We left La Plagne but were still feeling the after-effects of Covid. Nothing serious, just a cough and a general feeling of tiredness. The plan was to do a couple of weeks of easy travelling before heading back to Germany to get Diane’s hip checked out. North through Chamonix and over the magnificent Col des Montets into Switzerland. Starting the 1,000m descent there are several sweeping bends with wide open views down vertiginous slopes. Far below, the town of Martigny nestles in the valley. In 1981, my first experience of this pass was in a clapped out VW combi van. To this day, I still recall gripping the wheel more tightly and hoping the brakes, which failed periodically, would hold out until bottom. Baloo is quite another matter. As well as the service brake (foot pedal) it also has an exhaust brake, a system which changes the valve timing to increase retardation. The engine becomes a compressor slowing the truck and blowing out hot air. It works in conjunction with the semi-automatic gearbox. Often I can simply set the speed using the service brake at the start of a descent and then keep my feet on the floor while the truck systems maintain a safe and steady pace. The exhaust brake does make a rather satisfying noise. We stopped by a roundabout in the valley and the brake drums were barely warm.
South through the Grand St Bernard tunnel to Italy. In 1964 this was the longest road tunnel in the world. Now it seems a bit old and dusty. We emerged into the rather awesome Aosta valley. This runs south-east from Mont Blanc out into the plains of Northern Italy. It cuts past some of the great mountains of Europe including Monte Rosa, Gran Paradiso and the Matterhorn. There is a motorway along the length of the Aosta valley but also numerous castles and fortified houses. To the north are permanently snowy peaks while further south the valley broadens into cultivated fields and vineyards. We detoured northwards to drive up to Breuil-Cervinia. There is a dedicated motorhome area here with terrific views of the Matterhorn.
Next day we resumed our trek south and emerged on the flatlands north of Turin. Not wanting to have anything to do with either flat lands or Turin we turned back towards the Alps and a road into the Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso. We were trying to get to the Lago di Ceresole but got thwarted by the narrow roads. Usually, at this stage we would have a motorbike day to explore further but we thought this probably unwise with Diane’s delicate hip. So we turned Baloo around while we could still find a turning place, back-tracked for a while and then joined the much more substantial road from Turin to the ski areas around Sauze d’Oulx. Skiing is long finished here and like much of the Alps the area is sort of catching its breath. Nearly everything is closed, for a few weeks, between the end of the winter season and the start of summer. The patchy and muddy remains of ski slopes are still visible. At the same time the grass is turning green and flowers are coming out.
We found a lovely secluded spot in a forest near Sestriere. So nice that we spent two nights there. It was calm and quiet and sunny. Ideal for a bit of recuperation and also to get some washing done. Further south and we were into the heart of the Maritime Alps and not far from the Mediterranean. We attempted to cross via the Col de Tende tunnel but discovered that heavy traffic is barred from this road at weekends. Another U-turn and we set off over the Col du Larche. This is a long and spectacular pass very popular with motorcyclists. We stretched it out over two days. By Monday, everyone had gone home and we had the place to ourselves.
Working our way back north we passed through Briançon and camped right at the top of the Col du Lautaret. Further west and we followed a lovely loop of road around the south of the Vercors Massif. By now we had thoroughly shaken off the Covid so we set a course for Germany.