Starting the week at Ochiassersee in Austria (still very hot). The weather broke midweek just as we got to Salzburg. From there we went to Germany and started driving the Deutsche Alpenstraße (German Alpine Road) in Bavaria, stopping at Königssee, Chiemsee and Tegernsee and then to Garmisch-Partenkirchen where we got the cable car up Mount Wank (no jokes…) then walked back down.
From Italy, we drove across a corner of Austria en route to Slovenia. We enjoyed a night at Planica Nordic Centre (where we saw some daredevils practicing their ski-jumping on the all weather slopes, and went for a short hike), then on to Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj and finally Žalec.
This week we were joined by Amy’s brother, Patrick, and after a night in Italy we spent most of the week in Tyrol, Austria, first in Längenfeld in the Ötztal valley, and then in Imst. It was nice to have a few days in one location to properly explore, and we really enjoyed the views, cable cars, alpine coaster, excellent municipal swimming pool in Imst, and of course some great Tyrolean food and beer.
After starting the week in the Barolo wine region, we sped through a lot of northern Italy on the motorway to reach the Italian lake district. We weren’t very impressed with Como (at least the town of Como felt like it could have been so much better), but we enjoyed the smaller lakes Iseo and Idro before a quick stop at Garda on the way to Caldonazzo (after a stop in the Valpolicella wine region – notice a theme?!).
The end of week six marks the mandatory halfway point of our trip – thanks Brexit ;-(
Bonnieux, Provence → Gorges du Verdon → Lac de Serre-Ponçon and across the border to Italy – Cuneo → Barolo.
Sorry for the delay posting – two weeks for the price of one today. Travelling is keeping us surprisingly busy (there’s a surprising amount of admin involved in working out where we want to go next!) so it’s taken a while to find time to sort through photos!
Back in France, another hot week. Trying to keep cool in the Pyrenees at first, and then by the coast (Laruns → Lac de Fabrèges/Artouste → Peyragudes → Foix → Marseillan Plage → Camargue). Some interesting modes of transport including driving several mountain passes in the Pyrenees, a cable car and “petit train”, and an underground boat trip!
Mostly in Spain this week, though starting with a walk in the French Pyrenees. Then to Huesca → Arguedas/Bardenas Reales → Laguardia (La Rioja) → Zumaia/San Sebastian. It was hot!
Vendée (Noirmoutier and Marais Poitevin) → Dordogne → heading South towards the Pyrenees – next week on to Spain!
The visit to Sarlat and Groléjac was a trip down memory lane for me (Tom) – I worked for the summer after my second year of university (2005) at Camping les Granges in Groléjac, working for Canvas Holidays mostly cleaning tents and mobile homes. I used to cycle along the bike path to Sarlat once a week to check my email at the internet cafe! (Canvas Holidays is now defunct, the campsite no longer hosts tents, just mobile homes – and of course internet cafes are long gone – but Sarlat and the Dordogne are still as spectacular as ever).
Our first week on the road: Yorkshire → Kent → Hauts-de-France → Normandy → Brittany!