Wednesday: We only drove 15 minutes to Spello, just 10km away from Assisi, everything we had read suggesting it was worth a visit.
We took quiet winding roads through agricultural land, grateful we didn’t meet any other traffic along the way.
Maybe just room for a cyclist to pass here…fabulous roads to drive on as long as you don’t meet anyone!Gorgeous views accompany us on our way
Spello is far less well known than Assisi, but its history stretches back just as far. Much of the town is built on Roman remains and foundations, and sits within an old amphitheatre. The churches are often built on top of old Roman temples, and encompass little clues here and there to the past.
We entered through a grand gateway flanked by towers, amazed that there was not a soul around. In fact that is one of the main appeals of this town – it is so close to Assisi but there are so few tourists here. The streets and buildings are quiet, taking on a pink hue from the Mount Subasio limestone used in their construction. The constant call of swallows can be heard as they swoop catching flies around the rooftops, and the hum of insects on the ever present flowers.
Where are all the people?These stone walls were restored in the early 1900s
Every corner is filled with flowersPretty pathways in all directionsA lovely looking villaEvery little space is used for pots of colourRichness of colour in every direction
Seppo is full of flowers, every windowsill, doorstep and corner brimming with blossoms. The few people we did see were often tending to their pots, painting wooden planters, replacing dying plants with new ones.
A local gardening enthusiast tends to his pots
There seemed to only be one cat in Seppo…quite a chunky one too!Fine views across the Umbrian countryside
From the top of the town there are fabulous views back across to Assisi, a monastery behind us enjoying this view daily.
Assisi on the hillside oppositeWander around forever and never see another person!
Heading off down yet another enticing lane way Will we get tired of these views?A flower within a flower?If only we could understand the stories behind this architecture
We tried to find somewhere nice to have lunch, but the menus were quite restrictive in terms of dairy-free, and the restaurant we really wanted to go to was closed on Wednesdays.
Mr A making use of the Google Translate app to ask about dairy-free meals
So we wandered back through the town, calling in for some wine tasting on the way through (three small glasses for €10), and popping our heads into the Chiesa di Saint Andrea, a church built in the 11th century, an example of Francisan architecture.
Hard to resist another little alleyway to explore
Chiesa di Saint Andrea Frescos by Tommaso Corbo in 1532
We’ve seen sculptures like this all over Italy
It was well worth the visit to Seppo. We didn’t buy any wine, the prices set for the American market (two to three times the usual cost!) rather than the Italian value we have become accustomed to. It would be a great location to stay if visiting Assisi and wanting to avoid the crowds, assuming you had a hire car you could park outside the town walls.
We, meanwhile, jumped back on the road and continued our journey towards the east coast.
Location: Cervo, San Bartholomo al Mare & Diane Marina, Italian Riviera, Italy
Sunday: With just an 18km journey between locations, it was one of our shortest journeys yet, but not without its challenges! We followed a busy stream of traffic and our Google directions down a one way road, which appeared to get narrower and narrower with a line of parked cars down one side and a wonky stone wall on the other.
We pulled to one side to assess our options. With traffic constantly coming down the road, reversing was going to be impossible without significant help…and going forwards looked equally daunting without potential damage to Truffy and/or parked cars. Not a fun situation.
One of the cars passing us slowed and wound down his window. We half expected abuse for blocking the road, but no, the Italian driver told us that the road is not as bad as we thought, and that as a motorhome driver himself he was confident we could drive down safely. Mr A bravely took off, me walking in front, letting him know how much space was either way. To increase stress levels, a bus was following us, but amazingly was very patient. When Mark pulled over on a wider piece of road, the bus driver even indicated he understood the caution and gave me a thumbs up. Phew! Another skilful negotiation of a tricky road – absolute kudos to Mr A for excellent driving. We could not imagine such patient drivers in Sydney – they’d be much quicker on the horns!
So we arrived at our next destination with no damage done, a campground beside the beach 15 minutes walk from the village of Cervo. We immediately set off to explore.
Stormy skies over Cervo but we didn’t get too wet
Cervo has around 1200 residents, many of them artists, sculptors, wood carvers, painters and jewellers. The village largely built up around an initial Roman villa more than 2000 years ago. Like France, Italy has a ‘most beautiful villages‘ classification and Cervo has well deservedly achieved that recognition.
The streets are very steep, and at the moment I am not breathing too well…but made it with a little wheezing. Mark is suffering with tendonitis in his calf, so also struggled up the streets – not doing brilliantly between us! It was well worth all the effort though, with gorgeous views, interesting little alleyways and of course the friendly village cat there to meet us at the top!
Curvy cobbled steps lead us up into the villageA well looked after village, touches of colour and flowers everywhereTrees growing on seemingly impossible surfacesEven the snails are colour coordinated
Endless beautiful laneways enticing us downYou can almost imagine the lives that have taken place in these streets over the centuries‘St George and the Dragon’ mural painted in the early 1900s after sailors from England shared the story with local artists
Fortified walls evident at the top of the village
Italian cats say ‘Ciao’
A fine view from outside the church
One of the key highlights in the village is the Romanesque Oratorio di Santa Caterina church. You don’t have to be religious to appreciate the historical and artistic significance of this magnificent building, having pride of place looking out to sea and covered with incredible frescoes (mural paintings painted on plaster).
Heading up into the church
Incredible frescoes cover the walls and ceilingsA grand gold and marble alterThe equivalent of the church hall, all set up ready for a conference
Such a picturesque area, with plenty of exploring to be done. We can only imagine how busy it gets here in the summer holidays, despite the fact that Cervo does not appear in the Lonely Planet and has a pebbly beach.
All this exploring worked up an appetite and we went along to Pizza Pazza, the restaurant right next door for dinner in the evening. Yet another fabulous meal, and again at a fraction of the price we would pay in the UK or Australia, including a bottle of wine.
Monday: Glimmers of blue skies greeted us so we leaped on the task of washing first thing. Once everything was either hung out or dried we decided to go exploring in the other direction, biking our way to the next little settlement, San Bartholomo al Mare.
There are no bike lanes here, but the drivers continue to be quite respectful of cyclists, keeping their distance and no agression at all. This is all in absolute contrast to what we have been led to expect by the various blogs we’ve read – maybe our expectations have been lowered by our experiences on the road in Australia and New Zealand?
We took a random uphill road just to explore, and were soon making use of the motors on our electric bikes to take us up past gated villas with incredible views, meadows and Ligurian olive groves. It was all very picturesque.
Gorgeous views across to Cervo on our rideEven ‘warm’ enough for shorts!
Garden like wildflowers along our cycle
Terraced olive groves are plentiful here with agriculture still a key source of income
Beautiful orchids growing by the side of the road
We then cycled up to the next settlement, riding up a cycle friendly pedestrianised area and finding a little pizza place for lunch – yes, they even did me a pizza without cheese! We both ordered the small portion, which ended up being absolutely huge. Despite the fact I only ate half, we had no need to eat for the rest of the day!
Location: Bagnols-en-Forêt, Saint-Paul de Vence, Fayence & Tourettes, France
Tuesday: Curious about the joys of riding an e-bike, we took our friends out for a cycle along some of the forest paths where we were staying…we can safely say they approve!
David & Mr A head off down a woodland path on a rideJenny admiring the view down to the coast
It was just a short ride in the morning before we headed back to wind our way by car across the mountain villages, past Fayaence, Tourettes and Grasse across to the small walled town of Saint-Paul de Vence.
Nestled among the olive trees and overlooking NiceCat sculptures
Approaching the walled village
Saint-Paul de Vence is a perched village located about 12km north east of Nice. It was originally settled in about 400 bcd and then was renamed in the year 120 when the Romans called it Castrum Sancti Pauli (interpreted as St Paul’s Fortress). In the late 1800s and 1900s the village was discovered by impressionist artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Marc Chagall (who is buried in the little cemetery there). The poor artists enjoyed the clean light and spectacular views – to the coast in one direction and the snow capped Alps in the other.
The Colombe d’Or restaurant and inn started life in the village in the 1920s and had a great reputation for good food and dancing on its terraces. It became a popular place amongst the artists, who often exchanged a painting or two in return for food or accomodation.
Today the whole village remains full of artists and galleries selling everything from today’s modern art to older Chagall and Picasso paintings and prints.
The Colombe d’Or restaurant – we didn’t lunch hereEntering into the village
Lunch was our first port of call, having forgone breakfast for a ride. We found a little terraced cafe with a fabulous view. It was a little tourist trap really with overpriced average food and wine from a sack, but the views made up for it!
Lunch with a fine view
We continued our exploration of the village, visiting Marc Chagall’s grave, covered in stones in the Jewish tradition and admired the views down to Nice and across the mountains. We wandered around the little lanes, admiring paintings with high price tags (€65,000 for an original Picasso artist’s print thank you very much – that’s around AU$106,000 /£57,000 /US$73,000 for our international readers).
A cemetery with a viewExploring the village…So much to look at here…oh for an endless bank account!The Alps in the background
Perched with a view
Beautiful multi-toned roses bloomingFront row seat at this hotel with a view down to the Mediterranean
Every alleyway entices you downDi admires an artwork from a prize winning Macedonian artist
An Apéro Spritz on the terrace concluded our afternoon before returning back to Colin’s feast of fish and prawn gumbo – delicious!
Cheers…though I think Di is sad we’re all leaving
Wednesday: Our final day with our friends in France – it was time to give Colin and Di back their peace, serenity and healthy livers and Chris, Karen, Jenny and David were to be off back to Australia. The weather greeted us with appropriate sadness with a fine rain falling, and the morning was spent sharing stories, photos and doing the final packing and washing.
Di then took us up to the little village of Fayence, which had overlooked us on our Monday night farm meal. Mark and I visited here with Diane three years ago – then it had been sundress weather and the streets were bustling with the Saturday market. This time, it was jacket weather and other than the odd cat, the streets were largely abandoned.
“I might have fleas but I’d still like you to rub my tummy s’il vous plait.”Cheese!
The cats rule the streets hereClosed today…looks like this cat had a run in with a slamming door
We walked across to the next village of Tourettes, enjoying the unique doorways and artworks on the walls, and admiring the views down across the valley towards the coast.
The evening saw us get suited and booted for our final meal together.
Our final glass of champagne from Epernay
Dinner was held at Moulin de la Camandoule an old olive mill with a history that dates back to Roman times.
The old Roman aqueduct – tiles have been found suggesting a villa was located here too
It was a delicious meal and a fitting end to our time together in Provence. Many thanks to Di and Colin for putting us up for the past few days and being such fabulous hosts.
Fortified walls evident at the top of the village
