The whole house is now completely Spring-cleaned!  We have dusted, scrubbed, vacuumed and polished everything from the beams downwards and the house is sparkling!  It took three weeks to complete everything but Casa Mimosa is now ready to receive guests. (more…)

From Colmar we travelled on to Switzerland (very green, neat and tidy with time for no more than a passing glance at beautiful lakes and distant snowy mountains) then via the Gotthard Tunnel (horrible, claustrophobic and headache-making) into northern Italy.

We had booked into a hotel outside Parma and, as it was late evening, we checked in, had an evening meal, collapsed on the bed and slept.

Next day dawned warm and sunny so we decided to explore Parma, easily finding a multi-storey car park near the historic centre. (more…)

Day Two of our Journey to Italy

Colmar. Why didn’t we know more about this fabulous place? This beautiful city in Alsace, on the French- German border, contains an historic core of half-timbered buildings, some decorated in Renaissance style, Voltaire’s residence, Little Venice with its picturesque canals and the home of Frederic Bartholdi who created the Statue of Liberty at the entrance to New York’s great harbour. (more…)

Day One of our Journey – Folkestone to France

Hooray! At last we’re setting off for sunny Italy after days of wind and rain in grey Britain. Approaching Folkestone the sun broke through and shone from blue skies. The Channel Tunnel was so quick and efficient – we hardly knew we were moving when, suddenly, we were in France and ready to roll. (more…)

We first visited Carsulae, the site of a Roman settlement near San Gemini, in June 2002, the year we bought the house.

It was also the year we organised a villa party for 14 friends in nearby San Gemini.  We stayed in a fabulous palazzo, (Santi Terzi, rentable through Tuscany Now  which had once been owned by Antonio Canova, the sculptor who created the famous ‘The Three Graces’. (more…)