Now I am in Trentino-Alto Adige. No suspense : I loved this region. Firstly because it’s much better for bicycles. There is the EuroVelo 7 which crosses this region, it is the one I ride to the north of Italy. I am surrounded by vines, lots of vines and some olive groves. We can see that this region is more fortunate. By the way, for my first night in this part of Italy, I slept in an “Agriturismo” farm. It is à fashionable word, which for me, means that farmers (mainly rich) open a camping ground. It is à wonderful idea, the place is awesome, a little family campsite, I love the idea of sleeping at the farmhouse. But 24€ to stay in the middle of the vines, it is very profitable for them. And at this price you are not even able to try the wine!

I took the road again this Sunday morning and I was disillusioned very quickly : lots of headwind! It was not very funny but the beautiful view around was well worth it to ride slowly. And because it is Sunday, there are lots of people on the bicycle path. Sunday meeting for the Italians maybe. At mid-day, little break with fruits and biscuits in the shadows. An Italian family takes a break in the benche next to me. We had a chat. Then I met them in the next fountain. We had a chat. We present each other. And naturally, Elena, the mother, offered to share their lunch with them! I accepted with great pleasure. They are living in Rovereto, on the way to Trento (my goal today). We rode together for a little hour. Elena is speaking English well, her husband Lorenzo a little bit less. They have 3 kids, Agnese, 16 years old is working in a café in the mountains, I won’t see her ; and two sons, Giacomo and Giona. The older one is learning English at school, so he translated what they were saying during lunch time. I am very touched with this spontaneous and this kindness. Usually I am eating only salads or sandwiches for lunch, today it is a feast : big salad, melon, and the “leftover” : Bolognese gnocchis and zucchini Milo with formaggio Parmigiano of course. Lorenzo is working in à winery company, he offers me white wine. Very nice wine! It has been a while since I drank wine, I really enjoy it. A very nice “dolce” from Elena and an Italian coffee, I am full! I offered to make the dishes but Lorenzo told me that the dishwasher is off, férié, it is up to the boys to do it. I am embarrassed… Elena insists and I follow her to the couch. We speak about politics. I learn more things about Italy. I am so pleased to spend my Sunday with this wonderful family. But the clock is ticking and I don’t know where I will sleep tonight. Elena told me that she has a coworker, Martino, living in Trento and got à big garden. She calls him. He is actually in the mountains but he tries to call his girlfriend and call us back. It is ok! His girlfriend Alice just came back to pick up her French friend in Verona. I thank Elena and her family very much for their hospitality. And now, let’s go to Trento. 30 kms and it’s already 6pm. As Elena told me, the wind is on my back, luckily because there are few straight lines. And as they told me as well, it is climbing to rich Martino’s home. Italian climbs as I like them for 3kms. I rode the first 2kms then I pushed my bike, a nice excuse to enjoy the view. I am very happy to arrive at the fountain, the meeting point with Alice. She took me to their place, a very nice old house on rocks in the middle of the vines. I met Julie, the French girl. Between them, they are speaking Spanish, but with my very bad Spanish, we will speak English. They offer me a super Italian dinner: tomatoes with mozzarella and Frico, a speciality from Frioul where it is from Alice. I have a lot to learn from them, they met each other from a NGO, No Name Kitchen, who helps refugees in the Balkan on the human way, they give them some moral support, some times to share activities and moments with them. They were in Serbia. Tonight, they meet again to go to Serbia for 2 weeks, for a holiday this time. We finished the evening with Martino and their friends who came back from the mountains. A little bit drunk, they finish nude or with underwear in the fountain. I think, I was not drunk or warm enough to go in!

In the morning, I had breakfast with the girls and then I took my bike, them, they are going hitchhiking. I am going to Bolzano-Bozen. All the city and river names now are in Italian and in German because this region was Austrian until 1919. During World War one, the region was attached to Italy (thanks to Elena for these informations). À lot of people are still speaking German. By the way, the more I travel to the north, the less I feel like I am in Italy. After leaving Trento, I leave vines for apples. Lots of apples. Alice told me, north of Italy is one of the first European countries to produce apples. Because it was late when I left this morning, I had a late lunch. It was 3pm when I found a nice picnic table in the shade. A dutch couple, curious about my bike, accosted me. I sat at their table for lunch. We chatted for maybe 2 hours about travel, biking, culture, social pressure… Then Hans and Rina offer me to join them for dinner and stay at their campground. Wahou, this is so nice. So I joined them 10kms later. Hans negotiated (and paid) for me. My little tent is rich between their caravan and the neighborhood. They offer me a beer. They have a wonderful view on the mountains and the villages sprinkled around. I have the chance to get another big dinner. I have a lovely evening with them with thunderstorms far away. The thunderstorms arrived when I was under my tent, not easy to sleep with wind and rain.

The next day, the sun is here again. (Huge) Dutch breakfast to start the day. I can ride again with a full belly which is good because today I plan to climb the Dolomites! I say thank you to Rina and Hans for everything, souvenir pictures and let’s go to Bolzano. Nice town but too many people, I have a very quick look around with my bike, I eat some seeds and after the next intersection I start to climb. But it is already 3pm and morally I know I have to ride 30kms and 1600m elevation… after a few pedals, I am already sweating a lot. After 3 kms, I gave up. I don’t have the mental, nor the legs to make it today. Not proud of myself, I turn around. This gives me the chance to dry and to go back to the bicycle path which goes north. Failure to cross the Dolomites, I still can get around them. I promised myself to come back but lighter (not me, my bike!). I follow the Eisack-Isarco river until the little tourist village Klausen-Chiusa, typical of South Tyrol.

The next day I keep going on the EV7 which gives me the chance to see beautiful landscapes and be through nice villages/towns like Brixen-Bressanone, the Abbey of Novacella, beautiful in the middle of the vines. Before going to the West, I tried a tiramisu – unbelievable to leave Italy without trying one. Now I am following the Rienz-Rienza river and the track. The decor changed! This valley is awesome. Everything is green, lots of fields, few little villages, no traffic. I count the red bell tower, same in every village. Tonight I don’t want to go to a campersite so I will stop in a village. First I ask three grandmothers sitting in a benche. But I use one of the only words I know in Italian “campeggio” so they thought I was looking for campersite. I give up and go to see somewhere else, there are plenty of farms here. A farmer who speaks a little bit of English shows me his fields. I can sleep there, just be careful of the bees. Perfect place for the night, I have a benche, far away from the bees, I have the view of the village on my left, mountains on my right. And I have a Knorr soup for tonight, perfect because it’s not very warm. It is a soup for 3 people.. You have to have a good appetite when you travel alone because it is not easy to buy a portion for one person (and I can’t throw away food!). And bonus tonight : a deer just in front of me.

Deer which I see again in the morning. I get up very early, I have à nice sunrise on top of the mountains. I packed everything and go to ride before breakfast. I find a nice picnic table with view and sun to dry my tent. There are already lots of bikes at 9am on the road. Yesterday I was almost alone, today, hard to be by myself. And lots of electronic bikes are passing me. I arrive at Toblach. Here, with hindsight, I didn’t take the good road. I should to turn right to cross the Dolomites and arrive at Traversio close to the Slovenian border. But I didn’t think, and I go straight to Austria, too excited to spend times in Austria. There is a bicycle track who follow the Drava river and cross 4 countries : Italy, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. The first 50kms are not funny to Lienz because it’s full of tourists who can rent bikes and come back by train. But after Lienz I am almost by myself. Not alone, I met à French guy, Marius, who is doing almost the same thing than me but with twice the weight : he has a guitar and his equipment for climbing. He is riding fast, I try to follow him. I have a lot to learn from him because he is doing mainly wild camping and not camperground. I would like too but it is not easy to hide and find à good spot. I did my biggest day, 105kms. My legs can feel it. I stopped in the next camping, he keeps going because is going to meet his girlfriend in the next city. Camping is nice as well, comfortable and I can have my first beer in Austria. But here they only sell bottle of 50cl, quite big, lucky I have some instant noodles to eat.

The day after, it was very hot, so I went to Lake Waißensee. It’s climbing a bit but it’s so nice to go to swim in the lake. But I don’t really have the time to enjoy and stay, the weather starts to be dark. I wanted to go wild camping tonight but with the wind and the thunderstorms I don’t feel very comfortable, I prefer to be safe and go camping.

Today it’s my last day in Austria. I am getting closer and closer to the border with Italy. The weather is cloudy and sadly it is hard to speak with locals because they mainly speak in German and I don’t understand anything. It is very dark in the mountains and it is the way which I am taking. Slowly I pass the Italian border. I have my lunch at the shelter of the old customs buildings with a Belgian family. The rain stopped, and just a few meters in Italy and I already met two very nice Italians, two Roberto’s. They are on the bike as well for the day, we had a chat until the next intersection. They are going back to their home, and I turn left to Slovenia. Before leaving, they give me all their energy bars and their ham sandwich!! So nice!! And they give me very good advice, to go to the Lago Di Fusine. Perfect, it would be my stop for tonight. It is two little lakes. There is even a cheeser who is selling very good goat cheese, this is a good sign. I ask him if I can stay under the sheltered terrace of the café next to the lake (the café is closed), he calls the owner, it is ok! Cool! I will be dry for the night in the middle of the mountains and the lake. A ranger came to dislodge all the camper vans and vans who wanted to spend their night here as well. He said nothing to me, even if camping is forbidden. So I am almost alone in this beautiful place. It is almost dark, a soup to keep me warm and I can sleep.

The next morning, I have a cappuccino and an Italian croissant with custard (I won’t say anything but as French, this is not normal…) and I just need to ride 5kms to get to the Slovenian border !!

Voilà, my trip through Italy is finished, meeting wonderful people, done a few Kms (around 1170km) with beautiful landscapes, lots of nice souvenirs and the promise of an awesome adventure which only starts!

you can look my itinerary on Komoot here : https://www.komoot.fr/collection/1738059/-trentino-alto-adige