Chapter #4

Sanremo - what a town!

We pulled in quite late in the day -

the roads over the mountain passes are 

super skinny and winding,

and take much longer that you expect to drive.

But they are so much more scenic than the main routes,

and in a sense it doesn't matter too much

what time you arrive

at your destination

as long as it's not pitch dark

'cos I don't fancy putting the tent up in darkness:)

Waking up beside the Mediterranean is quite something -

the sea literally sparkled in the morning sunlight.

Sanremo is only a little way over the

Italian border.

After coming from the quieter villages

that we had been staying in France,

it was a bit of a culture shock -

super hustly and bustly.

And HOT!!

I was starting to get the impression by about now

that maybe Europe was in the grips of

a bit of a heat wave.

At times it was stifling.

It didn't seem to bother the locals

all that much,

but then they don't come from the deep south

of New Zealand where we think 25 is hot :)

The purpose of Sanremo was primarily for Jake 

to do some riding.

However I was more than happy to amuse myself

exploring the olde historic part of the town

while he was off riding.

It was fascinating -

the little winding lanes

and the colours of the houses

were like something out of a storybook.

...and the most amazing thing...

I found a teeny tiny button and trim shop.

I could not believe my eyes.

Almost the whole of one side of the shop

was filled with boxes of buttons...

...and the other side was 
boxes and boxes and boxes

of trims...

...the most amazing thing was that all these

boxes of trims were identified only by a number...

how on earth did the owner know where to start

looking?

But I bet he knew every single box

and it's contents :)

It was like stepping into

Aladdin's cave ... 

I so wanted to stay for the day

and look inside every single box!

 So after a few days we said our goodbyes

to Sanremo

and headed south for the next race

which was in Millau.

We had passed through Millau a couple of weeks earlier

on our way north 

and we had worked out where we would camp.

It was a long days driving but we felt happy

that we knew exactly where we were going,

so it didn't matter if we got there a bit late.

Slight hiccup :)

We hadn't counted on there being a huge

Natural Games festival on!

Ooops - no room at the inn!!

But we did eventually find another camp ground

and again it was right beside a fabulous big river

that was perfect for swimming,

and trust me,

it was well used:)

Again I managed to find myself wandering round
the olde part of the town centre,
snapping off a gazillion photos :)

...I love the shutters, and flowers
in tubs and windowboxes,
everywhere we go...

Okay so race day was interesting...

the day before temperatures soared and practice day

was really hard work!!!

Race day saw temperatures go even higher!

By midday I have given up on my forays,

and headed back to camp where I knew there was shade.

On my way back I got a little lost

and ended up in the middle of wheat fields.

They were of course a delight to photograph...

...but oh my goodness,

it got very very very hot.

By the time I did get back to camp,

my thoughts were with Jake -

how on earth was he coping in the heat.

Sadly he did not manage to complete the race,

but not because of the heat,

mechanical issues instead!!

I really have no idea how those riders did it,

and was not surprised to learn that a huge number

pulled out.

From Millau we returned to Briancon

for a restock.

It's sort of become our home base,

as it's very central to many of the places we are going,

The camp there is lovely,

and they do do very very good

fresh baguette for breakfast.

...some lavender fields along the way...

Next stop - Solden - Austria.

See you there

Jenny :)