Day 20
We left Umbria with some reluctance. After several traffic jams on the A1, we arrived at our first stop. We are in Fontanellato in the province of Parma (Via XXIV Maggio, Fontanellato GPS: n44.87797 o10.16987). We store the motorhome in an unusual location. We have a special roof over our heads: a battery of solar panels! The shade of the panels is welcome, because in the meantime the temperature has risen to above 30°C.
There is little wind, and suddenly we are attacked en masse by what we first thought were small mosquitoes. But they turn out to be "knijten", small gadflies that suck blood just like mosquitoes. We both get stung about 20 times. Their bite causes even more itching than mosquitoes and we soon scratched open a number of bumps.
Day 21
Again we have rain when we leave in the morning. After an hour's drive we have left the rain behind us and the sun comes through the cloud cover. We will soon reach 25° and the temperature will continue to rise. We are very lucky because there is almost no traffic on the highways. Only a bit around Milan and Turin (the fact that it is Saturday today may also play a role). We do not leave Italy via the Mont Blanc tunnel but via the Fréjus tunnel (T4) because we are driving towards Lyon. On our outward journey we paid €68.10 for the Mont Blanc tunnel in France, from Italy to France the journey costs €69.30. Why it is more expensive to drive through the tunnel from Italy is a mystery to me. We also paid €69.30 for the Fréjus tunnel. The advantage of this tunnel is that you almost never have traffic jams or waiting times. Not again, we were able to immediately enter the tunnel upon arrival.
Before Lyon we take the highway towards Paris to leave it for our second stop, Villefranche-sur-Saône (Camping-Car Park Beaujolais - Route de Riottier 2788, 69400 Villefranche-sur-Saône - GPS: n45.97278 o4.75135 ). The camper place, which has 128 places, was more than half full and at the back we settled in a spot with a view of the Saône river. It was lovely sitting outside in a bit of shade, especially after we had been on the road all day to cover 564 km.
Day 22
Still on the way home we stop at a quiet camper stopover in Connantre, located in the south of the Champagne region (Camping-Car Park – Connantre - Allée du plan d'eau, 51230 Connantre - GPS: n48.73204 o3.92957).
It is another warm day and during the afternoon we relax under the awning.
But, to conclude our trip, we experience another heavy thunderstorm at 5:30 PM. The rain is pouring down from the sky and is accompanied by hail, countless lightning bolts and thunder. At 8 p.m. the worst is over, but it continues to rain.
Yet, despite the changeable weather, we enjoyed our stay in Umbria, in a country (Italy) that was unknown territory for us until now.
Tomorrow we plan to come home!