Write Up THE ITALIAN JOB

Pauliebhoy

Pauliebhoy

Zorg Guru (IV)
Supporter
British Zeds
Scottish Zeds
Joined
Aug 12, 2017
Points
159
Location
Argyll
Model of Z
Z4 G29 20i
In 1917 my great grandfather Umberto and his wife assunta, along with their 1 year old son Renato (my grandfather who died before I was born) emigrated from Barga in Tuscany (the most Scottish town in Italy due to 40% of the 8000 population having Scottish relatives) and settled on the isle of Bute in Scotland. As so many people left Barga for Scotland, there is a festival each year appropriately called the Barga Scottish festival, which runs for 3 days in September. We set off today from Argyll in my wife's Z4 G29, to be a part of the festival. I have seen some amazing pictures from the forum of others who have toured Europe, so hopefully I can make a meaningful contribution over the next month.
I will update as we go along, first night stop is in Kendal, tomorrow the Cotswolds and Saturday ferry to St Malo.
 
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Looking forward to following your travels Paul .
Lots of pictures please and safe travels to yourself and Mandy.
Stephen.
 
Sounds an epic trip and reason Paul. Safe travels to you and Mandy, take lots of pics.
D&P
 
Day 1 & 2
A few weeks ago we noticed that the other car, the M35i had bubbling paint on the inner boot sill and so it was arranged that this would be dropped off at Parks BMW for repair under warranty.
We got the ferry from Dunoon to Gourock, made our way to Glasgow, and dropped the car off, with pickup arranged for 21 September.
We made our way to Kendal and stayed at the Riverside hotel, which although had undercover parking, the room itself was still in the 80,s. The TV had ceefax, I kid you not. Worn carpets and mouldy silicone in the bathroom. We have a travelling fire stick so watch our own TV anyway, however there must be better hotels in Kendal I am sure. The plus was we ate at the Bombay bistro Indian restaurant about 300 yards away, and it was superb.
Day 2 got off to a bad start as the breakfast at the Riverside hotel was absolutely shocking. I could have mixed concrete with the bacon it was that hard, and the rest left a lot to be desired. Our next stop was Albrighton hall just outside Shrewsbury. Much better than last night’s stay. Food was excellent and the room very good.
 
Filthy drive from Shrewsbury to Portsmouth. However we boarded the ferry to St Malo and are delighted with our cabin. Tomorrow the adventure begins.
 
Pauliebhoy said:
Day 1 & 2
A few weeks ago we noticed that the other car, the M35i had bubbling paint on the inner boot sill and so it was arranged that this would be dropped off at Parks BMW for repair under warranty.
We got the ferry from Dunoon to Gourock, made our way to Glasgow, and dropped the car off, with pickup arranged for 21 September.
We made our way to Kendal and stayed at the Riverside hotel, which although had undercover parking, the room itself was still in the 80,s. The TV had ceefax, I kid you not. Worn carpets and mouldy silicone in the bathroom. We have a travelling fire stick so watch our own TV anyway, however there must be better hotels in Kendal I am sure. The plus was we ate at the Bombay bistro Indian restaurant about 300 yards away, and it was superb.
Day 2 got off to a bad start as the breakfast at the Riverside hotel was absolutely shocking. I could have mixed concrete with the bacon it was that hard, and the rest left a lot to be desired. Our next stop was Albrighton hall just outside Shrewsbury. Much better than last night’s stay. Food was excellent and the room very good.
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We've just got back from a tour of Iberia and we found that hotels have sussed out the Firestick and are mounting TVs very close to the wall or building them into the wall.

They also make it difficult to access the internet via the Firestick. They add in their own "must agree to ts & cs" internet page. It's nearly impossible to navigate these pages on a Firestick.

Last year, I had to access the hotel internet on my phone and hotspot my phone to the Firestick. The signal was so slow, I was getting yesterday's news =))
 
Day 4
We drove from Shrewsbury to Portsmouth Port on Day 3 and boarded the St Malo ferry at around 7.00pm.
We’re members of Brittany Ferries Club Voyage, so we managed to book a Club cabin a few months before they went on general sale, which was a nice bonus. Membership also gives us £12.50 each towards food and drink. I bought a small food pass for £25, which had a value of £27.50, so after four drinks, two main meals and two desserts, our final bill came to the grand total of €2! We also got half price WiFi by pre booking it through the club for £12 (£6 each).
On Day 4, after a fairly good night’s sleep, we disembarked at 8.00am and then spent over an hour sitting in the customs queue.
The drive to our hotel was around 220 miles and was pretty uneventful. The Bip&Go tag is an absolute blessing on the toll roads — we just beep straight through while watching everyone else hanging out of their car windows trying to get their cards into the payment machines!
Tonight we’re staying at Château de la Bourdaisière, about 14 km from Tours. The château dates back to the 14th century, so it’s a rather special place to end the day.
 
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Day 5 & 6

Both days were mainly about making progress south towards Italy, covering roughly 200 miles each day.

There wasn’t anything particularly spectacular along the way and, unusually for us, very little that made us reach for the camera. So instead, a few observations from the road.

First of all, French motorways put the UK’s to shame.

When there are roadworks in France, they tend to be fairly short, well organised and — brace yourselves — there are actually people working on them. In England I’ve driven through 40 miles of cones, temporary speed limits and average-speed cameras without spotting a single human being. I sometimes wonder whether the cones have simply been left there to breed.

The French motorway services are excellent too, but the real winner is the network of aires.

These little stopping places are dotted everywhere. Some are very simple — a few picnic benches and toilets — while others have a small coffee or snack cabin as well. Nothing elaborate, just somewhere pleasant and convenient to stop, stretch your legs and have a coffee.

It’s such a sensible idea that it makes many British motorway services look as though the catering and hospitality contract has been outsourced to North Korea.

So, not the most exciting couple of days from a sightseeing point of view, but France continues to score very highly on the simple business of making a long road journey easy.

Next stop… Italy. 🇮🇹
 
Hotel in chambery. Very expensive place for food, we won't be staying there again. £100 a head for the set meal, an Uber for 3 miles £23 if you want to go into town.
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Day 7
Crossed into Italy via the frejus tunnel, which was 55 Euro’s one way. At that price I was half expecting dinner and a glass of wine halfway through. The last time we went through it was in September 2009 in our old Z3, on our way to Florence and Monza for the grand Prix. Where did the 17 years go. Still it's an amazing feat of engineering. At the rest and be thankful in Argyll the Scottish government spent over £100m on a road that has temporary traffic lights 365 days of the year, whilst the subbies now have holiday homes in the Caribbean.
Tonight we are staying in Bistagno just south of Turin. Lovely room with a balcony. Sitting out with a beer in 34 degrees. Tomorrow we head to Barga for the Scottish festival. The festival organisers contacted me today to say that they have a surprise for me when arrive. Let’s hope it’s not rent arrears from 1915 to the present.
 
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Sounds like a great trip Paul. Love your write up too and can't agree more about French roads. we spent most of our time on N and D roads this year and as you say even they put our roads to shame. In fact most European countries do.....apart from Belgium, they're as bad if not worse than ours.
Hope you enjoy your 'surprise' ;)
 
Mint said:
Sounds like a great trip Paul. Love your write up too and can't agree more about French roads. we spent most of our time on N and D roads this year and as you say even they put our roads to shame. In fact most European countries do.....apart from Belgium, they're as bad if not worse than ours.
Hope you enjoy your 'surprise' ;)
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It really got us thinking Dave for the motorhome. France and Italy were not really on our radar up to now. We got put off by something a couple of years ago but we will certainly think about it for 2027. Everywhere we have been we have seen campsite signs, even the services have gray water disposal.
 
Pauliebhoy said:
Day 5 & 6

Both days were mainly about making progress south towards Italy, covering roughly 200 miles each day.

There wasn’t anything particularly spectacular along the way and, unusually for us, very little that made us reach for the camera. So instead, a few observations from the road.

First of all, French motorways put the UK’s to shame.

When there are roadworks in France, they tend to be fairly short, well organised and — brace yourselves — there are actually people working on them. In England I’ve driven through 40 miles of cones, temporary speed limits and average-speed cameras without spotting a single human being. I sometimes wonder whether the cones have simply been left there to breed.

The French motorway services are excellent too, but the real winner is the network of aires.

These little stopping places are dotted everywhere. Some are very simple — a few picnic benches and toilets — while others have a small coffee or snack cabin as well. Nothing elaborate, just somewhere pleasant and convenient to stop, stretch your legs and have a coffee.

It’s such a sensible idea that it makes many British motorway services look as though the catering and hospitality contract has been outsourced to North Korea.

So, not the most exciting couple of days from a sightseeing point of view, but France continues to score very highly on the simple business of making a long road journey easy.

Next stop… Italy. 🇮🇹
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The French motorways are very good but too expensive for the French which is why they are so empty. The Aires are something we could do with here, somewhere nice and simple for a quick stop not the massive shopping centres on our motorways.
 
mwpe said:
The French motorways are very good but too expensive for the French which is why they are so empty.
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But not too expensive for the Scottish so long may they stay empty
 
Ahhh the French roads, the stuff of dreams and with an Emovis Tag and 30 km/h toll lanes even the motorways are a pleasure, but the first time I used one it did make me grip the seat wondering if the barrier was going to open in time.
 
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