Laffrey to Gap and beyond
Sunday 24th September 2017
Today we leave Camping Pre Du Lac and head on our diverted route (N85) towards Gap and then onwards to Italy. We had been planning to go to Orta to a campsite on the shores of Lake Orta. We had tried to make a reservation via email a few days ago but have not had a reply. That coupled with an unfavourable weather forecast for the area has led to a change in plan and we now head for Lake Iseo and Camping Covelo.
The drive along the Route Napoleon is beautiful and in places quite stunning. We had intended to get some bread along the way but Sunday being Sunday in France most Boulangeries are shut. We stop in Gap using the Decathlon car park and venture over the road to an all-day boulangerie cum café for a slice of Focaccia and a coffee, a quick stretch of the legs for the dogs and then we on our way again via Briancon to Italy.
The route to Briancon was again lovely but the climb out of Briancon and up to Montgenevre was something else with steep climbs and a series of tight hairpins. We just had to watch out for the descending motorcyclists who seemed to have no regard for other vehicles coming the other way.
And so through Montgenevre and into Italy and a long steady descent through numerous tunnels to the valley floor and heading towards Torino. We were not quite sure where we would end up tonight but probably a ‘sosta’ in a village along the way. The first one we had identified was at a restaurant but we couldn’t find that and ended up at a sosta provided by the commune of Chiusa di San Michel.
The sosta was situated in a back street close to the town and provide good parking, electric hook up, water, and waste disposal. The latter was a point of investigation by two of our neighbours who wished to dispose of loo waste but it only seemed like there was grey waste. As we have found on several aires and sosta the lack of a chemical disposal point does not seem an impediment to the determined motorhomer.
We established that the cost of the overnight stay including hookup was 8 Euro and we set about finding where to pay. Our lack of Italian, and the lack of information at the sosta made it quite difficult but did find the office in the end – albeit closed. Our neighbours made no such attempt it seems and simply left early the next morning.
The town has great history being the centre point of a historic pilgrim route. In fact it is not the town that is mid point but a monastery perch some 900m above the town, There is a walk (amongst many) that takes in the monastery but our schedule did not allow us the luxury of the walk up the hillside (phew!).
Overnight was very comfortable although the two churches of the town seem to be competing in a bell ringing contest. The hours were chimed out each and every hour by both churches. One church though seemed to be about 5 minutes behind the other. The ringing continued through the night although from 1AM until 6AM only a single chime was rung – let’s be thankful for small mercies. At 7AM there seemed to be a special alarm call. The expected seven bell chime was followed shortly after by a continuous ringing of a bell for some time. By this time I had become accustomed to counting the ringing but on this occasion I lost count somewhere after 60, some time after that they faded away.
So, fully awake by now (and earlier than perhaps we might otherwise have been it was time to set about our day.
