8.00 AM. And still raining! What a night it has been with little sleep. Gale force winds, rain lashing down, passing trucks shaking the ground. We kept looking outside to see if the tent would stand up to it. It did – and very well. No more worries as to its future performance. We are camped in the corner of a field. What we didn’t see in the night were the power cables overhead! We’ll have a cup of tea, a wash and then be on our way the road with approximately four hundred miles to travel today. On the road at 9.30.
11.00 AM. We have now covered three hundred miles since St. Malo in 8½ hours. Nothing special to report except that being overtaken by these massive trucks is a nerve-wracking experience, particularly when you think that for us, we are driving on the wrong side of the road.
The road runs as straight as an arrow for miles and miles, enabling us to make good speed. We are now beginning to talk in long distance terms, eg. after Lyon it is only 71 miles to Chambery.
1.20 PM. We are now passing through Alsace and having lunch en route. Rolls, butter, bananas – and beer! Beautiful scenery in this small mountain range – the Madeleines. We have actually seen the sun. We are driving through a town called Roanne, soon we shall be in Lyon. There seems to be an abundance of pretty girls about. I wonder if they breed them here and then send them out to other parts of France!
The mountains we see now are the Lyonnaise, maximum altitude 770 meters (2400'). From here we have views of the Massif Central. The views are just gorgeous. More rain.
We reach Lyon at about 3.00 pm. The outskirts are typical of any big city but the centre is quite attractive, being situated at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers. We had no trouble driving through. Just outside Lyon we had our first glimpses of the Alps in the far distance. As we drew nearer we could see the gleaming snow on the peaks. Driving through the foothills was quite an experience. Vast gorges and towering rocks and hills. However, the road remained excellent. Finally, the rain petered out and we reached Chambery at dusk.
After a discussion as to what we should do, we decided to carry on for a few miles further to the town of St. Jean de Maurienne in the very heart of the Alps. It was dark by now but with the exceptional road we arrived at 7.00 pm. and booked into a small hotel. A first class dinner was only spoiled by the entrance of some terrible English people!
Hunger well satisfied, we went out to see what the town had to offer. Nothing! Very disappointed. The streets were empty – not a soul in sight. Had a glass of beer in a bar then came back to the hotel. So ends the second day – in a clean bed! Goodnight.
Speedo reading: 14124. 333 mls. (580)