6th May

6th May
Well yesterday was, to coin a phrase, a day and a half. We got up early, broke camp and after a breakfast of bananas and yoghurt felt ready to tackle the Alps. There are two routes available one being better than the other as you can see mont blanc. This depends on a pass being open otherwise you have to go through a tunnel which takes you past said viewpoint. We chose to go that way as the pass couldn’t be closed at this time of year. Could it? We set off and just before the Swiss border we stopped for coffee and chocolat and raised a toast to the people of France. Again. Then it was onwards and literally upwards. Every turn realised a better view than before. Yeti started to feel for me as I had to drive and couldn’t take in the splendour, at one juncture she started to say “if it’s any consolation there isn’t much to see at the moment as the mountains are too steep“, before she finished the sentence however she looked over my shoulder and said “oh my god”. I had a quick glance behind and could only agree. On we went and got more excited as the pass was looming, we had to drive for quite some time under a kind of roof that was to stop the snow falling on the road, fifteen minutes of that and we turned off for the pass. You can guess the rest. We turned around to find that we had to drive all the way back under the bloody roof so as to turn around and go back through the tunnel. They then had the barefaced cheek to charge us thirteen euros for the privilege. Never mind, halfway through was the border. The Godfather sound track seemed eerie yet fitting as we blasted it out through the last few kilometres of the tunnel, giggling like a pair of bambinos till we blinked into the sun at the end.
Italy our Italy, so beautiful but you really could do with a coat of paint. The crash barriers still bore dents from when the 8th Army came bowling through and as for road markings, you just had to guess. That though, is to us it’s charm.
We decide to make hay and pressed on, bound for a campsite I had looked up some time ago. On arrival we found it doesn’t open till June. A couple of fraught hours later we found a place to camp and put the last tent peg in just as we lost the light. The lady of the campaggio offered to make us a simple pasta dish as we were too tired to bother getting the kit out. By God it was lovely. A good nights rest and we were ready for off. We decided to cut a corner and headed off down an “A” road for the Autostrade, some short cut, the road made the Alps look like a quick blast through Benelux, not the mountains but the switchbacks, hairy I tell you. We then cracked on and are now in a campsite on the Adriatic. Before we set up camp we took Ace in the sea, he really took to it and inadvertently did a bit of surfing, he was paddling for shore, stick in mouth with about twenty feet to go, a wave picked him up and to his astonishment next thing he knew he was on land. And now it’s tea time.