Monte Carlo or bust... but more impressive Dolceacqua...

We left the camping and set off for Italy.. the weather continued to unrelentingly hot... we broke the journey with a supermarket shop and headed up more mountainous roads

(acouple of great viewpoints) to Grasse. We tried to stop in Grasse but we just couldn't find any parking as usual

and the traffic was crazy we did a circuit and ended up just driving back out of town it looked quite pretty but fairly touristy. We were happy to stop and camp for the night in a forested carpark just south of the town. The next day.... There were some really boring bits... Dr Fred had to drive for about two and a half hours through seriously built up French Riviera.

To be honest it was seriously grim. About a million roundabouts... ridicolous traffic behaviour... packed out beaches... bright red people... we went under an underpass... there was this dreadful noise... we thought s*** thats the awning casing gone... but we had no choice .. . Loads of traffic we had to carry on...with absolute relief we realised it was the skylight we had left open - fortunately not fully open or we would defo have lost it - its just a bit scratched... There were some very narrow very windy very built uproads but with amazing views - and eventually we got to Monaco - how unexciting was that🤣

Because we decided that we would do a tour of all those minor tiny countries - Andorra, Monaco, Sun Marino, Lichtenstein Luxemberg... I don't know if we'll do any more to be honest!! So we drove through Monte Carlo🤣🤣

We got seriously lost We drove past the Monte Carlo Country Club so many times I think we must be members by now - Eventually We escaped to Italy.

Then it got interesting -In a very roundabout way we found a recommendation for a stop which was free for motorhomes outside a village called Dolceacqua. Dr Fred was desperate to stop - So we headed up the hill and found the spot. Seemed ok.. We had a cup of tea and we thought we'd better explore the village because everybody said how lovely it was. What a surprise when it turned out to be absolutely stunning,

As we have very little Italian geography or history iwe had no idea that turns Dolceacqua turned out to be a medieval hill town in the Liguria region of Italy, famous for its picturesque stone bridge and ruined castle that inspired painter Claude Monet.

Absolutley beautiful - reminiscent of Dubrovnik without as many tourists or fridge magnets - or steps....

Higgledy Piggledy buildings up narrow alleyways. Beautiful stone built arches towering over the streets - and then buildings built on the arches. At the very top sat a ruined castle.

Very clean, very tidy, everynow,and again there was a bit of art, a painting of Templar Knights? or some thing similar -

Very pleasant vibe...

we climbed to the top and then wandered back down a different way

and found ourselves in a bar where we treated ourselves to a beer and a glass of wine to celebrate finally making it Italy.

The temperature has dropped considerably we are in the late 20,s now and its so much more bearable.

Oooh and I,ve found the hairbrush so 27 days in I can brush my hair!!! 🤣🤣🤣

Total Eclipse Spain 2026

Eclipse day!!!! Most of the photos on here were taken by friends...my phone died... I dont use names on here but you know who you are thank you.... This will be Dr Freds 8th eclipse and my 6th... I have 100% clear viewing and its continued that way. Our friends have this amazing house tucked away on the side of a hill - fortuitously right on the centre line of the 2026 eclipse. And... to make it even better they have a roof terrace which gave us an almost perfect elevation to see the total eclipse in all its glory. Dr Fred wasnt sure at first - he worried that as totality was so close to sunset we might not be high enough before the sun disappeared under the ridge. So, the evenings leading up to the night of the actual event, required a lot of balancing on the roof with spirit levels at various degrees and exact timings for exact positioning of the sun and considerable maths.... yes it was complicated but it p...

Autumnal Garden Days

I love these (rare) warm sunny late summer days and there is all sorts of lovely things going on in my garden... I counted 12 red admiral butterflies whizzing around the over grown ivy which I had been about to hack down but then left until the flutterbies have finished with it... The late blooms add a dash of colour and the daisy strewn lawn is littered with autumnal leaves, debris from my brief half an hour of slash and burn and the stone wall is covered in glorious soft moss all shiny and tactile with a few late nasturtiums loitering. I've hacked out the brambles for this year, sadly I missed the fruit as we were away, ditto the strawberries, we never seem to get the fruit before the birds so I've made space and moved the plants that were getting swamped and so not performing to their potential - hopefully next year they will literally blossom now they have light and room to flourish.

Alesund

Our final destination stop was Alesund. This is a very pretty town in southern Norway built on a peninsula. All the houses are painted pretty colours and a lot of the architecture is all very Art Nouveau based. This is because the town itself was completely burnt to the ground In 1904 by a fire for which they never found the original cause. The whole town had to be rebuilt and this became a huge National Effort and a lot of prominent and up and coming architects flocked to the town to stick there 20 pence in. Consequently the town is very heavily Art Nouveau which was very fashionable at the time. There is this wonderful Museum just off the harbour which is a very beautiful Art Nouveau house. It has amazing panelling, doors, wallpaper, and it's all furnished with beautiful art Nouveau Furniture. It also house a collection of of enameled Art Nouveau Trinkets,boxes, spoons, jewellery, very very beautiful. There is an interesting collection of old books and paintings a...

Planet Ruby Starrs

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