A hat-tastic night with new friends

This is what happens when you have a milliner staying at a rainy campsite! Made lots of new friends during the downpour at the Mont Blanc campsite in Aosta. Lovely welcoming crowd. Anyone recognise the mystery man? Stan?

Mobile Makery makes over Maurice

I have to admit. There hasn't been a whole lot of making going on recently what with all the travelling. However whilst staying with my friends in Bourg St Maurice there was a perfect opportunity to sew-on-the-go! A little help was required to make-over my friends' campervan Maurice and so in the best Blue Peter tradition we got busy with some sticky-backed plastic, some quirky Ikea fabric and my trusty sewing machine. 

We made curtains for Maurice and used the blue sticky-backed plastic to give the table a cool blue '50's feel. Wildflowers from the garden for the photoshoot of course......

...and hey presto!! We used lace for tie-backs. Perfect as the lace has ready-made holes for hanging!

You know that every stylish camper van needs a homemade up-cycled hot water bottle cover for colder nights and so we put an old jumper to good use. Pin it around the bottle inside out to get your pattern and then stitch around twice before trimming. Turn the right way out.

You don't even need to felt the jumper first. This cover will come in handy once summer is done and is a quick and simple project for beginners to tackle. Chic on a shoestring!

Viva Italia!

So much to catch up with and have LOADS MORE to write about France (and indeed Belgium) but yesterday I crossed the Italian border much to my excitement. I'd had a few worries with Bambi's brakes but fortunately the friends I was staying with in Bourg St Maurice up in the French Alps helped me find a garage. Bambi was quite the star with all the staff taking photos. Not sure they'd seen anything quite like her before!

Given the problems, I was a little nervous about negotiating the 40 miles or so of steep hairpin bends over the Petit Col St Bernard which takes you up through the mountains into Italy. The pass is only open part of the year (the rest of the time it doubles as a ski run) and is favoured by bikers and cyclists as it ascends to over 2000 metres. Very kindly, my friend's husband who's a native of the mountains, offered to accompany me with their dog Cannelle who'd already shown quite an interest in Bambi. It's the first time a dog has hitched a ride!

I was very glad I had company as the climb up in Bambi was not for the faint-hearted! Sadly the weather was atrocious so the views of Mont Blanc were masked by fog. However we did stop off at the statue of the St Bernard dog, they're famous here of course for their role in mountain-rescue work. My personal guides for the afternoon were clearly enjoying their rescue role too! 

It was amazing to finally reach the top where we bumped into a group of VW enthusiasts on their way back from a rally in Italy. Rather than joining them for a beer we had a coffee in the Italian bar just over the border. 

It was such a memorable drive. Incredible to be up at snow level. 

You'll be pleased to hear Bambi and I made it down the hairpins on the other side into Italy in one piece. And my trusty guides? They safely WALKED home back to France dear reader!

Fleamarkets - Paris - Montreuil

I'm just going to say one thing about this fleamarket, and that is, don't bother. I had read various reports that this was still THE place to go to nab a hidden gem. Out on the peripherique in the 20th district (metro Lemierre), I really struggled to find it at all, wasting an hour wandering around. I finally had to go into a Macdonalds to log onto wifi to try and figure out where I was. Tea and chips in a Macdonalds in Paris is not really want you want to be doing! Anyway after being told by the helpful guy behind the counter that the area wasn't even safe, I bravely marched on and finally located the place on the main junction with the motorway. Not sure how I missed it really as it's tucked under the Carrefour and stretches as far as the eye can see. After all that effort, what a disappointment! Row upon row of complete tat - lots of cheap household goods and new clothing.

The only thing of vague interest, was a barrow selling fresh herbs and a rather sorry yet intriguing-looking collection of dolls shoes - most of them missing their pairs. No fabulous vintage finds to be had at all. If there ever were real brocanteurs then they've long moved out. 'Nil points' I'm afraid for both location and wares.

Fleamarkets - Paris - Vanves

Another Parisian fleamarket that I've been to in the past and enjoyed, is the one at Porte de Vanves, in the 14th. It's a local outdoor market, much much smaller than the famous St Ouen/Cligancourt one - and used to be a place where you could still bag a bargain. It got a pleasant atmosphere, with stands straddling the road, but it's alot more touristy now than in the past. I met many Japanese and American visitors, who (along with the likes of us) have probably pushed prices up. All the stallholders now seem to speak English and I got a feeling that there was no longer much room for bartering and haggling which is a real shame.

The market is on from 7am to 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays (go to metro station Porte de Vanves) and you can quite happily wander around for an hour or two. But I'd say real finds are a thing of the past. For example, I saw little ceramic hot chocolate or coffee bowls priced at upwards of 15 euros - I've bought similar (if not nicer) ones at French charity outlet Emmaus for 50 cents. Linen smocks, fantastic for dying, used to be cheap. Now they've been pre-dyed for you and are selling for 30 euros. Hmm. Let US do the craft work please!

Hair do's for travelling divas - camping

I didn't have time to get my hair cut before I left London, and my victory rolls have served me very well. But I felt I need something a bit more liberating for the wild-swimming ahead!

Anyway, whilst in the little French town of Joinville, I realised after the fifth day without a shower (yes, that's camping life ladies!) that I could kill two birds with one stone and have my hair cut AND washed at the same time. Clean hair, neat hair. Result! So I popped into the local hairdresser who gave me a trim...and there I spied these fab hair feathers. Of course, I just HAD to have a couple! They aren't cheap I'm afraid, but I felt I deserved a treat. Very camping-chic don't you think? You basically use a little crimping bead which attaches the feather to the hair with pliers. They're meant to last for around three months. I'm now going to try and conjure up a way of doing them myself!

Fleamarkets - Paris - St Ouen/Cliganourt - other vintage delights

When you get to the fleamarket proper, you'll see that it's actually carved up into a range of smaller areas, all off the Rue des Rosiers, each with their own name and speciality. All are clearly signposted, and there's an information office too in case you're confused - which you will be! As well as the Daniel et Lili stand, which I previously mentioned (in the covered Marché Dauphine), I also like a couple of places in the Marché Vernaison.

For instance, there's one little shop that only sells repeats of things - dolls, paper labels, jars, cracker gifts, miniature cookware - things you never knew you wanted before!

Then there's a great stall at number 6 - just along the way - which has a wonderful selection of vintage beads and other jewellery findings.

But my advice is, don't be too specific. Have a wander and see what you find. But get a map from the information office first!