Our drive from Servian, France to Lucca, Italy takes 8 hours. I hate to drive over bridges, especially if they are really high. And I hate to drive through tunnels. Approximately 4 hours of this drive is a tunnel then a bridge; a tunnel and a bridge; and they are one right after the other. I’m inclined to say it is high-anxiety for 4 hours but actually I become immune to the stress. But, damn, that is a long trip! (And a return trip is in store for us on Friday!)
When we exit to the toll booth in Lucca, we are greeted by the nicest man who talks to the dogs and is very kind to us. Catherine and Stephen said that the Italians are incredibly friendly and welcoming. Our first impression bears that out.
We are to meet our host, Massimo, at the McDonalds just at the end of the street after the toll booth. I was sure we would not arrive on time but amazingly we are 10 minutes early. I have given him a description of the car and our license plate (which is easy to recognize because it is a red, temporary plate). There is a couple in the parking lot who are clearly looking for someone so I approach them and ask if the man is Massimo. They are amazingly friendly when they tell me “no” but they are waiting for a friend too.
He arrives about 5 minutes late but we are happy that we have been found! Massimo says it is a 15 to 20 minute drive to the house and we take off following him. Reviews on the house say that the drive up the mountain is quite scary; I try not to think of that! On the last mile we climb first on a road that maybe is 1 1/2 lanes wide with some turnouts. The last approximately 1/3 mile is scary beyond belief! It is less than a lane wide with blind curves (there is constant horn honking to warn on-coming drivers to not hit you head-on). Our car has a warning system that blares when you come close to another object. The car’s system warns us several times on that stretch of road (so we are coming too close to objects along the side of the road). There is one particular area where the road is especially narrow around a curve–god help us! (We discover later that going down is easier that going up because of the attention I need to pay to the manual transmitting going up the mountain).
We arrive and Massimo says that I did much, much better than the normal visitor. I say that it’s because we have been driving in the mountains of France but, even though I can drive like a crazy person, it does not mean I like it! I think we will stay here and not leave for the 6 nights we are scheduled!!!
OMG you cannot believe our little bit of Tuscan Heaven here outside of Lucca. The inside is really only big enough for 2 people even though there are 2 bedrooms (upstairs) and 2 baths (one downstairs). The kitchen is antique with a 500 year old, stone sink!
There is a wood-burning stove under an old fireplace mantle. Old fashioned dish holders are hung on the walls. The pots and pans are stored in a big, antique wood container that is in the shape of an animal manger with a lid. Massimo says it dates back to 1700!! The building has incredibly interesting stonework. There are screens on the windows–hurray! (Are there mosquitoes?) There is a nice-sized terrace that looks over the olive grove and out to the valley below. We can see Lucca from here and it is a LONG way down the hill.
More than one kind of ant has invaded the dog food on the terrace! So I devise a way to thwart those buggars: I put the dog dish on a plate and fill the plate with water. The water surrounding the food bowl keeps the ants out of the food.
Howard fixes veal chops and fried potatoes for dinner. We have a nice salad too. We stay outside on the deck until dark–and that’s close to 10pm. I see a small flashing light moving around our legs. What the…?? It’s a firefly!!!!!!! We cannot believe it! We look down our hill and see several of them in a little ravine just below us. Wow! Neither one of us have seen fireflies since our childhood. We are mesmerized and stay outside for longer than we thought we would.
Before we turn in I take the dogs out for their “business.” I think I had too much wine because I see a weird ball of light a little ways from us under the tree canopy. Maybe it’s a firefly party. Anyway, I get a little spooked and it’s contagious; Howard is also uneasy. So every night afterward we are careful to lock everything up and set up a booby-trap at the front door. HA! We are nuts!