Friday 5th January 2018
It was quite misty in the Po Valley this morning. Ann went to the Post Office in Asti before we left and had to queue for an hour just to buy stamps to post 5 postcards! The Italian Postal Service seems to be in crisis! Each postcard had to be individually weighed and instead of sticking a stamp on each it had to have an individual print out "stamp" which was much too big to stick onto the postcard so had to be folded around the back of the card!
We travelled west passing to the south of the City of Turin. As we approached the Alps we started to see breaks in the clouds.
The issue as to how to get through the Alps was soon settled. Signs indicated that the Col du Mont Cenis was closed so we headed for the Frejus Tunnel.
The sky cleared as we approached the tunnel and we got some marvellous views.
The road up to the The Frejus Tunnel entrance is a superb feat of engineering going through many long tunnels before you reach "The Big One".
The Frejus Tunnel is about 13 kilometres long. The one way fare for a vehicle of our size is 60 euros. Value for money? I suppose if you have a monopoly and there is no viable alternative to travel by road from Italy to France in this area at this time of year then there is nothing to stop you charging the maximum amount that you think your customers would possibly be able to pay. Here's the view as we emerged on the French side.
As we descended from the tunnel exit we got some fine alpine views.
We stopped for the day at the Aire in the town of Saint Jean de Maurienne in the Rhone Alps region of France. Here's a view from our parking place.
To day we travelled 127 miles (204 kilometres). We are at N45.28030 E6.34776
2 comments:
Thanks very much.
I have mapped your stopovers both in Sicily and going north in Italy.
Your travelling "profile" matches ours quite closely except that we like to stay 2 nights sometimes.
Your distances are very helpful.
Excellent images and helpful text
We are planning to go south in Italy on a route such as yours
A week plus in Sicily.
Then North on the East coast.
I have earmarked 40 days for Italy so this seems fine 100 to 150 miles a day plus 2 nights here and there
Going South 13
Sicily 13
Going North to Venice again 13 days
Regards Phil & Nida
Hi Phil and Nida,
Many thanks for your comments. I hope your upcoming trip goes well. Minor roads in Sicily are really bad at present but they're manageable if you take them slow!
Best wishes, Roger.
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