In the French Alps near Italy

We woke to a much clearer day as the mist had lifted & we could finally see the mountains that surround the perimeter of Briancon.
For a long time this town was a frontier post & overlooks the road to Col de Montgenevre ( 1850m ) an ancient Roman mountain pass which was made into a reliable road by Napoleon, the town's lofty ramparts & sheer walls are more akin to what you would see in northern Burgundy than its Alpine neighbours. Unfortunately there had been no progress with my " internal problem " during the night & it was starting to be a bit of a concern, we would see what today would bring.

Briancon's main claim to fame is at 1320m it is the highest town in Europe & boasts approximately 300 days of sunshine a year.After b/fast we headed up the very steep main street to reach the old village entering through the Porte de Pignerol adaunting gateway hewn from dark stone. The steep main street is known as the Grande Gargouille ( Great Gargoyle ) because of the drain that gushes down its middle while the brightly coloured buildings of earthy reds, pinks & ochre yellows give the town an almost Tuscan feel to it-remembering that the Italian border is only 20kms N-E.

We spend a good couple of hours exploring this most interesting town before heading back down to our B & B. Sara made up some baguette rolls for lunch & then we headed out over the border into Italy. On the way we were watched on both sides of the road by the huge granite edifices that are a little unnerving particularly when back home we have our little foothills in comparison. Sometimes we had the rock canterleaving above our head as we traversed this narrow mountain pass so I made sure to concentrate the whole time.

We were soon across the border into Italy where we stopped at Clavieres to have our lunch & even though it was drizzling rain it was pleasant sitting in the car opposite the ski run that in a couple of months would be subject to hordes of skiers. We drove onto Cessana before heading back to Briancon. Later we changed for dinner & had a meal in the old village ( vieille ville ) in an Algerian Restaurant where we had 2 traditional meals namely the Loup de Crevettes ( fish & prawns ) for Sara while I had the Agneaux Pruneaux ( lamb & prunes caserole) both served with polenta & both very flavoursome. We had a bottle of Cotes de Ventoux to help complete the meal.

I woke a much happier man as during the night " my problem " was finally over, the pills had worked so the rest of the night was very restful.

The morning was fresh & clear with sunshine bathing the whole skyline. We had another great b/fast chatting for a long time with our hostess as she & her husband had spent some time in Cairns back in 1984 & had really enjoyed their time there & hoped to return permanently at some stage in the future.

We left at 10.30am heading south to Gap & Sisteron before stopping for lunch at a nice little park at Village St Jean, from there we pushed & reached the outskirts of Aix-en-Provence @ Les Milles by 3.30pm. This village was so nice, a square surrounded by large plane trees that shaded the whole area making it very relaxing to sit back & enjoy a very welcome beer. Sara asked 2 of the local gentlemen sitting in the square if they knew the B & B but no luck, Sara then rang the lady who said that she would come & show us the way back. We are glad that she did as we wouldn't have found it otherwise.

The surroundings were lovely with nice rustic colours inside our bedroom & bathroom with the floor done in a rectangular terracotta coloured tile while outside there was a terrace with table & chairs where we caught up with some writing & reading before going out for dinner in the next town of Pont d L'Arc. During our time on the terrace we met up with a nice couple from Adelaide, Gary & Janice Chapman who had been on their tour for a month or more. We are sure that we will see them again at some stage in the future.Until next posting