After midnight the rain subsided and it quietens down, but within an hour there is another really heavy downpour. Water starts to run under the porch section of our tent and forms puddles on the dry earth. I get up and move as much of the things we have in the porch into the dry inner tent, but inevitably we will be packing some damp kit away in the morning. Eventually there comes a point where the sound of water flowing away becomes louder than the pitter-patter of rain on the tent roof. In the morning everything is still damp, but with a warm sun is already beginning to dry.
We are on the road up to the mountains just after 11. With me driving it falls to T to operate the camera. The SS26 winds up the valley giving little opportunity for a pull in to take properly composed pictures, so T grabs what he can as a record. There are increasingly spectacular views of Mont Blanc, even with the peak shrouded in cloud, up through Morgex and Courmayeur and, with one diversion for roadworks, to the tunnel itself. They seem to be quite touchy since the serious fire in the tunnel in the 90s, and so we are held back from going into the tunnel proper until the traffic has calmed down.
11kms later we emerge on the French side of the mountain. As we descend to Chamonix there is a little pull in amongst the trees to the right and we stop so I can walk back to get a shot of the mountain from the other side.
It is then onto the E25 Autoroute Blanche - twisty, turny dual carriageway with cliff face to the left and a drop to the right. This is the sort of road one imagines oneself being on when one dreams of owning an Aston Martin DB5. In a fully loaded Defender, with a high ride and softer suspension, it is less exhiliarating and a little more scary. Large lorries group together on the inside lane and overtaking feels a challenge. However, being back in France means the crash barriers look as if they would work.
We stop for a sandwich and an espresso. E buys some Pringles and questions how much space there is in the top of the tube before we eat a single crisp.
Mont Blanc and the mountains seem to be receding rapidly as we make good headway on the motorway. We soon hit flatter territory, passing south of Geneva and winding along the A40. The valley to the north, on our right, looks beautifully gentle after the mountains, but we soon get back into hillier terrain with lots of raised road sections plunging into tunnels through cliff faces.
Last year we had stopped at some services near Bourg-en-Bresse which claimed to have the largest sculpture of a chicken in the world (and incredible, virtually al fresco urinals!) but we couldn't find it (it was further north on a parallel motorway section to the one sat nav put us on). We headed west around Macon and there are some fabulous towns and Churches in the distance.
We get back to the Ibis Dijon Sud where we had stayed on the way down, tired and sweaty, by 5ish. A shower and a doze are needed, but I feel hungry. We will be going back to the Cora next door for our supper. Our 2000th mile came up around Bourg-en-Bresse - Pamela has behaved impeccably!
It is funny being so disconnected from the Olympics, even though we will be watching the Men's Mountain Biking in 10 days time. We catch glimpses on the French TV news channel - looks like the pesky French have won something. Herring salad, followed by meatballs and (inevitably) Iles Flotante at the Cora. We discuss the peage which had been chocker with caravans, mostly Dutch folk migrating home for the winter. I texted my brother because we saw a caravan which I thought was called a Sodwind (I would buy one of those), but as we got close I realised it was actually a Südwind (never trust an umlaut). There were a huge variety of Hobby caravans, including the 'Hobby Excellent Easy' and also a 'Kip Deluxe'.
After supper I doze a bit more, listening to EST, and then at 9 we all meet up in the bar for bottles of water and Coke whilst we chat over tomorrow.
There are a huge amount of channels on the Hotel TV - mostly rubbish. 'View to a Kill' dubbed into French anyone? We were given free wifi cards with a limit of a couple of hundred megabytes download, and the boys both use their's up watching Youtube clips of mountain biking.
Despite having really enjoyed our two blocks of camping I do have to say that, after last night's storm, it is lovely to be in a proper bed with quiet music on the iPod.
Miles today - 240.
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