Slipping into Switzerland

I mentioned earlier about Covoiturage being a shared ride service in France and the proposed ride was confirmed from Mulhouse (Moolose if you are French) to Riomaggiore, one of the Cinque Terre towns. On Monday 29th Manon took Le Kevin and me the hour's drive to Mulhouse in intermittent rain, down through the clouds from the mountains. We left behind the "weathervane house" across the valley, never having witnessed the little man or lady (or even a cuckoo) popping out.
Having met  up with Julian, the driver, and his girlfriend, Ying, we were on our way via Basel to collect another passenger. What an interesting drive south down through Switzerland and into Italy. Borders are virtually non existant nowadays in the EU, we only stopped at Swiss Border Patrol for Julian to purchase a sticker that paid for all the tolls on the motorways in Switzerland for an entire year. France is revenue collecting every time one leaves the motorway with toll booths everywhere. Something to remember when planning to drive long distances in France in particular. I think it cost Manon around €80 for our long trip, in tolls alone. However, we had a great trip via many tunnels (one is 17k long!) and some spectacular scenery, mostly viewed through heavy rain until we came down towards Milan. The clouds were black and threatening on both sides and behind us when coming down the valley but before us was clear blue sky. Summer had returned to welcome us to Italy.

Julian and Ying realised that we were very close to my destination of Aulla, just off the highway, and very kindly offered to drop me there at the Stazione where Karen, my next host was to meet me.  This saved me a train fare and I could not have asked for a more competent and courteous driver. Big fan of car sharing!  Great system.  I was able to phone Karen from the call box and she collected me very soon after. The nice young man at the station shop actually gave me 50 Euro cents for the phone! How kind people are! Of course I then felt obliged to buy something from him so I now have an Italian Sudoku book, fortunately numbers are numbers so no language problems there.

Karen drove me to their beautiful new house in the woodland high in the mountains behind the Cinque Terre, to give a reference for those lucky enough to have visited northern Tuscany. They are amazed that so many New Zealanders know about the 5 towns and have visited. Karen is a very talented photographer and she has also collected vintage laces and fabrics to enhance their home. A lovely example is the fine linen embroidered sheets being used as a curtain in my room and elsewhere in the house. I also have my own shower room attached to the bedroom - what a luxury! Lucky me. We have so many common interests we have difficulty actually stopping the chat to get work done! They have even been owned by a Scottie dog!
I shall enjoy the cool breeze lifting the curtain this evening as I forget the 35 degrees we had today to accompany my efforts in harvesting the lavender and shaping the bushes that surround the house. The chickens are safely away, the dogs in their baskets, and the cats outside. All peaceful apart from the band playing in a lower village for some fiesta.
Ciao!