Charney-lès-Mâcon, France - 1 November 2022

I suppose because it was Halloween last night, the area around us was noisier than usual with people out and about - having fun!

Don’t think we’ve ever heard bells as loud - really random, 5.30pm, then 7.30pm and not again until 7.30am today! Way into the night, it sounded like shots being fired - no idea at what!

The promised rain started about 5am I think. XCWeather had said it would go down to 4° overnight - not sure of the temperature, but we woke to see lots of snow on the tops of the mountains which wasn’t there yesterday!

Tintin had the short straw again, and serviced Dave in the rain. There were loads of other mohos which arrived after dark - who knows if they paid their €7!

I drove today - over 4 hours in the end. Started off before 9.30am in the rain, but the rain only lasted for about an hour.

I had the joy of driving through the Fréjus tunnel. It’s 12.87km long, was commissioned in 1980. It’s located at the junction of two major national and international trade routes between France and Italy, and one of the main routes for crossing the northern Alps. It cost €64.50 for us as Class B. The total for tolls and tunnels today was an eye watering €120.20! It’s quite strange to have Co-pilot announcing we’re entering France when we were in the tunnel! The tunnels are obviously well lit, but takes more concentration!

So Autostrada signs in Italy have a green background, and ‘normal’ roads are blue. Once back in France, the péage signs are blue and ‘normal’ roads are green!

We pulled into an Aire on the side of the péage for a quick lunch. The last of the Italian rolls - decided they needed to be grilled in order to have a chance of being edible! That meant that the grill pan was then too warm to go back in Tintin’s bed where it travels on bumpy roads!

Dave’s temperature gauge moved from 11° when I first started driving to 22° this afternoon. Back in long trousers, summer is now over!

In summary, we’ve very much enjoyed our six weeks exploring in Italy - feel we’ve seen and done quite a lot. A few missed places I’d wanted to visit - but maybe something to come back for? I still maintain that it’s a myth that the Italians are friendly! Their roads, even when good aren’t up to the French general standard. I don’t miss all the rubbish strewn along the road sides - mainly Southern Italy.

Before we came away, I must admit I was feeling a little apprehensive about the driving - you know - heard all about the arrogant Italian drivers, going fast, cutting you up, beeping horns all the time. The reality was that yes, they don’t really know what indicators are for, they do pull out straight in front of you, especially on roundabouts - but it’s been fine. In fact, I don’t think beeping horns have been a thing at all, and in general we’ve both been relaxed about driving in Italy.

We topped up with another €50 of diesel yesterday. Today on the péage the most we saw was €2.24/ltr. We understand that generally the fuel strike has been resolved, there might be queues at some Total garages which sell the cheapest fuel, but at least it’s available. It was about 30c a litre cheaper on our way through France six weeks ago - it’s jumped in price since the strike.

We played a game as soon as we were off on our bikes this afternoon - virtually 100% hit rate when you say Bonjour - some even saying it before us. Italy - we just got ignored or glared at! (saying Buon giorno not Bonjour!).

We didn’t see many trucks driving on the péage today, and randomly thought it was because it’s known that French motorways are more expensive than Italy. Think it’s because there are so many different companies involved. But no - it’s All Saints Day, a public bank holiday. Again, hence why so many people out and about on the bike paths.

Tintin randomly chose a place to park so we could see which route co-pilot would take. It just so happens it’s right on the cycle path, so we cycled just over 11 miles, just to get out and about after sitting so long!

It’s lovely to see cows, sheep, chickens and horses again - just what do they do with them in Italy?! We know from staying on the Agricamper that Paulo said it’s too expensive to keep his cows outside, so they’re just inside - all the time - very sad.

We’re still using some of the bottled water from Italy - it’s really good - a natural mineral water that’s slightly fizzy. It’s not like drinking a sparkling water, just has a little life to it, comparable with having a frizzante wine at lunch time instead of a Prosecco!

There was no space in the Park4night carpark here at Charnay-les-Mâcon, so during the day we parked up at the wine tasting place just above - closed because of the holiday. Once all the cars went home, we moved to the proper parking space, but we’re too big and have had to park across the lines - don’t think it will be busy in the morning though.

Tomorrow we need to find a boulangerie!