The Priory of Saint Pierre de Mejans is located in Puyvert, Provence, and historical records from 1118 show it was owned at that time by the Abbey of Saint Andé de Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. We stayed there for 5 nights. The priory has been associated with winemaking since at least 1343. In January of that year the Archbishop… Continue reading The Grand Tour 31 – The Priory

This morning we got up early to drive from Zoagli to Genova to catch a train to Nice, in France. What we didn’t know was that there was a strike of rail workers. What we also didn’t know is that can on the departures board means cancelled. The train had a platform number so we thought it… Continue reading The Grand Tour 30 – Delayed and Detained

As promised, I’m backtracking to Italy. One of the reason we chose to stay in Zoagli is that it is not a ‘tourist town’. We wanted to have some space from thousands of other people. We also needed a car park and Caroline found a place that had stunning sea views. Like this. So, along with… Continue reading The Grand Tour 29a – Cinque Terre/ 5 Towns

Today we drove from Venice to Zoagli on the Laguria coast, via Verona. Caroline wanted to have a look around Verona because it’s featured in the movie Letters To Juliet. This was my first time driving on the right hand side of the road, and it was the thing I’d been most worried about prior to the… Continue reading The Grand Tour 29 – Autostrade

One of the things I’ve enjoyed while walking around Venice is looking at the brickwork and how things are constructed. Here is a collection of images on that theme. 

Today was busy, with visits to the Natural History museum, the museum of perfumery and costumes, the Acadamemia galley, and finally the Correr and Ancient history museums. In there somewhere we also managed to eat. The natural history museum had a mix of traditional displays with groups of items labeled with their Latin names, and… Continue reading The Grand Tour 27 – Venice IV

Today we visted Murano Island where Venetian glass is made, St Mark’s Square, St Mark’s, the Doge’s Palace, and went for a gondola ride. No pictures were allowed at the glass maker we visited, but if you Google venetian glass you’ll get an idea of what we saw. The most expense item I saw was… Continue reading The Grand Tour 26 – Venice III