Day 4
Set off for Morez to catch the train to Saint Claude, as the train is supposed to have fantastic scenery over the viaducts. However, what we failed to realise was that the trains were every 3 hours, and missed the one before by an hour. So, needed a new plan, consulted our activity folder and decide to head over to Grottes des Moidons for a tour of the caves. A chance to drive some more of he back roads that we're yet to drive. Nothing spectacular, just open winding 60mph roads with the odd village here and there.
Photos from the caves.
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Mileage today 126705, so another ~103 miles covered data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Day 5 - Part 1
Out of the house at 8am, and headed for Nyon on the coast of Lake Geneva.
Let the missus drive , and she was more gentle with the car than i was!
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Next up, was Grand St. Bernard pass joining Switzerland and Italy. Took the motorway for most of the route, which followed the line of the lake, again, i let the missus drive. En route, had lunch at the far tip of Lake Geneva.
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Day 5 Part 2
The Grand St. Bernard is actually signposted from 120km, so pretty easy to find, just make you turn off at the right point, otherwise you'll end up going through the tunnel! As for the pass, amazing road, amazing views!
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Woah.......Bus Stop data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
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Day 5 - Part 3
Hmmmmmmm......roadworks without barriers......
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The top!
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We stopped at the top, 2473 metres above sea level, and saw the world famous St. Bernard dogs going for a training session!
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After you get to the top, well, you gotta go back down the otherside!
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Day 5 - Part 4
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Day 5 - Part 5
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From there, we headed for the Mont Blanc Tunnel, again well signposted. And again, mostly used the motorway, as we didn't want to get back to the campsite too late.
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The queue for the tunnel wasn't too bad, but the 41.40 one way fee had me crying! Let the missus drive again.
After the tunnel, we set for the campsite via Geneva. Big mistake, never. Again. It was mental, gridlock, so did my best London driving and got straight out of there and found a ring road!
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Got home at 9pm, and nice 13 hour drive/road trip.
Mileage today 127030, so about 325 miles. Oh, and don't buy diesel in Switzerland! We saw it for as much as 2.12CHF!!!!!!!! Couldn't believe, just as well we had enough diesel to get us back to France.
Day 6
Had a lazy day, after yesterday's marathon drive. Had a lazy morning, and just relaxed in the pool data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
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Had a spot of dinner, then headed upto Besancon for the afternoon. Gave us the chance to check out the roads further north, as just about everything we've done so far has been south.
Jura Mountains Day 6 Part 1 - YouTube
Not much in the way of mountain passes but enjoyable anyway. Swung by one of those Decathlon sports shops for the missus, and abused their wi-fi and managed to upload one video for Day 2.
Mileage today 127136, only 130 miles today.
Day 7
Dropped the little one off at "Fun Station" and headed over to Champagnole about 11 miles away. Not much there to be honest, but we did pick up a huge map of France.Should come in useful on the way home, and for next years trip to the Alps and Ardeche.
Did find a "Big Ben" restaurant though!
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Did a couple hours of canoeing after food, and just starting to pack up now.Little one has gone to the end of week party for a couple of hours.
We'll be up early tomorrow, and out by 9am heading for Luxembourg, Belgium and finally making Calais for 8.30pm.
Mileage now at 127160, so just 24 miles done today.
Day 8
Today was the day we went home data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
We were in no hurry, so decided to take the non-toll roads home, via Luxembourg and Belgium.Never been to Luxembourg before, so we thought why not. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7Luxembourg itself is tiny, and we soon found ourselves in the city centre.We only planned to stop for a quick look round, but ended up staying for food.
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After food back in the car and on our way via a petrol station for some cheap diesel data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
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Had a EuroTunnel booked for 21:20, which we made without issue.Home for 11pm, tucked up in bed for midnight.
Final mileage 127774 - total miles racked up 1830! data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Thanks for reading.
That is some serious write up!
Thanks for that Mjn, never been to those part of Europe yet, so it is nice to see some photos of it data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
BTW Day 6 photos doesn't work for me.
Is that you in those two photos with your daughter? You look like a tall chap data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Great views and greats road by the look of it. Glad you enjoyed it data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7