A large group of German teenagers arrived late at the campsite and despite trying to get ahead of them by heading to the shower block at 6:55am I ended up in a 20-minute queue for a 2-minute shower. I should have waited because when Rodney went over later, all three showers were empty…hhmmph! Ah well, it’s the first time in 10 weeks that either of us has had to wait.
After breakfast Rodney gave Eileen a good rinse down; no queuing for her. After so many dry and dusty days just lately, she was starting to look a bit grubby and fly spattered. While Rodney was busy outside, I got my sewing kit out and pulled out two pairs of my shorts and a pair of Rodney’s. Despite all the baguettes, cheeses, tarts, croissants, ice creams, etc. we’ve both lost weight. So I cut off the top button and moved them all in a bit; hopefully Rodney’s will now stay up and mine might stay in place a bit better…….!
Today was really one big drive. We started up the D900 enjoying the view of the mountains on both sides and noting that the architecture seemed to have suddenly taken on an Alpine look. I thought we had already crossed in to Switzerland! Even the church towers had changed from having a wrought iron bell tower with the bell on view to now being tall, very narrow, spires with any bells not on view. Also, the cows were no longer bony and white; they were now a deep, warm chestnut brown and fat. We had sunshine and showers and the clouds clung around the tops of the ridges in layers. We went over the Col de Maure at 1,346m, through Seyne and on down to the Lac de Serre-Poncon.
We turned west along the south side of the lake and then crossed over the Durance River at the enormous dam. It is a massive earth dam holding back one of the largest artificial lakes in Western Europe and the hydro-electric power stations can provide 10% of France’s electricity and the power is equivalent to two nuclear power stations.
We stopped in Gap for lunch and watched the rain pour down and then took the snaking N85 north and over the Col Bayard at 1,248m. We followed the Route Napoleon through numerous villages and, every so often, hit long stretches of hair-pin bends. We passed La Mure and when we got to Laffrey we had to pull over in to a checking station because we are over 2.6m high. The stretch of road was marked as difficult and dangerous and large trucks aren’t allowed down it to Vizille. It seems we passed the test because the barrier opened and allowed us through, but it really was one helluva drop down; 5kms at a continual 12%, with no lay-bys or let outs. Rodney switched from low gear to braking and back again, continually, and I kept my fingers crossed we would get to the bottom without burnt out brakes or gears! We skirted the busy, built-up suburbs of Grenoble and continued north, stopping at Challes les Eaux Aires for the night. We had only driven 250kms, but it was a tough drive and it was 5pm, so we decided to call it a day. While Rodney went for a stroll to stretch his driving-legs, I tried to recreate the goats cheese on baguette slices with salad, which was ok, but the cheese was maybe not the tastiest we have had. I also boiled all the left over apricots with sugar and water to make a rather yummy sauce for later use. We ended the day watching Michael Palin’s ‘Hemingway Adventures’ and checked emails until the computer battery ran out, then hopped in to bed for an early night.
