Our second bad night's sleep in 3 days doesn't put us in the best of moods this morning. We don't bother to visit the farm shop before setting off for the High Alps. The road from Pinerolo starts as a gentle, continual climb, but soon we are passing through small towns with chalet buildings and overhanging balconies which are a bit of a hazard in a tall vehicle. Further on the bends get tighter and when we come up behind a tractor the locals get impatient and ...

Bought some salami and said our goodbyes before going into town for Lidl. Joined the autostrada for a 90 odd mile section that cost €14.10. Mostly open farmland scenery of maize and some rice. We stopped for lunch with hazy, distant views of Monte Bianco and could see snow on other mountain tops. As we passed near Turin there was a huge plume of black smoke which, closer to, looked like tyres or foam burning, probably totally unauthorised. Tonight's ...

We don't exactly wake up, more a case of not closing our eyes after yet another Valentino Rossi wannabees blasts past at full throttle. It's 30C when we use the dump and start a fairly uninteresting drive between Como and Maggiori. Around Lake Maggiori is much more commercialised than Iseo and in our opinion less attractive. We pass through Arona, where there is a huge copper statue of San Carlo, whose fingers alone are 1.9m long. Apparently its constructio...

Packed up and moved off these prime pitches, serviced vans and checked out with a complimentary bottle of wine. We drove alongside the lake for a while through Sarnico, and while we didn't see the Riva factory we did see enough to know the town would be worth a ferry ride if we came again. There is a small waterway, church with gleaming bells and flower baskets everywhere we look. The road towards Milan is roundabout after roundabout. We stop for lunch un...

Packed up and moved off these prime pitches, serviced vans and checked out with a complimentary bottle of wine. We drove alongside the lake for a while through Sarnico, and while we didn't see the Riva factory we did see enough to know the town would be worth a ferry ride if we came again. There is a small waterway, church with gleaming bells and flower baskets everywhere we look. The road towards Milan is roundabout after roundabout. We stop for lunch un...