We’ve only told you snippets of the time we spent last month with Katrina and Bernard (i.e.”Two Banks” in case you thought this was about financial institutions)….back in August, Patricia got a whole blog post of her own after our four weeks together, so it’s only fair that our next visitors should have their 15 minutes of blog-fame as well. We had a fantastic time together and found that four people in a camper-van does work remarkably well…..everyone pitched in and got things done, and we all thoroughly enjoyed nearly three weeks with them both then another two weeks with just Katrina, after Bernard headed home for work as planned. In case you weren’t aware, this part of the trip was to mark the 50 years of friendship for Pauline and Katrina – an anniversary we’d been planning for, for a number of years.

In total, we managed to squeeze in visits to ten countries and covered a total of 5,798km in almost five weeks. [By the way, as of the day this blog entry is being written, we have now completed 30,051km since first setting off in our camper-van 23 weeks ago.] So, here’s a quick summary and a few highlights…..(K & B, please feel free to comment in order to add all the important things I’ve completely forgotten to mention!)

After picking our visitors up at 6.15am from Milan Airport in Italy, we headed a short distance north to a camp on the shores of Lake Maggiore and from there, the next day, went on a round trip to the beautiful Lake Como, popping in to Switzerland on the way back to camp. As you do. Then a couple of nights in Sestri Levante allowed us a day to visit the famous Cinque Terre, and although rock falls had closed the walking paths completely so we couldn’t walk between any of the five towns, the trains were still operating and we had a wonderful day soaking in the magnificent scenes, and soaking up the magnificent wines. We then headed south and called to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa on our way to Assisi (stayed the night there but really didn’t see much as it was a time of very heavy rain so we just pushed on), then onto Monte Cassino which we’ve already told you about, and finally across to the ferry port of Bari to catch an overnight boat to Croatia…..

….where we arrived to a perfect morning and had breakfast beside Dubrovnik harbour. Sadly, the good weather didn’t last and in fact turned to torrential rain that night which is when the awning came to the end of its useful life. But that didn’t stop us having a great visit to the old city and walking the entire length of the old city wall, taking in the fact that Dubrovnik really is a wonderful place despite much of the city having been rebuilt after being destroyed by the Serbs during the Balkans War in 1991. Then, on our way up the coast to Split (best campsite in Europe by far!) we had a very brief visit to Bosnia & Herzegovina…..brief because there’s just a 10.1km stretch of the otherwise Croatian highway which passes through another country! Time enough to stop and buy a fridge magnet, and to ask the shop assistant if we actually were in Bosnia (there are no road signs welcoming you that’s for sure!) only to rather curtly be answered “No, you’re in Herzegovina”. Oops, diplomatic faux pas there, I think!!

After a couple of days in Split, and then a stop at a cold, somewhat unwelcoming campsite near Karlovac we headed to Slovenia. Well, we tried to but after the GPS took us to the nearest road heading across the river border we met a Croatian Mr Plod whose sole job, it would seem, was to man the border post that wasn’t a border post. Not for us anyway – we had to turn around and head further along the red dotted line on our map in order to cross the same river on a different bridge carrying a more important highway which allowed us to successfully enter Slovenia and head to the capital Ljubljana. Just one night there, but highlighted by a trip into the city, a ride up to the Castle, then dinner in the Old Town at a delightful restaurant serving authentic local food and drinks. Next morning, we were up bright and early to go to Lake Bled which would have to be one of the most stunningly beautiful scenes we have ever seen, then through the unfortunately named Karawanken Tunnel and into Austria. Didn’t stop there though…..this was a three country day as we went quickly north and only stopped after 325km when we reached Berchtesgaden in Germany (a story also covered in a previous blog).

We then revisited Oberammergau (no mountain climbing or theatre visits this time but we did have another wonderful meal out thanks again to Katrina and Bernard’s generosity), crossed the next day back into Austria and through Liechtenstein, and then onto a camp site on a farm in Switzerland. We arrived in the dark but there was no doubting that this was a ‘farm camp’ – if the cow bells didn’t let you know, the cow smells certainly did. Across Switzerland the next day in the fog and drizzle, but we did manage to find Lausanne (where we visited the International Olympic Committee Museum – well, the temporary exhibition that is all there is for the next year or so whilst the main museum is closed for renovations!) and also our next stop Geneva.

We actually stayed across the border at Neydens in France, but caught the bus back to Geneva the next day for a look around, then on the following day just Bernard caught the bus as the first leg of his travels back to Wellington, whilst the other three of us turned the van’s nose south towards the French Riviera and Provence where we spent the next week or so. From here on, the trip log almost becomes a succession of shops visited because it is almost impossible to stop one woman from shopping let alone two women hunting as a pack. We did manage to squeeze in visits to places like the Casino in Monaco, the marina in Cannes, the Fragonard perfume factory in Grasse, markets in Gordes and Antibes, the Magnificent Palais des Papes in Avignon, one or two restaurants and wineries and again as you’ve already read, a few bridges as well.

After the last bridge, at Millau, we stayed a night on a Pâté de Foie Gras duck farm near Montignac and then visited the nearby site of the Lascaux Caves the next morning; we stayed in the Loire Valley and visited the most amazing 16th Century Château at Villandry with its even more amazing Renaissance Gardens including a kitchen garden like you’ve never seen before (quick quote from the guidebook: “made up of nine squares of equal size but with different geometric patterns in each, planted with vegetables of alternating colours (the blue of leeks, the red of cabbages and beetroot, the green of carrot tops) to create the illusion of a multi-coloured chess board”); and we stayed a night in Chartres which gave us time to spend in the very neat and tidy town itself, as well as time to visit its magnificent Cathedral.

And then, all too soon, we were back in Paris with just enough time for Katrina to pack, for one last meal out, and then for us to become just two again, after dropping her off at Charles De Gaulle Airport…..very sad to see them both go, but very happy that we had all enjoyed a brilliant time together and had seen some great sights and done some great things during that time.

Have a look at a few photos from the Balkans here and of parts of France here .