A Random Overland Tour Across Europe

*Driving the Radsattel Circuit in Austria shortly after the first snow*

Slovenia, Austria, Italy, France, Monaco

So this blog is really just a photo dump with some quick impressions and highlights. Travel setbacks along with joyful family commitments meant that we did not do any of these areas or countries justice (only four days in Slovenia, just touched on Italy to see the Dolomites, crossing central and Southern France . . )

We entered Slovenia with truck issues and ended up at a helpful Toyota service shop in Ljubljana. We also had to get to Zurich to fly back to the US for a family wedding (we booked the flight six months ago, just picked a big city where we thought we could find secure parking for the truck). Our family friend Forrest told us we had to see the Dolomites so we backtracked to get back to them, basically executing a huge route U-turn. No regrets, but the reality is that we were moving quickly and did not do our usual exploration of each country’s highlights and history.

Highlights on the drive:

Slovenia -Ljubljana - walkable city with great architecture and cafes

Slovenia -Triglav National Park -beautiful mountains, stunning drive from Kranjska Gora to Bovec

Austria - Zell am See - breathtaking hiking

Austria - Hall in Tirol - charming scenic village surrounded by mountains

Austria - Innsbruck -scenic outdoorsy town on the river surrounded by mountains and hiking

Italy - the Dolomites - all of it. Truly extraordinary mountains

France - Moustiers-Sainte-Marie - fascinating village built into the rocky cliffs with a climb to a stone chapel

France - Les Baux de Provence - iconic stone village built on a hilltop

Slovenia

Slovenia had gorgeous mountains and what was for us an unexpectedly intriguing capital, Ljubljana. The drawback is that they have some of the stricted rules against wild camping in the Balkans, accompanied with enforcement and hefty fines. We risked it once but then stayed in campgrounds.

Slovenia was our final Balkan country to visit. It was able to secede peacefully from Yugoslavia and attain independence in 1991. However, prior to independence, the people had lived through 1000 years of occupation. The Austrian Habsburgs were the longest influence at 600 years. Before communism, the country was 95% Catholic and still has the highest per capita number of Catholic churches. Although the Ottomons made many attempts, they never successfully conquered the region. On our Ljubljana free walking tour we learned about the nation’s pride in their language and poetry.

*Downtown Ljubljana architecture shows the Habsburg influence*

*Ljubljanica River curves through the city with beautiful old bridges*

*The city center of Ljubljana was pedestrianized in 2007 with free small electric taxis offered as mitigation for residents*

Adventures with the Truck

Somewhere along the way we had torn a CV boot. We were happy and grateful that the Toyota dealer in Ljubljana agreed to fit us in and replace it. We have been stunned along our journey at the generosity, capability and warmth we have been received at auto repair shops. With the help of Google Translate and awkward emails it has always worked out.

*Also one of the reasons we chose a Toyota as such an internationally common make and model (Tacoma basically the same as a Hilux)*

*Dawn hung out here - her favorite place, coffee bar with wifi*

Then back on the road, behind schedule but all fixed up.

*We had a pleasant walk all the way around the lake on a nice paved trail*

*Then into our favorite place - the mountains and Triglav NP*

Another Adventure with the Truck

Along the way one of our solar panels had failed. When the first one failed, the helpful folks at Overland Solar in Boise let us know that the original installation was not supporting the panels enough. They replaced one for us. When the second failed in Europe, we contacted Renogy for a new one but they needed a shipping address. The accommodating Toyota Dealer in Ljubljana agreed to receive a panel for us. We had been doing OK with one but felt it could be a risk. The main draw is our refrigerator and we would be heading for warmer climates.

*What our charging bank in the camper typically looks like every night*

*Andy getting to work on the replacement project - campground with a view in Slovenia*

*Dibond backing bought and cut with a friend’s help in Germany, we had been travelling with it under our mattress for a month*

*New panel stuck to the die bond with sticky velcro tape*

*Returning from the hike, spotting a group of interested folks gathered around the truck looking at our route map*

Austria

Austria contrasted impressive mountain vistas with stately historic cities. The scenery was beautiful but the culture more restrictive than we had been used to with prohibitive wild camping rules and relatively expensive food and gas. We purchased the required toll pass sticker as soon as we crossed the border from a bureacrat who was not happy with our lack of the German language (Andy’s perspective - she was actually quite rude to Dawn). Glad we did, more speed traps than we had seen in months, yes the first one got us (50 euros, police hidden 10 meters from the slow down sign, watch out! Zee am See is an absolute speed trap) but we got through the rest fine free.

We spent a day wandering the streets of Vienna, a cosmopolitan blend of the old and new.

*Took the obligatory break at a classic cake shop*

*Balcony where Hitler once spoke. Has not been used since.*

*Saw one classic Lippizaner house - thought it was a statue at first!*

Honestly, Vienna was not our favorite city. At first glance, it lacked the quirkiness and sense of humor we had come to appreciate in other cities. It felt like a very serious place. And it was a very grey and wet day. But it is possible we did not dive deep enough. To be fair, we were feeling saturated with stately buildings and palaces. As we feel the fatigue and sensory overload of European cultural sites we anticipate even more the upcoming year and a half in Africa which will reset our capacity to appreciate the culture, history and vibrancy of Europe, but right now, we are a little jaded and acknowledge it. We can tell when we are excited about a place because immediately the phones come out and we start snapping pictures. Unfortunately, that is tapering off these days after 2 1/2 years of touring the European continent.

So, back on the road to check out some famous Austrian monasteries.

Our spirits were up when we hit Austria’s other cultural center, Salzburg, and we were ready to be inspired by stories of Mozart and Baroque architecture.

*Beautiful view of Salzburg from the castle on the hill*

Our next couple of Austrian stops were focused on hiking and it was world class.

*Starting point of the hiking at the top of a chair lift at Zell am See*

*Views for days, fresh snow on the peaks*

*Charming mountain village of Hall in Tirol*

*Amazing bread shop with a line of locals at the door -a good sign*

*Innsbruck - bridge across the glacial river*

*Colorful town, outdoorsy and with easy access to hiking and a plethora of mountain biking trails*

*Drive back from a quiet wild camping spot - glad we fit*

*Radsattel Circuit drive- the day after fresh snow, so far so good with mud, bog, sand, ice and snow. Though she be but little, she is fierce.*

Italy (well really mostly just the Dolomites)

So gorgeous! A place we would like to return to someday for an exended stay. Around every corner, another stunning view. We just had to keep stopping and taking photos.

*It reminded us of where we brought our kids up - hiking in the Trinity Alps of far Northern California*

*Found an area where wild camping is allowed - what a view!*

*View down on the valley below from Tre Cime del Lavaredo*

*Last stop in Italy, a walk along the edge of Lake Como*

France - (Central and South)

*First night in France - woke up to snow on the ground! Love the soft sound of it hitting the roof*

*Chamonix - classic mountain town. Someday we will return to ski. Mt Blanc in the background*

*And then it peeped out during our walk*

After soul-enriching mountain time, we were ready to dive into another city. Surprisingly, we really liked Lyon (maybe we got our energy back in the mountains?), it was gritty in places, but full of character. It seemed both old and possessed with a modern sensibility. Fascinating architecture yet down to earth at the same time.

*Dawn’s favorite - the narrow cobbled street with cafes shot*

*View of Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière on the hill of Lyon. We made our way up there to explore (many steps) but skipped the fake Eiffel Tower, now owned by a TV station.*

*Famous Lyon Fresco building - paintings of famous Lyon residents*

*Walked up the hill to visit impressive Roman ruins*

Heading south (warming up, no more snow!) we found ourselves fascinated with and entranced by the old stone hill top villages in France. People definitely had no fear of steepness - safety and easily defensible the priority over an easy building site.

*First mountainside village - Moustiers-Sainte-Marie - repeatedly listed as the most beautiful village in France and we could see why*

*Climbing to the stone chapel above the village*

*River runs through the steep canyon in the middle of the village*

Really appreciating being in a highly visited tourist village post season with no other tourists. It gave us the chance to soak up the scenery and it didn’t matter to us that most of the stores and cafes were closed.

*Fascinating use of the local topography*

Following the coast, we had to stop off in Monaco so that we could check off another country (36 at this point, including Liechtenstein which we had spent the night in earlier). It was a really difficult city to drive, luckily we found a spot to park and walked the famous gambling and shopping streets.

*Found a wild camping spot in the hills above the city (it had become a pattern, crazy switchback roads up above a glamorous city to find a remote camping spot, first Lake Como, now Monaco)*

*Then the next morning we were joined by 4 vans full of professional dog walkers. And dogs. All friendly, all good.*

The next day we made our way to Nice. It was Thanksgiving and we were feeling the lack of family. But having seen everyone at a wedding two weeks before and with a December gathering in Morocco coming up it didn’t make sense for us to fly back again for a turkey feast. Our children carried on somehow (haha)- our two sons went to climb a mountain in Mexico and our daughter joined her boyfriend’s family.

*We consoled ourselves with pastries on the beach boardwalk in Nice*

Our next stop was Saint-Tropez. Just the name evoked glamour, charm, and high end fashion and food.

*Saint-Tropez - another place where the town was shut down post season but somehow that made it more alluring for us*

*The town felt like it had seen it’s glory days but we appreciated its setting*

*Gordes - our next stone hilltop village - wow!*

Camped on a hill above Gordes and the next morning we were desperately trying to diagnose an obnoxious squeak. This meant Dawn accelerating at full speed toward Andy while he stood in the middle of the road and listening. A little nerve wracking (for Dawn, not Andy) TBC, a full can of WD-40 later, we are still working on the squeak.

Our final historic and scenic village, Les Baux-de-Provence was another feast for the eyes.

*Main pedestrian entrance to Les Baux-de-Provence*

*Built into and around the hilltop rocks*

Then our final stop! An incredible Roman aqueduct.

*Catching the setting sun on Pont-du-Gard*

Phew! Thank you for sticking with us on this crazy journey from Slovenia to Spain. It was a little haphazard. We are looking forward to providing some more fulsome country by country blogs and information when we get to Africa next month. Stay tuned and thank you for reading!