Thursday 4th January 2018
After yesterday's disappointing weather today was a really nice contrast with bright sunshine all day. Here's how it looked first thing from our parking place at San Rocco. Everyone here had endless fun trying to work out how to operate the car park's enigmatic parking ticket machine.
We set off north west. After taking on diesel we travelled on narrow mountain roads with many tight bends and passed numerous small mountain communities such as the one pictured here. We crossed from Liguria into Piemonte.
Eventually we descended into the plains of the Po Valley and stopped briefly to buy groceries. We stopped for the day at the town of Asti (famous for the local sparkling wine). Here's the view from our parking place. This car park is used each summer for a bare back horse race similar to the more famous one held in Siena.
Tomorrow we need to think seriously about how we are going to cross the main chain of the Alps. Alpine crossings in January are not always straightforward. The obvious way to go is via the Col du Mont Cenis (2081 metres). We crossed the Simplon Pass (2005 metres) on 25th January 2015 so we know that these kind of crossings can be made at this time of year if the conditions are right. The alternative to the Col du Mont Cenis is the very expensive Frejus Tunnel.
Today we travelled 104 miles (167 kilometres). We are at N44.89724 E8.20950
2 comments:
Roger & Ann,
I was in the horse race you mention, I think the event is called Paglio d'Asti. I came third out of about ten. It was quite scary, don't think I'd attempt it now.
There's an interesting mountain road over the Frejus tunnel, not sure how safe it would be this time of year though. When you get to the top you'll need a new clutch, and when down the other side you'll need new brakes!
Steve
Hi Steve,
Absolutely amazing to hear that you were once a rider in the horse race round the square in Asti! What year was that?
The Col du Mont Cenis pass was closed so we had to come through the (very expensive) Frejus Tunnel under the Alps. I would have loved to go over the top if if it had been clear - what's a burned out clutch and melted brake discs compared to an experience like that!
Best wishes, Roger.
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