We enjoyed a late afternoon stroll around Guillaumes yesterday, but decided to leave climbing up to the Chรกteau de Guillaumes to this morning. Other than the sound of the water cascading down the rocky river bed behind us it was a very quiet evening.
Our parking place in the municipal aire in Guillaumes. France always has a parking place dedicated for motorhomes nearby. Italy may not be as easy.
After coffee and fruit we set out to visit the Castle. It towers over the town, so its easy to see, but a little difficult to find. We cannot see a sign, so resort to google maps and find a shortcut through the cemetery.
Shortly after we find a narrow road and follow it up the hill.
Finally we there, only 200 stairs to go. What remains of the Chรกteau de Guillaumes. Your looking at the side of the chรกteau that overlooks the cliff and Guillaumes.
The chรกteau was built in 1235, it is little more than a ruin today and rarely visited by the looks of it. But under flood-lights at night it looks amazing.
You can read about it here as we did.
Obviously the defensive side of the chรกteau which faces the ridge.
We have had our walk for the morning and make our way back to the Hymer. Finding this fine mural in a little alcove somewhere. Guillaumes was a town controlled by the Templer Knights during the medieval period.
Departing Guillaumes on the D902, you cannot help but notice the red sandstone cliffs.
Our road atlas states this area is the Gorge de Daluis. We see a sign that indicates there are 17 tunnels. Pam thinks they are not counting the short ones as she stops counting at 24. Obviously the short ones donโt count.
Hope they were counting the narrow tunnels. This tunnel only had a 100mm spare on each side mirror and took some real concentration. Pam found Zen meditation was of real assistance.
Finally out of the Gorge de Daluis we turn onto the D4202 which becomes the D6202 as we cross the frontier into Italy. Then finally the A8
A bridge or ponte to carry a stream across the roadway.
The road changes from the D4202 (French) to the D6202 (Italian) with a simple sign. The hilltop castles were french now their italian, thats the EU.
We find a free parking stop in Zuccarello. We plan to visit the mountain top village of Castelveecchio tomorrow and this is the nearest stop.
Zuccarello looks interesting, so we lock up the Hymer and walk into the village to explore.
We only see a couple of people but everyone says chiao or buongiorno as we walk along the promenade of porches.
Inside the church, its peaceful except for an 8 years old who we catch lighting all the candles at a small alter.
Zuccarello stands on the side of a stream, literally. Many of itโs older homes appear to overhang the water.
An old stone bridge links the houses on either side. There are vehicle bridges at either end of the village.
So we find a small bar and have a drink. Zuccarello is very quiet tonight. There are a couple of restaurants but they are closed. So we wander back to the Hymer for a quiet night in.
Date: 17th August 2018 Travelled: 70 kilometres from Scilla to Gerace, both in Italy. Visited: Gerace in Calabria. Stayed: Gerace Parcheggio Sosta, […]
Travelled: 166 kilometres from Florence to Reggio Emilia, Italy.Visited: FlorenceStayed: Community Sosta, free, usual services. N44.70984, E10.62387 Having left Florence in the […]
