From Ornans to Luxembourg

Some pictures from yesterday's trip ...

The house of the 19th cent painter Gustave Courbet - restored, and now a museum

Bright and sunny - but the river still seems a bit high!

Baker's customers have a yarn after buying their daily bread

A bad flood day in the main street in Ornans in 1953

Grenouilles - You know you're in France when frogs are on the menu!

Limestone bluffs were a dramatic feature of the valley of the river Loue

A chateau along the way ...

The open road - we always find quiet driving conditions in France ...

Cordon to Ornans

Today we had an easy drive from the Alps to the Jura.  It had snowed in the night, but it was rapidly disappearing by the time we got on our way.  The roads were incredibly quiet, so the driving was as good as it could be.  The weather wasn't great, rather overcast, and pretty cold in the early evening when we arrived at our destination - the small town of Ornans near Besançon. 

The river here, the Loue, is very high - apparently flooding in winter and spring is normal.

The view as the clouds cleared in the morning

... and from Sallanches, down in the valley, where we had our breakfast 

While looking south, the elusive summit of Mont Blanc reveals itself

A little chapel in the fields seen along the way in the green and pleasant land of the Jura

The River Loue in Ornans

On the road again

A fair enough morning to leave, with various weathers throughout the day.  Our trip took us up the coastal autoroute to Genoa, then inland through the Apenines to the flat rice country of the upper Po plain - no flooded paddy fields at this time of year. 

Then into the Alps via the Aosta valley, reminiscent of the entry to the Garfagnana from the flat land of Lucca.  At this point the sun came out, and we had hopes of seeing the top of Mont Blanc, but the clouds came in again, and, once through the tunnel, we met a very grey France, with drizzle turning to snow soon after we reached our hotel.

9 am and time to head off ...

No mountains to be seen above Barga today

The mouth of the Aosta valley - resembling the jaws of hell ...

... but then the sun came out

Looking down from our hotel over the village of Cordon.  Mont Blanc is out of frame to the right, but invisible in a cloak of mist and rain ...

Time to go ...

All packed up and ready to go on Sunday morning, after final farewells to neighbours and friends ...  First stop, through the Mont Blanc tunnel to Sallanches.

Blossoms looking good ...

A last tidy ...

Shepherd's delight?

More flowers at Collodi

Here are some more pics from our recent foray ...

A grand villa seen along the path

This anemone is a more familiar design(?) than the many-petalled one.

This anemone is a more familiar design(?) than the many-petalled one.

The only orchid we saw - it is only March - there were many varieties here the time we visited in June

The plain of the Arno spread out in the distance, as the river winds towards Florence, then Pisa

To sunny Collodi and the land of flowers ...

On Tuesday, we drove over to the town of Collodi (the "birthplace of Pinocchio") to do a walk we've done before and which is remarkable for its flowers.  We knew the weather was to be good, so the meadows and the olive groves would be at their best ...

The valley leading down to Collodi has many old papermills from days of yore, some of which are now modern concerns.  Recycling was satisfyingly in evidence - we hear that when they make paper from scratch, the natural pulp comes all the way from South America!

Bales of paper of all sorts await recycling

Up among the blossom - but what tree is it?

Magnificent mimosa, with olive groves in the background

This farmer was diversifying by growing palms among the olives. The palm leaves are destined to be sold to florists for flower arrangements (large ones!)

They look like daisies, but in fact are a species of anemone

Elm flowers produce a spectacular show

The weekend - Florence and Renaio

On Saturday, we hied ourselves to Florence for a last look at the Uffizi gallery and a quick shop. The Uffizi has a special Anthony Gormley exhibition at the moment, and we wanted to have another look at some of Raphael's paintings since our interest was kindled in Urbino where he was from.

We came home via Lucca, where the magnolias in Via Garibaldi are magnificently in bloom.

And on Sunday we had a farewell meal with neighbours in the country restaurant high above us in he tiny hamlet of Renaio.

In the Piazza della Signoria, an Anthony Gormley figure is just discernible on the parapet of the loggia dei Lanzi 

... and, from the terrace above looking out to the Palazzo Vecchio and the duomo

Another Gormley figure indoors, with a backdrop of Uffizi sculotures ahows that, for artists, nudity never goes out of style ...

Elizabetta, 15th cent. duchess of Urbino who we learnt about when we were in Urbino recently.  The painting is by Raphael

A white magnolia in Lucca ...

... and a pink one ...

Up at Renaio ...