unpacking, so far

from top to bottom, left to right: 

• warm, felted slippers from Linz
• little lace stars for my Christmas branch, from the Erzgebirge
• a small windmill from the same place
• a cookbook with tasty ideas to serve in "Verrines"and a dozen of the smallest glasses.  Another cookbook with recipes for mini-madeleines - sadly, we ran out of time to find the baking tin
• a quarter yard remnant of embroidered "trachten" velvet and the matching silk lining to make a scarf, from the Salzburg Heimatwerk shop
• a few favourite pads and pochettes of art paper from Lille
• my friend's book ordered by and collected from a delightful independent bookshop in Salzburg
• delicious (and beautifully packaged) biscuits from Strasbourg
• three balls of Zauberwolle from a small woolshop in Linz whose name I failed to record

3100 miles later

One of the amazing aspects of our road trip is that we have not taken the same road twice, so the journey home has been totally different from the outbound route and that's made it all the more intereseting.  Setting off from Strasbourg to drive to Lille yesterday morning however, we felt that we were really very much ready for home.  Long empty roads made the drive a bit of a chore, although the excitement of a Luxembourgoise motorway service station was fun.  Cheap petrol, booze and cigarettes meant that every car on the road stopped there - and we only wanted to use the loo!

But Lille on a sunny Saturday afternoon was a fine place to be.  We had a slight hitch in that our planned hypermarche visit had to be rescheduled - we hadn't realised until now that the Cite Europe doesn't open on Sundays.  Sadly, Auchan Lille on a Saturday evening is not exactly the therapy we needed but having been there, done that, we took refuge in a great restaurant and a wonderful supper.

Today, it really was the last lap and tonight we are at home having dropped Edward off at his home in Finsbury Park.

It's been a great trip - ten countries, ten hotels, just over 3000 miles and about 1500 photographs!  Over the next few days, I'll share a few details which escaped the blog so far - a little hotel art maybe and a few other observations.  For now, though, my own bed is the most inviting thought!

Strasbourg

Time to explore this fine city this morning and so we set off in the direction of the old town.

We were delighted that the sun came out and as we stood on the Ponts Couverts we heard a vehicle so stood aside, only for it to park right beside us.

Now what a view!

More than a little patience was needed as delivery vans came from all directions to negotiate these old, narrow streets; we guessed that there was some kind of curfew.

It made wandering around a little more of a challenge and we began to get irritated that wherever we stepped, we seemed to be in the way.

We decided to leave these four to sort it out amongst themselves and went off in the opposite direction to find a quieter spot.

In the cathedral all was a little more calm and reflective.  Turning the corner to see this magnificent structure last evening was magical and stepping inside proved to be equally breathtaking.

We loved the scale of the place, the cool dark corners and the vast height of the nave.

How's this for a door hinge?

 Above the souvenir shops and cafes, there are some lovely corners to spot.

I had the Musee des Arts Decoratifs to myself as Mark and Edward went off into the Archaeological Museum upstairs and though there were quite a few interesting items on display, it's wasn't exactly my kind of place

Nor my kind of exhibit.

So we went shopping.

On parle Francais

But it's awfully hard after three weeks of thinking in German. 

We left Ponte Tresa after breakfast, the lake shimmering in the morning sunshine and told ourselves that we should come back, soon.

It was a surprisingly easy drive, through the Gotthard tunnel and across Switzerland on mostly familiar territory.  We made a stop near Luzern to sit and gaze at green pastures, the mountains and take in the atmosphere we love so much - our last chance for a while.

For in no time at all, we were in Strasbourg and the driving over for the day, we could sit and relax and hope the rain held off long enough for us to stay dry.  It didn't, but we didn't really mind.

We'll come back tomorrow, in better light, to take in more details of the cathedral, but couldn't resist spotting these charming horses, peeping through the openings.

Edward noticed this amusing gargoyle who seemed to be calling to us about something.  Reminding us to speak French not German, perhaps.

 because there's no doubt, we are in France!

Perhaps some of that wallpaper will find its way into our brains as we sleep and we'll wake up more in tune?

Peut-être.

Oder?

Homeward bound

I suppose, theoretically speaking, we've been homeward bound since Dresden, but today, setting out from Bolzano, we really felt that we're on the last stretch of our amazing trip.  Taking the scenic route over the mountains via the Mendelpass, at times the satnav screen looked like someone threw a ball of wool and let it fall into the pattern of the roads.  Needless to say, this was not the quickest of routes!

Gently, the vineyards and apple orchards became pine forests and villages perched on ledges rather than nestled in the valley

though from time to time, a collection of houses appeared to have spilled out of the end of a valley and a tumble of buildings nestled around a church for comfort.

Still higher, through the Passo Tornale, we drove through ski resorts and holiday villages, some with really unattractive tower blocks amongst the traditional chalets.  But the view of the mountains was unsurpassed.

Eventually we reached Lake Como and spent a few minutes recalling happy days spent here with Mummy before continuing over the last pass of the day into Switzerland.

At times, it was a little tight and tempers became frayed.  But being behind a local bus meant that we could squeeze through after he'd trailblazed the way forward. 

At last, the peace of Lake Lugano and our destination of Ponte Tresa, where we planned an evening with our dear friends Tonie and Pietro.  After a couple of weeks of eating out, what luxury to enjoy good home cooking with produce from the garden and wine from 200m along the way.  Not only that, but what fun to sit and chat on a warm evening in the garden as the sun goes down and for sure, Edna and Gordon were there in spirit too, surprisingly indulgent of their grandson enjoying a cigar with Pietro having persuaded him he needs an iPhone in a conversation before dinner.  Sitting around a table and finding answers for the problems of today is so much easier over a glass of wine or two: What to do about Afghanistan, democracy, the EU, the annoying fly, the slow driver of the car in front on an Alpine pass....the conversation never waned until it was time to say goodbye until the next time. 

Ciao!