What a day! We went to the top of the world today. Well it felt like it anyway. As Neil said it was an early morning to drop the cyclist off to test his body to the limit. The drop off point was the top of the Col du Galibier which at 2600+m meant we were high in the Alps. While Neil was getting ready, and I was admiring the view of the mountains, imagine my delight when I spotted a couple of marmots playing on the hillside. I quickly called Heather over so she could share in this great sight (Callum just would not have seen them, then we would have heard about it all day). Our marmot sighting put a spring in our steps so after we watched Neil disappear off the Galibier Heather, Callum and I went for a short walk higher up the hill to an amazing view point. It was relatively early in the morning and quite cold but this also meant the views were crystal clear and even more breathtaking. We then hopped back in the car for our descent down the other side to Neil, back the way we came.
We stopped a few times for photos and to admire this magic scenery. Our original plan was for us to go home now and Neil meet us there, but now were to meet him just down the road so what to do for 4 hours? I drove to the village of La Grave about 10km down the road where we got some information about glacier trips, had a little walk around town, ate lunch then took a scenic drive up the hill to some small settlements, basically pleasantly killing the time any way we could. With an estimated hour left we decided to drive back up the Galibier to meet Neil, but before we even reached the turning, "that was Daddy," was shouted by in the car. We stopped and fortunately Neil had spotted us so slowly rode UP to where we parked.
The day was nothing like what I had planned that was mostly boring stuff so seeing this incredible scenery and soaking it in was great. Have I mentioned there was not a cloud in the sky all day as well? Being in La Grave I managed to plan a mother daughter day for tomorrow which will be a gondola ride up to a glacier then a visit to an ice cave. Should be a lot of fun and Heather is so excited which is cool.
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