So, we had an 8 am departure from Chambery. Not on my ‘must come back to’ list but clearly a necessary stop over to our next destination which is Nice. Have spent most of the day getting here, but what a fabulous countryside to go through. We have seen every season in a day. Initially lush green hills with delightful little villages or farms nestled in them.
We have come through multiple toll roads and gone through various tunnels which are all engineering marvels.
As we climb through the mountains the cloud covers the tops of snow covered tops and then we have more lush ‘green’ as soon as the sun peeps through
We stop for morning tea at the top of the mountain 1175 metres above sea level. It is down to about 11 degrees so for the first time on the trip a light jacket is in order. Can’t believe a train comes all the way through here, but know that it would be a totally different site in winter. The hot chocolate we had during the stop was much appreciated.
Most of the time on the exceptionally winding road we are travelling on, the rail line is just a bit below us and then further below we follow the glacial streams.
So many more points of interest along the way. We stopped in Mees for lunch and had a lovely panini, served by a lass who clearly liked my accent, even though I thought I was doing my best at ordering in French, such that, when I told her I was from Australia, she wanted to know why I hadn’t brought any opals with me for her! What a hoot!
During our drive Laura told us of Napolean’s route along a similar route we are on, when he returned from his first exile to try and take the throne of France back again. It was after that story that she deemed it appropriate to play Abba’s Waterloo over the sound system. As that is not a favourite of mine I elected not to sing along, which I’m sure was much appreciated by some of the other travellers, especially those sitting nearby. As we were getting closer to Nice we drove along miles of road flanked by Plane trees which apparently were ordered to be planted by Napoleon. They made for really lovely sights particularly on the straight stretches of road.
After lunch Laura regaled us with the story of Victor Hugo’s (France’s answer to Shakespeare) epic Les Miserables and then played the score from the show. I’ve not read the book, seen the show or the movie, and after hearing the soundtrack have no great desire to change any of the above!!!
and then we came into Nice about 4.30 where we are staying at the Radisson Blu for two nights.
There is an optional walking tour through the old town tonight but we have elected to do our own thing so that we can have our own happy hour in the room while the blog is updated and also a chance for some light hand washing of our ‘smalls’. We have a 9 am start in the morning so perhaps a quiet night in the rooftop bar might be in order for our lazy start in the morning.
Fabulous pics of of such lovely countryside and the roads and bridges are so interesting over there. Love the photos you added from yesterday too. The plane trees are fabulous and so much of an improvement on our Gum Tree across the road !!!! Happy hours are becoming a regular event and how good is that so Gary and I might join you from here except that we are sharing a bottle of red with dinner!!!
ReplyDeleteI read back again, just incase you slipped something extra in there and we would be quizzed.
ReplyDeleteI saw Les Miserables and actually really liked it. Think I saw it twice actually. Joe knows I love opera and this was his idea of opera I gues. Well, this and The Lion King!