Luxembourg and Belguim

We spent a few days with Annique in Luxembourg and Sabien joined us there on her motorbike. She followed us through Luxembourg and into Belguim. The mountains and countryside are very pretty and the beer, waffles and fries with mayo are very good.
We met Eric in Antwerp for dinner and found Antwerp to be a great little city to spend a day in. From there we went to Brugge; another most pretty town with an awesome town square that looks like a fairytale film set.

Wining and Dining in France

We spent a week travelling up through the Rhone Valley and Burgundy, through some of France's best wine appellations. We stopped for a few days in Lyon, a grand city that prides itself on it's cuisine. Even though it was August and the height of the holiday season,all the restaurants were full of locals eating out. Then we continued to Alsace and camped for the weekend with Justine, Arjen and Xander. The Alsatian vineyards and villages are as picturesque as any in France, with a distinct German flair and the wines are really nice. They are known for Riesling and Gewurtztraminer, but also do lots of other great white wines and roses. The food is an interesting mix of German and French.

South of France

We spent a week in the South of France with Sandra, Robert and the American branch of the Greenfield family. We went to the beach quite a few times and sightseeing in Montpellier, Arles and the Camargue. We had plenty of braais and played monopoly or cards in the evenings. We got to see the Bokke beat the All Blacks two weekends in a row! yeh! The jogging is progressing quite slowly, so I think the French cuisine is winning the battle at this stage.

Rome, Tuscany and Piedmont

We spent a week heading through Northern Italy and into France. We chose a different route from last year, but kept stopping off at some of our old favourites. We had two days in Rome for Neil's favourite gelato and among other things, the street cafes and people watching. We visited Montelcino; home of the famous Brunello red wine and still loved the Tuscan landscape. Lucca was revisited for the free WiFi in the campsite - just kidding - and a restaurant that serves the best Melanzano Parmegano I have ever eaten. We spent more time in Siena than last year.
In Piedmont, we were disappointed to find that Beppe and Giovanna were not opening their restaurant the night we were there and with my limited Italian I could not work out why! The trip across the Alps and into Provence was amazingly scenic.