Autumn 2022

Renage, France - 17 September 2022

The long road to Italy

Good nights sleep - must have been tired. Crikey - was a bit chilly at 7am - about 14° inside Dave - Tintin out of bed to put the kettle on! Decided just to crack on and get driving.

I had to give myself a talking to, haven’t driven Dave for a while, but was fine. Between us we’ve driven for over 11 hours. I started off about 8.30. It’s strange how you can be driving along quite happily, then all of a sudden you’re in three or four lanes of traffic! We passed Paris (population 2.1M) ‘underneath’ and it absolutely wasn’t a problem. Quick photo of Eiffel Tower from a distance! Pulled over for lunch about midday, then Tintin drove. He had lovely scenic roads, without too much traffic…

I continued, was lovely for a while - but then drove through Lyon (population 1.7M). Busy, and a bit narrow for two lane traffic when one of the vehicles is a Dave.

I was going to say how delighted I’d been with Colin the Co-Pilot - as we haven’t gone the wrong way all day. However, points deducted for going through Lyon!

We’ve stopped twice today to top up with diesel, we’ve seen lots of Total fuel stations (cheapest), and were hoping we’d just see another one on route towards the end of the day - which we did after a quick search. No ordinary diesel, bought the Excellium, but still only €1.57 per litre. Wanted to buy today, not sure many stations are open on Sundays…

After yesterday, we said we wouldn’t drive in the dark, and 8pm would be our limit. After fuel, we found a place on Park4Night, but when we arrived it looked a bit dubious with both lots of circus vans and trailers, and possibly gypsies nearby. Decided we’d move, even if getting dark. Our lights on Dave aren’t brilliant!

We’re at another church, in Renage, about 30 minutes drive from Grenoble.

It’s fair to say we’re both quite tired! It takes so much concentration! I think I worry about checking the speed limit, and our actual speed all the time - the driving just happens! It takes its toll on our knees and right ankle when driving - not the most comfortable position for hours and hours at a time - but heyho, we’re on a mission.

Not very exciting photos today - just a driving day. Lovely seeing the scenery changing from flat, to now hilly. Have enjoyed seeing different coloured cows too! Some steep descents, with bends at only 30km! Quite a few tunnels too, and fairly long.