When I think about Tuscany, I think about it as 'going home'. This feeling is a result of many things: the wonderful experience we had there five years ago with my brother Brian and our friend Line, and the utterly charming countryside undulating gently with vineyards, olive groves, and cypress hedges. But maybe, most importantly, it's because we returned home to visit our friend Annamarie Conti and her lovely family. We love the personal connections that we have in Tavernelle and enjoyed the time shared as we walked like all Italian families seem to do on a Sunday, ate an amazing Sunday lunch, visited a nearby monastery, and generally grabbed every moment to visit and connect.
As far as the eye can see in Tuscany, there is beauty and our family has been blessed to experience this beauty twice. I look forward to a return visit to this wonderful countryside but I also look forward to the day when we will host Annamarie and her family in Canada. (The invitation still stands, Annamarie!)
When we first made plans to visit the island of Corsica, I really didn't have much of an idea about what to expect. Yes, we'd watched the videos/DVDs but really, they were pretty old and by the time we arrived at our destination, a lot of travel and other travel experience had happened. As we docked in Ajaccio, Corsica, I was promptly overwhelmed by the sheer ruggedness of the island. Not Rockies type of rugged, but everywhere, as far as the eye could see (and all that the eye could see) were mountains that appeared to be rising straight out of the ocean. I'm convinced that there is not one piece of level ground on that entire island. One is either walking up or down from somewhere. If we weren't walking or driving up to see mountains, then we were walking or driving down to see the other jewel that makes Corsica ... its beaches. And we did get to enjoy several lovely beaches on the island.
While being on the island of Corsica is impressive, driving off the main highways on that island is not for the faint of heart. Let me explain. Since leaving Canada on July 31, we have driven a lot of very windy single track lanes from Shetland through to Provence. Our travels have taken us past suicidal sheep to picturesque villages perched on hillsides. But Corsica has taken the single track to new heights ...(I'm not sure if that pun was intended). In Scotland or the Cotswolds or even in Provence, there always seemed to be a little room for cars to manoeuvre around each other when they met (it did get a little close sometimes) and, in any case, what was the worst that could happen? Scratch the rental? Break off a side mirror? Not so in Corsica where outside of the main highways one must drive single track to visit anything from local villages to the popular Restonica hiking trail. To give way on these single track roads with no guard rails is to risk hurtling down to the rocky canyon below. The ride up the Restonica was hairy enough but on our way down the driver of one of the vehicles we met motioned for Bernie to move over (I should add that we were on the canyon side of things at this point). Well we did make it around that vehicle and down the mountain and I will admit to panic during the ordeal ... I can still see the drop when I close my eyes. Needless to say, days later when Bernie wanted to visit a number of mountainside villages, I begged off that exciting experience ... not enough Ativan in the world for me!
Corsica is a jewel ... a rougher one than I was expecting but it is definitely worth making a trip to see.
Starting in Giverny and ending in Provence, France has been a veritable parade of endless charm. From its windy old streets and sun-drenched buildings, to its bustling weekend markets, to the gardens of painters and the castles of kings, France has again provided our family with a million memories. If a picture is worth a thousand words ... , well, you get my drift.
Portions of our trip this fall are a repeat but our recent 'Tour du France' was a wonderful change from the cities of London and Paris. Walking through Monet's Garden in Giverny, it was easy to spot the places where the painter created many of his impressive works. The monastery at Mont St Michel was awe-inspiring in its enormity alone as it dominated an endless skyline to the sea. The chateaus and gardens in Tours were magnificent to say the least.
And Provence, what can I say about Provence? Charming towns clutching the hillside coupled with the scent of lavender made me want to stop for a very long time. (It's okay, we're coming home, we can't afford the real estate.)
I haven't reached the number of words necessary to do justice to all of our pictures of France. You'll need to come up with your own ideas when you come to visit.
