You can check out what photos I've added to the travel set on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157645709737341/
I managed to get a little bit of a snooze in on the first part of the trip - while the countryside was good, it wasn't great, so it was a good time to relax a little. However as soon as we went further inland the scenery dramatically improved as the Alps opened up above us.
We passed through a few small towns before we came across this massive fort in the middle of nowhere, called Forte di Exilles. It's right above the town of Exilles, and while we originally wanted to go in and have a look, it was only an hour before closing, and at €10.50 per head it wasn't exactly cheap. So we contented ourselves with a wander around the outside, which was still pretty spectacular:
Forte di Exilles
We soon arrived in the (awesomely-named) town of our overnight stay. Seriously, how cool is this name?!:
Welcome to Sauze d'Oulx
Not only that, but after we found our hotel, which was a little tricky to do, we sat down and had a dinner of wraps and breads on a picnic table in front of the hotel, with some amazing views of the sunset on the mountain ranges:
Sunset in the Alps
The town is actually a tiny place that hosted an Olympic event back in 2006 when Turin hosted the Winter Olympic Games. In the morning, we hung around for a bit longer to take some more photos of the tiny town and the enormous mountain ranges that surround it:
Views from all over Sauze d'Oulx
Check out my Flickr gallery for a complete selection:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157645471970867/
Almost immediately after setting off, we got very close to the Italy-France border. Maybe it's just Italy, but as soon as we passed the border the scenery instantly became way more spectacular. There were ski runs turned golf courses set in the mountains, and, as we later learned, the area was to be host to a section of the Tour de France.
In fact, we were driving through the area just one day before the event happened. Consequently, those that weren't out pretending they were Alberto Contador were in their caravans waiting for the race. Seriously, everyone was either on a bike or in a caravan.
The snow soon passed and we were left with barren rock faces, which looked equally as spectacular. Due to a 'road closure', our GPS directed us out into the sticks, and then proceeded to get itself royally lost, to the point where we were "4 kilometres off course", with no road in sight. Weak effort TomTom, weak effort!
Some more ups and downs later we finally arrived in the flat in Grenoble, to discover that the 'free parking on the premises' that we had been promised was not to eventuate. The owner was away and had handed off responsibility to a friend, without telling said friend were the key was for the parking structure. Luckily we found a free parking space about a 5-10 minute walk from the apartment. It was still a pretty long haul making a couple of trips to the car.
The best photos from Day 2
Join me tomorrow for the first of two full days in Grenoble!
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