Annency to Lago d'Iseo

Feeling much better this morning although the throat is still quite sore. We packed and left in short order, we're getting quite good at this and it only takes about 25 minutes to set up camp and about the same to pack up in the morning. If we take a bit of time to dry the groundsheets and flysheet then obviously it takes a little long like it did this morning - it was actually just a good excuse for me to get some time to read my book. I'm at the stage of a holiday where I am devouring books; I may not be quite keeping up with Caron but I'm getting close!

We left Annency at about 10:00 for the long drive into Italy, hoping to get quite close to Venice so that tomorrows drive is actually quite short. On our way up the valley we watched loads of people cycling on the purpose built cycle path while dozens of paragliders played in the thermals overhead.

What a paradise for people who like adventure sports and the outdoors. The cycle path appears to be built on top of what used to be railway lines which explains why it was so straight and flat.


We stopped at Chamonix for lunch and a cup of coffee. It was quite wierd because we were walking around in t-shirts while skiers walked past with their complete ski outfits on; they must have been like a sauna! I was quite keen on going up the teleferique but at 40EUR for the trip and I would only be at the top for 30 minutes I decided to give it a skip. It's just too much for 30 minutes.

From Chamonix it was straight into an 11km long tunnel which we thought was really long but little did we know that by the end of the day we would have done close on 40km of underground driving. Tollroads here get really expensive and by the end of the day we had shelled out 60EUR on toll fees alone. I was very surprised to drive by the mouths of two glaciers, one on the french and one on the italian side but both originating on the slopes of Mont Blanc (I think!) They're pretty small compared with the one's I saw around Mt. Everest but they're glaciers none-the-less and that would explain all the skiers; they probably have skiing here all year round.

We arrived at d'Iseo at about 19:00 which means that it was a very long days driving so I again sat and read my book, nibbled on olives and drank some red wine while I appreciated the view below.

These lakes are really quite something, they even have some elegant wildlife on show.

I think we must be getting close to holiday season because the campsites are starting to fill up and it's best not to arrive too late in the day anymore.