There had been much discussion last night about route options for today inasmuch as we hadn't intended to be starting at such low elevation, and in the morning it was suggested we scale back our plans and climb only 2 cols, albeit both from low altitude (i.e. the river i.e. we would fully descend from the first one before attacking the second). There were 3 roads that led from St Jean de Maurienne to the Col de Mollard (1638m), and I opted for a circular route, ascending one side of the valley and descending the other, that would bring me back into the centre of town for lunchtime. The ascent on the 'lesser' of the two roads was beautiful, with generally a good road surface (important when descending),and I would have been happy to return along
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