We enjoyed the unique breakfast basket left by Willy Maria which was stuffed with cheese, fruit, croissants, jam, yoghurt, coffee and milk, In fact, this delicious bounty was our lunch too. We don't know where she gets her stuff but it is the freshest, most delicious food. We were so happy with our stay in Haute Cagnes that we decided to make room for one more night later in our trip and arrive to the Marseilles area one day later than originally planned.
Wheeling our luggage back through the village in the morning sunshine we retrieved our car from the underground parking garage and headed to the Renoir Museum. This museum was closed for renovation when we were in Cagnes in 2012 but has reopened. It is the large house in which he (and his family) lived during the latter 10 to 15 years of his life. It is magnificently situated in Cagnes (not the Haute village but the town beneath). You can tour the whole inside of the house which also includes some paintings and statues by both Renoir and others. The gardens are also open for walking. It is a beautiful and low key art experience that is uniquely southern French. Other than a German tour group and a few French visitors it was tourist free so we could enjoy in relative peace.
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| A wall detail of Haute Cagnes |
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| A cat sleeps in a perfect window perch in Haute Cagnes |
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| Randy with a venerable olive tree at Renoir's home |
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| Alice on the terrace at Renoir's home - the Med is in the background |
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| Renoir's studio is pretty much as he left it |
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| Haute Cagnes from the gardens of Renoir's home |
We then began the arduous drive to Italy. While the road is a super highway and is in good shape, the problem is there are literally about 100 tunnels. You are constantly going in and out of tunnels. It is Randy's least favorite drive in the world. We took about a two detour off of the highway to have our lunch by the water (in the car, it was quite cold and very windy) and also drive the entire length of Genoa. This historic but rather gritty city is a major port.
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| The Med along the Italian coast north of Genoa. This was our picnic place |
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| Randy enjoys the croissants from breakfast in the car during our picnic |
We arrived to our bed and breakfast between Lucca and Pisa around 6 PM. Our hostess's son, Giorgio, met us and showed us around. This place is a 1930's villa which has been completely restored. It is quite elegant and nicely situated in the village of Santa Maria del Giudice. Marta and Giorgio live in the apartment in the rear (Marta's rat of a husband having left her two years ago) and they rent out the rooms in the villa. We were the only guests that night and the first guests since they closed in January after New Year's. It was cold but they turned on the heating and our bedroom was very large with comfortable bathroom. We walked to the only village restaurant, Ristorante La Quercia, and enjoyed pizza, salad, pasta, soup and house wine. It was delicious and comforting after the drive ordeal. We dined with only two other local couples in the place and the staff was friendly though they did not speak English. On the spur of the moment we decided to make the 15 drive to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower at night. This was magical as almost no one was there. We could drive almost up to the Field of Miracles and enjoy these architectural wonders alone. Highly recommended - seeing the Field of Miracles is a must during the day but go at night for a completely different experience.
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| The delicious bean and cabbage soup of Alice's dinner in Santa Maria del Giudice. |
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| Randy devours his pasta starter |
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| The house wine - 8.5 Euro a bottle |
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| Our first pizza of the trip - thin and delicious |
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| The Field of Miracles in Pisa at night - deserted and breathtaking |
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| The tower itself - not a tourist in sight |
Marta fed us a typical Italian breakfast the next morning (breads, fruit, cheese, ham, coffee) and two of her three plump cats joined us. Cats are always a welcome addition when we travel. And, somehow we always seem to be drawn to cat people (Willy Maria has an aged cat, Romy, also). We headed out to visit part of the Piero della Francesca trail. Now, if you have not heard of this trail, you can search it on the internet. della Francesca is both a top medieval painter and a mathematician. His works are informed by his math orientation - they are clean, structural, interesting in a way like no other paintings. We had intended to do the entire western part of the trail (and finish the eastern end during our stay in Urbino which is coming later) but one of the sites (Sansepolcro) had to be omitted due to time constraints. We visited the tiny village of Monterchi, home to his Pregnant Madonna (Madonna del Parto). An Italian TV film crew was shooting in the museum (which only houses this work) so they sent us up the street to the other museum in the village, a museum of scales. This oddity was well done but, really, how interesting are scales? Well, it was also warm and had a bathroom. We then viewed the Madonna del Parto, stepping over all of the filming equipment. The obliging young museum host called the next stop on the trail for us to reserve our place.
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| The weird scales museum in Monterchi |
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| A typical street in Monterchi |
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| Our comfortable and trusty Peugeot |
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| The village of Monterchi from the road |
This is in the nearby city of Arezzo. Now, not many tourists get to Arezzo which is a shame because it is full of historic buildings and the historic area is mostly closed to cars. Our aim is La Basilica di San Francesco where della Francesca's masterwork, The Legend of the True Cross, resides. The exterior of the basilica is unimpressive but there are wonders within. The other visitors were an Italian school group. We took in the ten or so very large frescoes (and in wonderful condition) before hiking back ot our car and heading for the Chianti region. Photos of the art along the della Francesca trail are not allowed so you have to see them for yourselves or check out the internet, preferably the former. There is nothing like seeing art in situ.
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| Exterior of the Basilica of Saint Francis in Arezzo |
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| The main historic square in Arezzo |
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| Alice at the park on top of a hill in the historic district of Arezzo |
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