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<p>Oh my goodness what a day. It thundered during the night - but it was a massive storm that passed directly over us, and there were so many thunder claps and lightning that you couldn't tell which went with which. We got up a couple of hours later and luckily it wasn't raining. We hastily showered in the dirty toilet block, packed, and left.</p> <p><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/EuropeTrip/photo#5152422790224297090"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/R4EVOp_yPII/AAAAAAAAAU0/d2817CbDsfQ/s144/100_0334.JPG" class="alignright" /></a>We headed down towards Montreux for lunch (“We all came down to Montreux, on the Lake Geneva shoreline”). It would have had wonderful views as it has mountains behind and across the lake from it, but there were mostly obscured by clouds. We had lunch by the lake, tried to have a crêpe but from what we could understand of the waiter, they weren't doing crêpes today so we had to settle for another pizza!</p> <p><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/EuropeTrip/photo#5152422811699133586"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/R4EVP5_yPJI/AAAAAAAAAU8/UUnXYVdlFH8/s144/100_0351.JPG" class="alignleft" /></a>After this we did a bit more motorway through huge mountains, then we came off to go on some ‘A' roads. This was possibly a mistake. The roads were OK, there were lots of hairpins which I thought were tough, but I didn't know what was to come! Unfortunately, after a certain height we were driving in the clouds, making it slippery and difficult to see. Below the clouds, it started pouring with rain; oddly I think it was drier in the clouds than underneath them! We crossed the border into France and made our way to Mont Blanc - wow! The top was covered in snow (I realise why it's called Mont Blanc now!), and it had an impressive glacier down one side, along with several freshwater cascades coming down it. Worth a visit, shame it was mostly covered with clouds.</p> <p><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/EuropeTrip/photo#5152422850353839266"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/R4EVSJ_yPKI/AAAAAAAAAVE/-IkZDEEX6C4/s144/100_0363.JPG" class="alignright" /></a>After queuing for ages and paying €48, we made it through the Mont Blanc tunnel and out into Italy. This was where the difficult roads began! Italy does not seem to spend any money maintain its roads, at all. A sign announced that there was to be 8 hair pins coming up, but this was just the beginning. I think we maybe did about 50 (more like 100... - Ben). They are worse in Italy because there are no road markings, the road is very narrow and also covered in potholes! If you met something big at a corner you were in trouble. Luckily we didn't but we did pass some lorries on straight bits. Also, as we were in clouds it was like fog, and with no road markings and sheer drops off the edge if you made a mistake, we proceeded very carefully indeed! We crossed our third border of the day back into France and were looking for our campsite. But it was still raining so we were drenched, and thought we'd have no chance of pitching the tent, so at 7pm we pulled into a hotel by the side of a hairpin.<a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/EuropeTrip/photo#5152422871828675762"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/R4EVTZ_yPLI/AAAAAAAAAVM/PoKhAsbV0Hc/s144/100_0375.JPG" class="alignleft" /></a> It's a little on the expensive side, but we had run out of options; stuck in the fog on a mountain, nowhere near any towns!</p> <p>So here we are. A bed and a private, clean shower! Feels very luxurious. And the French couple that run it are lovely, even drying our bike kit out for us. It's actually early on day 18 as I write this, and the cloud hasn't lifted, so I guess we've another wet day in front of us...</p>
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