Our drive from Innsbruck in Austria to Airolo in Switzerland has been marked by extra-ordinarily long tunnels (the longest being 30km which make our Sydney Harbour tunnel seem petite) and beautiful snow-capped mountains and rapidly running rivers. We stopped off at Vaduz, capital of Lichtenstein, for lunch, then continued winding our way through some beautiful little villages. At times, as we climbed higher into the mountains, the temperature dropped to 3 deg. C and we stopped a couple of times to look at the view and throw a few snowballs. We were obviously close to the Italian border in Airolo as everyone spoke Italian and every second car was an Alfa Romeo. Airolo is the first place we have been where we can’t find someone who speaks a reasonable amount of English. This proved frustrating when we tried to get directions to the Devil’s Bridge – famous for opening up the San Gottard mountain pass between the north and south canton’s of Switzerland. We eventually found it after using the internet to get an approximate location. Compared to our previous accommodations, our hotel in Airolo was relatively expensive and basic. However, the restaurant/bar downstairs provided a comfortable environment for us to sit, have our dinner, read, play cards & chess, watch the World Cup and the girls to do their homework for the two nights we were there.
Left Airolo and drove again through some spectacular landscape before entering the motorway heading towards Paris. We drove for 5 hours before stopping off in Dole, a provincial town 300 km S.E. of Paris. Not having any pre-booked accommodation, we took a punt and ended up at a beautiful hotel with a swimming pool that the girls enjoyed after the long drive. After the rain in Austria and the snow-chilled air in Airolo, we are back to high 20’s temperatures. Sitting in the manicured gardens, Ray felt a bit embarrassed reading a book about Wellington, who defeated Napoleon in 1815!! We used up our two night’s accommodation budget for getting to Paris, so decided to go to Paris a day earlier. Luckily the Eurocamp we are staying in was able to accommodate our change. Back on the road for the final leg to Paris, we have worked out the system of toll paying, which is quite expensive. Paris, here we come!
P.S. Tahnee & Ray are sad that Australia didn’t get through to the next round and Ray is convinced Soccer (Football) IS the World Game.