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Published: September 19th 2023
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Well, today was a beauty in so many ways. The chateau de Trigance sits at the top of a hill and has an unbelievable view of the surrounding area. We woke up to the sun peeking over the mountains with the valley shrouded in fog. After breakfast we headed out through the gorges. The road brought us down to the bottom of the canyon with the hairpin turns that Diane loves so much. The views were spectacular, however, we all agreed it was not like the Grand Canyon. The road continued to bring us up and down the surrounding mountains for about two hours before hitting a highway. I think by that time we were all ready for some flat roadway.
Around 12:30, after driving for over 3 hours, we decided it was time for lunch so we started looking for a small town to stop in. Our first try was a bust, so we thought maybe we should get off in Grenoble as you would guess is A large city. Once again we either saw no place to eat, or when we did see a place, there was no parking. Driving in these large cities is a real nightmare,
and Ray finally declared that we were heading back to the highway and never going into a city again looking for lunch. John spotted a sign that had utensils on it so we decided to stop there. It was a truck stop, but right about then no one cared. It actually wasn’t bad. The guys had their baguette and Diane and I had a small spinach quiche.
Back on the road with full tummies things went along smoothly, and we were taking in the great scenery. We were about an hour from Chamonix, our next destination, when we encountered a detour. Lo and behold it brought us onto another secondary road loaded with constant switchbacks, climbing and descending the mountains. This went on for miles when finally we caught up with the vehicles ahead of us. The third vehicle up was a large semi trailer truck that was holding up the whole parade. We then noticed that on the back it said driving school. We instantly took pity on this student that was learning how to drive this vehicle on this road that was only about 20 feet wide with cars and trucks coming from the opposite direction with
all those switchbacks. The driver finally pulled off the road to let us all get by. Shortly after we came to an even bigger truck stuck on the road realizing he could not make the turns. We were all thrilled when we were back on the original highway.
As tiring as this mountain route was, the scenery was breathtaking. We passed countless small villages on the sides of the Mountain, followed glacial rivers through the valleys, and past countless vineyards spread out anywhere there was room to plant. Very beautiful country. The closer we got to Chamonix, the houses were all chalet style. You would think we were in Switzerland.
Arriving Chamonix, we located our hotel, checked in and went looking for a place to park, as the hotel garage was full. Ray got a text from the paragliding school. It appears that his flight tomorrow off Mont Blanc may be cancelled due to unfavorable winds. They will update him in the morning. I know he’ll be bummed if they don’t fly.
After a short rest, we headed out to locate someplace to eat. We settled at a small restaurant that had a
pretty good pizza, and a very good wine. Retiring to the room, we’re finishing up on the blog, and going to hit the sack. After over 7 hours on the road, we’re exhausted.
Tomorrow, hopefully Ray will soar, I’ll do a laundRay, and we head out to Stressa, Italy.
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Raymond
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Looks like an amazing trip the scenery is beautiful. Did Dad get to paraglide? Enjoy the trip hope to chat soon