It is over 1000kms from Monterosso to
Dormans in Reims where our house sit is located. I chose Chambery as a stop over for two nights because
looking on the map it was the place of most interest for us to break up two
days of 5-6 hours of driving each day.
We left Monterosso the same route we came
in on – a windy steep mountainous road with fantastic views not that you should
be looking at them while driving.
I tried not to say WOW, look at that all the time.
We drove through many tunnels on route; a
couple was 3 & 5kms long. Once
the mountains surrounding this area came into view we could see the first signs
of snow and feel it, the temperature dropped a lot. We are close to the Italian and Switzerland border
here.
Chambery is known as the gateway to the
alps. There are many ski resorts
within an hour or two drive from here.
This morning we visited the tourist office and decided to do what we
like best – the toy train, next best thing to the double decker tourist
bus. It was a 40-minute trip
around the town city.
Chambery is a town for visiting churches,
cathedrals and museums all of which interest Jim very little and I am happy to
wander around and look at the buildings anything so long as I not stuck in a
hotel room for the day. Aside from
yesterday being very wet when we arrived and today the sky is overcast and grey Chambery is a pretty town. It is
quiet and peaceful but feels cosmopolitan at the same time. It suffered badly during the war, being
bombed by the Americans because of the German occupation.
Road tolls are expensive in France and
Italy. Rob, at the Surrey housesit
mentioned that road tolls were expensive. He wasn’t exaggerating. It was lucky having Laurel with us on the trip over because
we shared the cost. Yesterday the
tolls from Monterosso to Chambery amounted to 75.10 Euros ($114 approx). Jim checked out our next leg, Chambery
to Reims and it looks like it may only be 40 Euros. We still shake our heads and wonder how we
ever thought we could have done this trip without a car. Before leaving Australia we had no plans
to buy a car but then really we had no plans after India. Everything has evolved along the way –
in a good way.
I have been sitting writing this back in
our hotel room now for the past couple of hours so that is enough from me. I am off for a walk, must put on a few
layers as it is cold out there. I’ll
try and get Jim to come out as well.
He has been reading while I have been typing. It is amazing how he will read if there is no Internet or TV
to watch.
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| Castle in old Chambery |
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| Streetscape in town centre |
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| View of city rooftops from our hotel window |
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