It all started at a cold and damp Bristol Airport in chaos. We’d allowed plenty of time but were nearly brought down by others; immense queues at Check In meant that we all ended up at the gallop to the gate. Annoyingly the problem had been caused by two coachloads on a school trip who had failed to check in online and was compounded by some pretty poor organisation by the airport.

Anyway, we eventually found ourselves shivering in the open air waiting to go up the steps into the plane. At this point I had better introduce our party; me, obviously, Mrs Sixwheeler, our niece Lisa and her daughter (therefore our great niece) Ella. The trip came about because Lisa has an old friend who owns a villa in Tuscany and invites her to stay there from time to time, and Lisa very generously invited us along.

The flight was fine, we collected our baggage and a hire car and the two hour drive went smoothly. We arrived at the villa and all slunk off in different directions for a snooze. The villa sits on a hill among beautiful gardens and orchards

and is absolutely gorgeous.

Sunday ended with us going to a nearby village for a delicious dinner before we all retreated to bed for a good night’s sleep.

Monday dawned bright and sunny, and HOT. Eventually we had all had breakfast and set off to have a look round Montepulciano, which I previously only knew as a reliable source of rather good red wine. On the way there we stopped to have a look at the beautiful church of St Biagio

The village itself is all steep but charming old streets lined with shops

some touristy others with interesting local produce.

As Pecorino cheese is local speciality there is a lingering cheesy odour that pervades, but all in all it is a very attractive place.

In the afternoon we retreated back to the villa and dedicated ourselves to lying in the sun by the pool, which was nice. In the evening we went into Pienza for dinner, but more of that next time.

14 July 2015