A long day but very enjoyable and worth the early morning start. The foggy morning made for a different view of the mountains that I had not experienced before. It was a gorgeous soft light creating silhouettes of the villages and mountain edges as we drove down the valley. After we passed the Col de Lautaret and went past the turn to the Galibier we were in new territory. The road instantly changed from twisting climb to a fairly straight down hill through ski resort after ski resort. Once we finally made Neil's drop off point of Guillestre the kids and I visited the tourist office for maps of Briancon and directions to the boulangerie for our daily baguettes. We had heard the Col d'Izoard was pretty so were going to drive over that then into Briancon to explore the old town and fort while Neil climbed the hill. Well we never made it to Brianscon as to describe the Col d'Izoard as pretty was an understatement as it was absolutely stunning.
We drove it so slowly I was letting camper vans pass me as it would have been a shame to rush and miss the view. We passed Neil a lot further up the hill than I expected then we stopped at a few viewpoints for photos.
By the time we made it to the top the time to meet Neil further down the road was fast approaching so Briancon was definitely off. Instead we walked to a viewpoint up a small hill and took in the amazing 360 degree views of this incredible mountain range.
After soaking in as much scenery as we could we descended to the small gift shop to purchase Heather's diary postcard and who should ride up the summit but Neil. We took the photo to prove he'd done it then descended the other side heading towards Italy for ride two. It was lucky we met at the top because when we drove past the proposed meeting point because: 1. I would have missed the sign as it was so small; and 2. It was a one house town down a small dirt road which are not so good on a road bike. I'm amazed it even made it into the road atlas.
We went down the mountain then up another, this time following Italian semi-trailers twisting up the hairpins and giving any on coming traffic heart attacks. We made it to the ride no. 2 drop off point and farewelled Neil. This time it was a quick 11km drive to the top where I took the first turning into a car park and waited for Neil. It was under a gondola which I noticed was going back and forth. Upon closer inspection I noticed there was a movie or tv show being made at the gondola station. There was a small crowd of onlookers and extras hanging around waiting for their turn along with cameras, lights etc. With the kids playing happily on the iPad in the boot, the time flew by and before we knew it Neil was arriving beside the car. It was quite funny having our afternoon in Italy not being able to understand any of the road signs and not being able to ask for directions or anything. I am very grateful for the French I know as it is quite scary being in a country and not being able to communicate at all. After our typical French lunch in an Italian playground we headed back home dodging the semi-trailers going up the twisty hill.
It was a long day however we were all rewarded with incredible scenery and I was given the night off cooking so headed out to indulge in the French pastime of an aperitif in a small side street cafe then dinner at a lovely restaurant around the corner from home. Tomorrow we are off to the northern Alps area around Chamonix to stay for a week.
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