A well-muscled Neptune brandishing his trident in Bologna.
The judge in the “my tower is bigger than your tower” competition.
There are arcades everywhere in Bologna.
Take a look at those knees!
Everyone should have a rucksack with a compartment for your hat!
These two haven’t been to the gym recently.
I didn’t know that Italians played cricket!
Stick up art.
Today we woke up from the cock crowing and the bells clanking.
The pillow view when we woke up.
The 3 clanking bells – clank, clunk and clink.
.
An old Venetian game in the village and then off into the fabulous forest.
Thinking stony thoughts.
A whirling girl.
What is Gerhild applauding?
Kim’s wooden Kabarett in the woods.
What’s in this creepy, First World War tunnel?
She’s not hungry fortunately.
She spoke neither English, nor German.
This giant chameleon blends nicely with the rock.
Someone needs a rest.
A final kiss before we head for the Perambulator and drive to Bologna.
Nice view from our parking spot, next to the cemetery.
We popped in to the market in Pergine and there was a roaring trade in roast chicken & chips!
No, not a Banksy, it’s Little Red Riding Hood lost in the bluebells.
Mmmm. Italian cake “Treccia Mocchena”. Delicious.
Time for the bats to zoom around.
What is he doing?
Snapping some art.
Well everyone knows about knots in trees! See www.henriqueoliveira.com
Solstice.
The invisible woman.
Holy tree
The Perambulator in Sella valley.
Clouds having a good time.
So what‘s the Italian for lounging around?
10 km Walk around Lago di Levico today.
Beautiful blue sky today.
Spooky tree stump.
This looks like instructions for exercises and it is, but mental gymnastics to fight off Alzheimer’s.
Stylish Italian sanitary facilities.
Stylish Italian haircut for Kim at El Barber Paolo in Levico Terme.
Rainy drive through the Alps to a very smart camp site Https://www.campinglevico.com right next to Lago Levico (lake Levico) in the Valsugana valley.
Gerhild thought it was too cold today for a swim.
Look at those evening mountains and the groovy white camper next to the beach.
Long drive (507 km) to Ingolstadt. Nice location for camp site https://www.azur-camping.com/ingolstadt/
Walking around the lake you can see our camper.
What a welcome!
Schloss Eisenbach in winter.
They’re going south while we’re going north. Who has more sense?
Yes, they built the European Parliament building in the back garden of this little house.
It’s bigger than it looks.
No Union Jack!
Everyone’s in Brussels today.
This was the first MEP we randomly looked at with our free electronic finger pens, Nico Semsrott
In the old town.
An old role model.
Alain Séchas spider aka “The rich make their comeback”. Nice hat.
Use the building as your canvas.
By Ed Paschke.
Window made in Strasbourg.
https://www.operanationaldurhin.eu/en/spectacles/saison-2021-2022/opera/carmen
Even the singers wore masks, except Carmen.
https://www.camping-strasbourg.com/en/ – In the car park as the site was full.
Strasbourg celebrates its Christmasyness!
What to do on a rainy Sunday? Have a lie in and go to the art gallery.
But only after Gerhild ordered a Volkswagen Flammkuchen.
This Bill Viola video reminded us of the weather outside…
Looking out of the window at breakfast.
A village boulangerie looks promising.
Mmmmmmm. Who cares about the rain.
Besançon looks great.
Excellent aire pour camping car right next to the river and close to the old centre.
Don‘t want chewing gum on the floor? Hang up some funky picture and invite the chewers to become stickers.
https://www.leconsortium.fr/en/boilly
Great exhibition by Nicolas Party, reflecting on the work of Louis Léopold Boilly
A huge, expressionless blue head against a background of Boilly caricatures copied directly onto the wall.
Friendly guy explaining the work for us.
The original by Boilly. He‘s supposed to be the one who is smiling.
This looks like someone being inoculated, discreetly covered by a spiky tree picture. Very COVID!
.
Interesting work by Genesis Belanger.
Basilique Cathédrale Saint-Croix d‘Orléans was often visited by Joan of Arc while Orléans was under siege by the English in 1428.
Those were the days, when people thought their business would last as long as the building.
Someone has been playing with the street names here.
.
.
.
.
.
Beautiful start to the day in Piré sur Seiche.
Free parking spot in the village for the camper with option to empty the loo & fill up with water.
Free parking spot in Orléans, next to the Loire.
No, not a docking station for flying saucers, this will be a hotel.
This guy‘s in a real tizz.
The Improbable Couple by Lisa Vanho.
A Breton fool‘s head, by Michadu.
This poor penguin was frozen solid, so Gerhild lent her a scarf.
Kim decided that he‘d better not mess with this one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont-Saint-Michel
The push-me, pull-you bus that has a driver’s cab at both ends!
Pottering along the village street, up towards the abbey.
Tide‘s still out.
The château website.
The château’s mysterious guardian.
Her strange sister? (Beatrice Coron)
Wearing a hat worthy of Marie Antoinette.
The château.
The view.
Where does this go to?
Ever had that feeling that you’re being watched?
No, I‘m not imagining it!
Willow ready to harvest soon.
A great place to visit!
Delicious meal at La Maison Bleue. Cod with a chocolate sauce.
Tréguier
Something fishy going on here.
What can we buy here?
Bandes dessinées.
Welcome to Château de Kerguéhennec.
The kitchen needs a bit of work.
Beautiful day for a walk around the sculpture park.
Not forgetting the lake.
Fantastic bears holding up the world.
Work this one out!
On the way back to the camper.
In our 5-star camp site you can even stay in a Château.
Or by the river Erdre.
Or in the Théâtre Graslin.
And there’s a peaceful riverside walk which starts very close to the campsite.
There’s a bitter wind blowing today.
Best to be indoors, in the old biscuit factory, to see how people once imagined the future would look. https://www.sens-fiction.org/
The original caption read “Your personal flying carpet. Step into it, press a button, and off you go to market, to a friend’s home, or to your job. Take off and land anywhere, no parking problems. Plug in to any electric outlet for recharging. They’re working on it.”
This one is a bit older, but closer to the mark.
Groovy tram stops here.
Nantes is very bicycle-friendly.
5 star campsite in Nantes. https://www.nantes-camping.fr/en/
Pretty, autumnal colours in the Jardin today, but who’s that behind the bushes?
Lying down on the job!
Must be related to the first one.
Perhaps it’s a hippy family?
At least this one’s working hard.
Will you look at that sun, so late in the year.
Taking a cool dip is so relaxing.
The artist’s website.
Brrr, it’s cold today.
Have to wrap up warm for some sightseeing in the harbour.
A great sculpture, hidden behind a wall.
There’s a little video too on the artist’s web site.
Delivering urgent messages pre-Internet.
Tide’s out.
Lighthouse.
The Automaton Museum in La Rochelle.
Today we visited Chateau d’Arsac With its combination of wine and art.
Plenty of space for our camper.
Absolutely enormous vineyards.
Kim had better watch out that this owl doesn’t fly away with him.
Stilthouse by Anne Quinze.
Crooked by Bernard Pagès.
No, Kim hasn’t been painting stones again, this is Chaos by Thomas Ryse.
Climax by Laurent Cerciat.
Gerhild is definitely for team red, not team blue.
A real friend for the birds – Bird’s Fountain by Jean-Michel Folon.
Oh yes, the wine too.
Grocer’s shop selling local food, specifying how far away each farmer is, in km. There’s a map in case your geography is a bit rusty.
This fellow doesn’t look like he walked far.
Here they use an entertaining word for 2nd hand clothing – friperie.
.
.
.
.
.
Wine is BIG in Bordeaux.
They like BIG here.
Not only does UNESCO like the building, this wisteria is „un arbre particulier“. Nice that the plants get a look-in too.
Bordeaux cityscape.
Autumnal Bordeaux.
Gerhild and her frippery trophies.
The Monument aux Girondists in the Place des Quinconces Is the first thing that grabs your attention when you get off of the tram.
Even with the water turned off for the winter, it’s very spectacular.
There’s plenty to laugh at.
Delicious cake and tea in Café Miremont.
Bordeaux is quite a beautiful place. We may have stay a while to see more of it.
https://www.yellohvillage.fr/camping/bordeaux_lac Attractive campsite at the periphery of Bordeaux.
Today we popped into Museo Chillida Leku
And who is Eduardo Chillida I hear you ask.
He’s the sculptor who decorated the garden in front of the Kanzleramt in Berlin.
He rescued a decrepit 16th century farmhouse to make it into a gallery. Nice wooden beams.
A huge piece of alabaster.
Quick trip to San Sebastián’s beach with cava and tapas on the way home.
https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en
Gerhild has no problems getting past this guard dog.
Look at those curves – and Anish Kapoor’s pile of balls.
Huh! Even more curves, courtesy of Richard Serra.
Delicious Pintxos and cava for lunch.
The Guggenheim is giving the girls a go. This is Georgiana Houghton’s curvy work from the 1860s. Victorian psychedelia!
This girl, Alexandra Exter, designed the costumes for a Russian science-fiction film Aelita, queen of Mars 1924 (Youtube)
Costume design for the theatre.
Nice work by a group of aboriginal women.
Some flowers for the girls – better late than never.
We popped into Azkuna Zentroa with its 43 different ways to hold the roof up. (All 43)
There was a small art exhibition too from an artists’ residency in Rome.
Even a nice frock for Gerhild
This in Bilbao.
So is this.
Rioja vineyards in November. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rioja_(wine)
The campsite in Bilbao has quite a view over the city. Camp site web site
Bilbao by night.
