The Alps
When the Expedition Leaders were planning a rough outline of our second bite at Europe, they asked me if there was anywhere in particular that I would like to see. Well some of you will know that I have always been a bit of a cycling nut, and one event that has always captured my imagination has been the Tour de France bike race – undoubtedly one of the toughest human endurance sports events, ever. And within that 3 week marathon-on-a-bike the race course always takes the riders through the Pyrenees and and the Alps. Watching top athletes fighting it out on impossible mountain passes in a stage of maybe 200km really leaves me speechless with wonder. I know what it is like to grovel up a mountain – and to see those guys dancing up them is really something.
So it was only natural that I would like to have a close look at the terrain where these battles have been fought. So my reply to their question was: ‘either the Pyrenees or the Alps.’ And for the last two days that is where we have been. The Alps, that is.
I have been so fortunate: I have been able to sit back and feast my eyes on the incredible scenery while my driver has had to keep her eyes glued to the road, while nursing the juggernaut around, through and up and down narrow, twisty but breathtakingly beautiful vitas of mountain vineyards and orchards, with the mighty Alps ever looming closer and closer until we were upon them and then in them.
We started the day with the mountains as our backdrop and it was not long before we were doing some serious climbing.
Really the past few days have just been an unfolding of beautiful landscapes, so perhaps I should let the pictures do the talking:
The hills were long and arduous and the Mother Ship coughed up a few lungfulls of smoke and finally said enough is enough and demanded a break to cool down. We were happy enough – it was time for a lunch-break anyway.
The long winding drop down into Italy
was almost 50km long, and the rough roads and the bright terra-cotta pedestrian crossing made us aware of the border crossing
. Thank goodness for the EEU which has done away with endless border-crossing checks!
We ended up in a great little spot – a brand-new facility with all mod con and just built for two vans. Perfect!
There was even a stack of paving stones which seved as a perfect kitchen bench for the washing up!
kiwijoe