago.


Above and below is the outdoor eating area - everywhere you look is like an Umbrian picture postcard and I have to say, the sausages we picked up at the supermarket for dinner were AMAZING! Short, irregularly shaped and the tastiest sausages I think I have ever had (sorry Andrew's Meats, Yarraville)!


Below is a shot of the entry to the villa with Earl in his new relaxed mode.....


Earl is testing out the black and white shots on his new digital camera - check out Henry and Nellie heading poolside at some ungodly time of the morning....


Heading off to Siena and Leaning Tower of Pisa tomorrow. More posts later. PS this is for Jan Buckland - our mobile is +447924440109 - ring us :)

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At the Villa

We have arrived at last at Villa Cerqualto, where we will be spending the next 7 days with Nikki, Brett, Harriet and Nellie. It is quiet, rustic and a long way from anything noisy or busy.





The pool is definitely a highlight and the kids have spent the last day playing in it, despite an overcast day. Tomorrow is meant to be sunny and I will be poolside all day - can't wait!





So far, the kids have been great. The definitely are missing their friends at times but overall, they seem to be really enjoying the trip. It was good timing to catch up with Harriet and Nellie - all that quality family time was starting to do their heads in I suspect.





People are very big on wild boar around here - pic below was taken in an amazing shop in Orvieto. Couldn't quite get my head around the seriously hirsute haunches hanging from the roof...





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Location:Vocabolo Poggio dei Termini,Città della Pieve,Italy

16th century monastery or....Chocohotel?

This morning, we were heading for Perugia - looking forward to staying at Umbria's first organic farm with accommodation in a 16th century Benedictine monastery. Wrought iron staircases, ceiling frescos and hand made pasta - it had it all. All except staff. After several attempts to phone and listening to answering machine in Italian, we gave up. Desperate for a room (loo!), I ring the next entry in Lonely Planet Italy - guess what? Chocohotel has a room!


Yes, we are now staying in the ONLY hotel in Italy (the world?) dedicated entirely to chocolate. Note the hand painted wall fresco of a pot of chocolate placed tastefully above the brown plastic chocolate block headboard - it just doesn't get much classier than this...


In case you were wondering, this is a bathtub in the foyer of Chocohotel, full of chocolate. Have just caught up with Nikki, Brett, Hattie and Nellie in Orvietto - arrived in most beautiful villa for the next week - pics coming tomorrow.


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Location:Via Concordia,Perugia,Italy

Vampires in Venice?

Two days in Venice have been lovely, despite kids' initial concerns there may be vampires (thanks Dr Who!). We've seen water ambulances, dogs perched on the front of vaporettas, garbage boats and of course all the pretty boats you associate with Venice as well...it is such a beautiful place - all soft pinks, yellows and browns.


Ridiculously expensive too - I almost fainted after sitting down to fulfill one of my travel fantasies (coffee in Piazza San Marco) only to find it was going to cost 9 euros (about $15!)! Things are expensive but there are some beautiful things to in the shop windows here....


Some funky Murano glass art...


This is one of many 'miniature' still life sculptures we saw - amazing. Yesterday we walked for hours through winding streets, over bridges, through bustling piazzas and past spectacular historical buildings.


Breakfast, lunch and dinner is generally pizza (very yummy here) with some Prosecco in the evening (for us) and gelato for the kids. Time to move on today - wallet will breathe a sigh of relief! Heading for our week long stay in house in Perugia with Nikki and Brett - can't wait!

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Location:Venice, Italy

Boy vs Earl's new camera

Tori and I wake to the peaceful sounds you would expect in a small mountain village - local church bell softly chiming, sheep baaahing in the distance and....child bellowing like a bull just below us?

Sure enough, it's Henry. He flies into our room looking like this..


You need to look closely but check out Hen's right hand front tooth - now has big chip in it courtesy of close encounter with Earl's new camera (also has small chip in it now too).


And so we leave the most Bella carpark in Italy (above) and head for Venice, stopping at Marcerata and Ravenna on route. This pic is for you Denise!


We have just arrived at Venice where I have just learnt how to spend 120 Euro in 5 minutes (4 dresses girls, I mean really!). One Diavola pizza and glass of white wine later, Hen in the bath, Tor reclined on Venetian couch reading and Earl and I about to nap - what could be better? Ciao!





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Location:Civitella Alfedena

Take me away to Pompei

The aim of today was Pompei but we decided finish the Amalfi coastline drive through Positano and Amalfi first (day 2 of Earl driving). It really is the most amazing scenery and I have never been on such narrow, steep, BUSY roads ever before. Henry developed (unsurprisingly) an extreme case of car sickness - unfortunately, there was only one windy way out - all up about 2 hour trip, no car accidents or vomiting - just a lot of groaning from the back seat!


Finally, we made it to Pompei - I cannot recommend the trusty Tom Tom enough as it has managed to guide us everywhere, without a hitch so far. By the time we got onto the site, it was midday - kids pretty hot and bothered within 5 mins of starting out but we persevered and saw some amazing ruins, beautiful trees/parks and many other families of all nationalities having the same 'I'm hot', 'can we go?' and 'not another ruin...' in all languages - nice to know we are not alone.


Jumped back in the car, not sure where we were headed but between 'Aggie' (posh English Tom Tom voice) and the trusty Lonely Planet guide to Italy, managed to find ourselves in the beautiful ancient village of
Civitella Alfedena about 3 hours later. Our accommodation is snug and basic in this 16th century palazzo - people don't speak English but we're getting by on my appalling Italian, sign language and general goodwill of the Italian people.





We love Italy!

Location:Civitello Alfedena