Road trip! Part 1, Chamonix to Florence

The Weinsberg Atlas camper van

Half term planning was disrupted by my shingles and the ongoing uncertainty over our visa situation and length of stay in Chamonix. We decided that it was time to make some decisions. So we made two. First, we decided that we will leave Chamonix on December 9th, at the end of our 90 Schengen days. We will probably never hear back from the Prefecture and we could risk it and stay but we don't want to do that, and there's a good chance that there will be little skiing before January and so on... Second, we decided to rent a campervan and see a bit of Italy. We had planned to do this perhaps in the new year and we didn't want to miss out on Italy altogether. Plus, the weather in Chamonix looked like it might be a bit rubbish, so why not.

So after a week that included a hike up to the Bossons glacier, a visit to the swimming pool and bouldering gym, as well as some Hallowe'en prep and trick or treating around the town centre, I headed into Geneva on Monday to pick up our camper from Indie Campers. We went for the biggest van they had, figuring the weather could be a bit iffie and we may spend a lot of time indoors. The only downside being navigating European roads designed for a slender horse and cart. I made it safely back to Chamonix despite low sun, showers, dusk and darkness, and even managed a stock up at the Carrefour in Sallanches.

By mid-morning Tuesday we were packed up and on the road, heading to Italy's lake district. The plan was to camp somewhere on Lake Maggiore the first night then spend a second night on Lake Como. This took us our of the Chamonix valley, over the Col des Montets, into Switzerland, over the mountains, and finally down to the lakes. It included a surprise (this trip came with minimal research!) van-on-train trip and a couple of pretty roadside pit stops to use our onboard toilet and coffee-making get up.

Our second pit stop, somewhere in the Swiss Alps

Camper van on train, heading into the tunnel from Brig in Switzerland to Iselle in Italy

Lake Maggiore, not in its finest weather

We ended the evening in a beautiful lakeside campsite in the dark, with the promise of a day of pouring rain ahead. With this in mind, we decided (more decisions) to use the rainy day as a driving day and head to Florence via a very traditional, very Italian restaurant down a side street in a random town, and the Ferrari museum. The restaurant was great. I will admit to using ios 15's new text recognition and translate feature on the menu but it didn't affect the flavour. This was a classic primo, secondi, side menu, so you get your pasta dish as a starter, your meat dish with just meat (yes, Toby's burger came as a burger, no bun, no relish, just a slice of lemon), and your salad or potatoes at the same time. And one of the best coffee's I've had this year to round things out. All for 10 yo-yos each, no tax or cover charges. And not a word of English.

Parking not always easy, but all four wheels in the box!

Meatballs, tomatoes, olive oil

I want to stop taking pictures of coffee but it was so good

As for the Ferrari museum, my goodness they make some pretty cars. I'm not a car person and it's fair to say that for all that I love about the car's ability to get me from A to B, I have a very strong opinion that the car will be seen to have precipitated the downfall of our civilization. Putting that aside, Enzo and his followers sure did create wonder, and even I can appreciate the astonishing marriage of art and technology that makes Ferraris so iconic. Being in Italy, albeit for a short time, surrounded by the effortless style, the architectural beauty, the masterpieces of a pantheon of great artists, it makes complete sense that it should be Italians to create these cars of such elegance.

Yellow, Ferrari's other colour

2018 F1 car

One of the goals of this trip is to learn a bit about campervanning in Europe for possible future adventures. So far we have learnt how to empty, clean and maintain the euphemistically named "cassette" (toilet), switch between the onboard and external electrical systems as well as the propane gas equipment. There's a check-list of pre-departure necessaries, no doubt less demaning than a 747's checklist, but nevertheless important. Probably the worst transgression would be to leave the "guillotine" of the cassette open. This would result in terrible "splashing".

In a similar vein we have been learning about the different kind of places one can stay. These range from free parking spot to all singing, all dancing campsite. Night one on Lake Maggiore was one of these, Campo Felice (much loved by its namesake Felicity, despite the cold and rain). This set us back around 70 euros for the night. Our second night was at a site attached to a nice B&B and restaurant, Ca' Vecchia in Sasso Marconi. It had electricity and chemical toilet and grey water disposal. This is the holy trinity of camper vanning. And it was a nice quiet, grassy site, all for 12 euros. Then we tried out the free parking. Just a parking lot, 30m from the Med, but quite unwelcoming and a little strange when the kids were sitting at the outdoor table eating breakfast as all the local families parked up for school drop-off!

Breakfast in a parking lot

First sight of the Med on this trip

After our night at Ca' Vecchia, the sun shone on breakfast the next morning and we enjoyed Florence in the dry. As an alternative to the Ferrari museum we had considered a Parmesan cheese tour or a balsamic vinegar visit. This area of Tuscany is the home of the city of Parma (ham and cheese) and Modena (vinegar and Ferrari) as well as Florence which just has the most extraordinary wealth of art and architeture perhaps anywhere in the world. DaVinci spent much of his life here and in nearby Milan and arguably this was the epicentre of the Rennaisance, that era of breathtaking advances in science, art, the humanities, politics, and well civilization, that shaped our modern world.

A more peaceful and private breakfast, sunshine included, Ca' Vechhia

In Florence we parked in the hillside which gave us a nice view while we had lunch in the van. We then walked into the centre across the legendary Ponte Vecchio with its expensive jewellry shops and on up to the Duomo of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria. It's an extraordinary amount of marble and work, which began in 1387 and has pretty much continued ever since.

Lunch in the van before heading down into Florence

A fountain is always good fun, and this one has a view of the Duomo in the background

Up close, so much detail

Magnificent, and built 800 years ago with not a combustion engine in sight

We stopped for gelato on our way to the interactive Da Vinci museum. This was a big hit with the kids, wooden working models of many of his inventions kept us all busy for a couple of hours. He was the true renaissance man, interested and competent in so many areas of design, engineering, biology, and art. I was inspired to request Walter Isaacson's biography. I recently finished his book on Steve Jobs, himself a great admirer of Italian design and indeed of Leonardo.

Gelato

The amazing Da Vinci museum, all wooden and hands on

A classic view

Crystal made it up to the lookout to see the iconic view of the Duomo while the kids chased bubbles before we headed to the coast for Part 2... the Cinque Terre and a different pace.