Getting home

Overnight stops (in date order): Sofia (x10); Nis; Belgrade (x6); Nova Gradiška; Zagreb (x9); Ljubljana (x10); Verona; Modane; Sassenage (x6); Nuits-Saint-Georges (x7); Épernay (x7); Wimereux (x8)

We had always intended to be home by early February 2021 but, because of the changing restrictions on border crossings imposed by COVID, we could not plan each stage of our route much more than a week ahead.   The likelihood of a sudden change in how European countries would treat us when we became third- country nationals on 1 January, post-Brexit, added a further twist.

Bulgaria

It snowed on our last night in Turkey; and we drove through wintry Bulgarian countryside – we had been swimming in the Aegean less than three weeks earlier.

Sofia was decidedly cold on the day we arrived.

This was not weather for camping.  So, we parked up the truck

and took to Airbnb.

Our apartment was close to the centre of the city

and to Sofia’s central market.

The restrictions did not allow us to drink at bars or eat at restaurants; so we had to rely on take-aways.

Luckily, some good-quality restaurants had adapted to the situation and switched to providing take-away food.

The hills surrounding Sofia,

were good walking country

 

Serbia

(Negative) COVID PCR tests in hand, we crossed the border into Serbia.  We spent a day in Niš, Serbia’s third largest city,

The town was the birthplace of the Emperor Constantine,   

and other emperors used the nearby Mediana Villa as a residence; including Justinium (this is his wife).

In Belgrade,

our apartment

had its own fully private spa – complete with sauna, steam room and jacuzzi.

The origins of the massive Belgrade fortress extend back before the Roman occupation.

The city is sited at the confluence of the Rivers Sava and Danube. In the Zemun district, there are views over the two rivers

from the Millenium Tower; which was built in 1896 to celebrate 1,000 years of Hungarian rule over the Pannonian plain.

Moving on to 20^th Century history; many Serbians are nostalgic for the time when Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia.  The Museum of Yugoslavia

has an exhibition of photographs from the period that the country was re-established as a communist republic at the end of World War 2; under the leadership of Tito,

whose mausoleum is nearby.

This was the season of mists and fogs. Avala Tower, at the top of the mountain of the same name

was destroyed during the Nato bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 and then rebuilt. This was the view from the top!

 

Croatia

Our next stop

was Zagreb –

for Christmas

We managed to take a trip to Plitvice Lakes National Park – a UNESCO World Heritage site –

the day before Croatia ratcheted up its restrictions; stopping movement between counties.

That did not prevent us from taking a couple of walks in the nearby hills;

where there was snow on the peaks.

In 2020, Zagreb experienced its three most powerful earthquakes of the past 100 years.  The latest happened on the day before we left the city.  This was the view just outside our hotel.

 

Slovenia

We crossed into Slovenia on another cold day

and moved into an apartment close to the centre of Ljubljana;

with a view of the castle from the balcony.

Ljubljana is sited in a gap in the Julian Alps; on a route from the Adriatic coast to the Pannonian Plain.  The area was settled in pre-history – archaeologists found what they claim to be the world’s oldest wooden wheel (5,000 years) in the nearby marshes.

A Roman town, Remona was built on the site,

and abandoned until the current city was founded in medieval times. 

Ljubljana is one of Europe’s smaller capital cities, with a population of fewer than 300,000.

Because of the restrictions on movement between municipalities in response to the pandemic, Ljubljana’s attractive centre was almost deserted.

The city is surrounded by parks and woodlands; where Slovenians walk their dogs and exercise.

 

Italy

To avoid going into quarantine for 14 days, we took the option of transiting Italy in 36 hours. 

The only sights we saw were from the motorway!

We stopped over Just outside Verona;

and drove west into the Alps;

leaving Italy through the Fréjus Tunnel.

France

We spent a night in Modane on the French side of the Tunnel;

before driving on to Grenoble, the self-styled capital of the Alps.

We spent a week in nearby Sassenage.

Like many small French towns,

Sassenage has its Chateau.

It is also the starting point for walking trails that run through the forests in the foothill so the Alps.

The Rivers Isère and Drac merge at Grenoble.

Despite the industrialisation of the riverbank, there are signs that beavers have recently returned to the area.

Next, we spent a week at…..

in the heart of the Côte d’Or wine region. 

For lovers of Kir, the town is also the home of Cassis.

Our apartment

had a terrace that overlooked the town centre;

which was pretty quiet in a January in the middle of the pandemic.  Restaurants were closed, so we had to make our own boeuf bourguignon.

I was not surprised to be alone on the Chemin des Grands Crus,

nor on another walk in the hills above the vineyards, on a frosty morning.

Beaune, the centre for Burgundy wine production, was just two stops down the line by train.

To continue the wine-based theme, we moved on to Épernay; which stakes a claim to be the ‘Capitale du Champagne’.

L’Avenue de Champagne is the town’s centrepiece,

and home to the headquarters of many of the biggest producers of champagne; including Moët & Chandon,

Mercier and Perrier-Jouët.

200 million bottles of champagne are stored in the network of cellars below the Avenue. 

The nearby vineyards of Aÿ-Champagne are classified as Grand Cru.

Late Winter is the time for pruning the vines.

and also an opportunity for Danielle’s stylish colouring.

Reims is 30 km north of Epernay.  Its Notre-Dame Cathedral is larger than the one in Paris.

On the subject of size, the Porte de Mars – one of the entrances to Durocortorum, the Roman town on the site of modern-day Reims – is said to be the largest arch in the Roman world. 

Last stop – Wimereux;

north of Boulogne.

From our apartment,

we had a view of Rivière La Wimereux as it entered the sea.

In its heyday, Wimereux was a popular seaside resort; especially for the English.

Some of the colourful and ornate, fin de siècle villas have survived two world wars, and more recent development.

The port at Wimereux was founded by Napoleon in 1804 when he was camped at Boulogne; contemplating the invasion of England.  He is still there, just outside Wimereux – atop the 53 metre-high, Colonne de la grande Armée – but with his back turned on The Channel.

The relics of a later cross-channel conflict, the German gun positions from the World War 2, are slipping into the sea as it erodes the Côte d’Opale between Boulogne and Calais.

Boulogne, with its 13^th Century castle,

was a long, cliff-top walk away.

The seafood at the Boulogne fish market could not have been fresher.

Despite the often stormy weather,

and bitter wind, a few hardy souls were upholding the Côte d’Opale’s reputation as a Mecca for water sports.

Low tide exposed miles of sandy beach; both at Wimereux,

and 20 Km up the coast at Wissant; where, in 2013, we had finished our last trip in the truck – having travelled overland from Singapore.  

On a day of rain and sun, a Rainbow arched across the Channel towards England.

Perhaps a sign that it was time to go home.

Overcoming the combined challenges of COVID restrictions, Brexit and the weather, we boarded the ferry on 8 February,

from Calais

to Dover;

and so home for us;

and to a rather more cold and murky welcome for the truck.