It rained all night. In fact it rained all morning, so we had to pack away under a nearby shelter and time our departure carefully.
Louby picked a few things up from the first shop we came across, including some very tasty custard croissants that we ate on a bench by the lake.
Rode along the top of lake piano and lake Lugano. There's one little bar (Bar Cima) with a terrace before the Swiss border, but the terrace was closed due to the weather so we cracked on. You don't really get a feel for lake lugano, as lovely as it is, because you only see it from an elevated position from the S34 during the few moments that you're not riding through tunnels.
Lake Maggiore on the other hand is a real gem. We stopped in cannobio and managed to carve a path down to the waterfront bars. We both immediately fell in love with the place. We admired it longingly over a cappuccino then headed to the Swiss border, via verbania.
We stopped at a tiny restaurant immediately before the border and enjoyed a small and very reasonable three course Italian feast that would set us up for the rest of day.
We crossed the border over the simplon pass and immediately hit a continuous stream of roadworks. I reckon they cost us about 45 minutes all in, but we eventually made it across Switzerland and thankfully into France.
We landed in Chamonix early evening, after stopping briefly at the coop garage outside martigny to pick up some provisions for a quick tea. While Louby enjoyed a shower, i was joined by one of our British neighbours with a couple of bottles of beer. A nice bloke called Andy. He had done his fair share of touring and fully understood the appreciation and relief when you land at a campsite after a day in the saddle and you're greeted by a stranger bearing cold beer. We chatted while i got the tent together. He's into his mountain bikes and motorbikes but this trip is purely a walking holiday with his wife. He said the forecast for tomorrow is promising. The end of tonights ride, while not particularly hot, was dry and clear which bodes well. The road down into Chamonix from the Swiss border is superb, unless it's raining, which thankfully it wasn't tonight.
Clear skies gave a complete unobstructed view of Mont Blanc. It also meant the temperature dropped, but it was bearable.
So today we've done four Italian lakes, then Switzerland, then back into Italy, then back into Switzerland, then finally France. A long day, some of which was wet and a bit of a slog, but it's had some great highlights and we're now safely on the homeward stretch.
220 miles
Louby picked a few things up from the first shop we came across, including some very tasty custard croissants that we ate on a bench by the lake.
Rode along the top of lake piano and lake Lugano. There's one little bar (Bar Cima) with a terrace before the Swiss border, but the terrace was closed due to the weather so we cracked on. You don't really get a feel for lake lugano, as lovely as it is, because you only see it from an elevated position from the S34 during the few moments that you're not riding through tunnels.
Lake Maggiore on the other hand is a real gem. We stopped in cannobio and managed to carve a path down to the waterfront bars. We both immediately fell in love with the place. We admired it longingly over a cappuccino then headed to the Swiss border, via verbania.
We stopped at a tiny restaurant immediately before the border and enjoyed a small and very reasonable three course Italian feast that would set us up for the rest of day.
We crossed the border over the simplon pass and immediately hit a continuous stream of roadworks. I reckon they cost us about 45 minutes all in, but we eventually made it across Switzerland and thankfully into France.
We landed in Chamonix early evening, after stopping briefly at the coop garage outside martigny to pick up some provisions for a quick tea. While Louby enjoyed a shower, i was joined by one of our British neighbours with a couple of bottles of beer. A nice bloke called Andy. He had done his fair share of touring and fully understood the appreciation and relief when you land at a campsite after a day in the saddle and you're greeted by a stranger bearing cold beer. We chatted while i got the tent together. He's into his mountain bikes and motorbikes but this trip is purely a walking holiday with his wife. He said the forecast for tomorrow is promising. The end of tonights ride, while not particularly hot, was dry and clear which bodes well. The road down into Chamonix from the Swiss border is superb, unless it's raining, which thankfully it wasn't tonight.
Clear skies gave a complete unobstructed view of Mont Blanc. It also meant the temperature dropped, but it was bearable.
So today we've done four Italian lakes, then Switzerland, then back into Italy, then back into Switzerland, then finally France. A long day, some of which was wet and a bit of a slog, but it's had some great highlights and we're now safely on the homeward stretch.
220 miles
No comments:
Post a Comment