Freedom on the Road Between Britain and Italy!

As some of you may know, we run our business, Cook Eat Discover, in Tuscany from spring to autumn, and then we return to London for the other half of the year. The half-yearly switch always entails a roughly week-long road trip through Europe, belongings, dogs and on the return leg, lots of wine, crammed into an aging Peugeot estate. The thing is, the journey is just the best!

Firstly, there’s a euphoric release once the patience-testing process of closing a house, and one side of a life in some ways, and preparing for the move is done. For the best part of a week, you’re wrestling through an impossibly long to do list just to be able to leave. Especially pre- winter when departing Tuscany…vines need pruning, shutters need varnishing and much more, before you even think of what you’re going to bring with you. But to complete everything, and literally pull away from it all, to do list discarded, stresses forgotten, is such a great feeling. 

Especially since the tasks involved in the life that awaits us on the other side are not yet needing to be contemplated. Actually the months ahead just hold promise and excitement at this point; all the things you’ve missed. Whether that’s heading back to the UK - ales in the pub with old friends, going to watch my beloved football team, and above all spending lots of time with family; or the fabulous food, our beautiful little house nestled in peaceful nature, and general ‘dolce vita’ of our season when on the way to Italy. 

But for now, the only contemplation is which countries to pass through, whether to choose a route taking in the mountains, or skirt around them and enjoy the coast. It’s a feeling of full freedom and there are so many options for our road trip; Liguria, Switzerland, Venice, the Dolomites, Provence, Paris, Belgium or Bavaria. 

Google maps and Airbnb tabs multiply at the top of my browser as we plan out our leisurely adventure, where, for just a few days, we won’t have a care in the world!

We fall in love with certain cities and countries all over again, and we’ve stayed in everything from shepherds’ huts, to spa hotels, to urban lofts, to agriturismos surrounded by mountain goats. And we get to do this twice every year!  Eating is always a big part of it of course. That’s always taken into account when route planning. For example, one year a hankering for Schnitzel washed down with pear schnapps helped persuade us to try a route through the Austrian mountains and a night spent in Innsbruck. 

We have just arrived back in Italy after our most recent trip from London. We decided to keep it very France-centric, spending three nights in Paris, before a stop in the Rhone Valley where we were surrounded by vines on the banks of the impressive river. In Condrieu, famous for its fine Viognier. We carried on south all the way to the coast near Nice, before the final leg past the France border, on towards the Italian riviera, Genova, and finally Tuscany. 

Italy is obviously the place closest to our hearts. But for both of us, France is so special too. Flo is of French heritage, a fluent speaker of the language having gone to French school, and the country is most definitely a part of her. I find a lot of similarities there with life here in Italy - prioritisation of quality of life, great food, conviviality, an intoxicating language, and a wonderful natural world, to name a few. So it was a real pleasure to revel in everything French for a few days.

Needless to say, we ate like kings. Snails and bouillon in art deco dining rooms, the best buttery Parisian pastries each morning, duck breast with blackberry sauce and sautéed garlicky potatoes in the local brasserie, not to mention plenty of rich, smooth creme brûlée and classic steak frites. 

For lunch on long drives we always find a lovely ‘aire’ - these are uniquely French and generally picturesque motorway-side rest areas, full of outdoor picnic tables. Despite their vicinity to a giant road full of hurtling lorries, they always seem to be created with serenity in mind - set well away from the road, with plenty of nature around and often surprising views over the countryside. At the previous place we stay we make sure we have a bag packed with fresh baguette, saucisson, all kinds of pungent cheeses, cornichons, zingy carrot rapees salad and whatever else we come across. So when the drive gets tiresome we pull over at an aire, lay everything out on a table in a shady spot under the trees, and gorge on wonderful French produce. 

Things are back in full swing over here in Tuscany as we start another season of CED, and the to do list is the length of my arm again. But I’m still buzzing off the road trip, those journeys we enjoy so much.