Day 12
The Solvenia part of our holiday is over and we have to
leave. We all rise early, and by the
time I’ve got up and packed everything from my room Matt and Clare have already
left. Matt is taking Clare to Venice
where she has some paddling booked with a company, before she flies home from Trieste
later in the evening. Rob and I pack the
final things in the car, leave a note and some wine for the couple who look
after the house and have sorted a few things for us while we are here, and then
we head off too. We’d had breakfast on
the balcony, even though it was a cool morning.
The view this morning was very peaceful, there was a fog/cloud hanging
in the valley, tracking along the river, and this meant the view changed every
few minutes.
Once on our way we had around 6 hours of driving ahead. That should get us to Briancon around 2-2.30
to paddle with the others. They left
their overnight stop around 9.00 in the morning and were due to get to Briancon
around 12.00 – 12.30.
We hit some unfortunate road works in Italy which sets us
back by an hour and then with a couple of sat nav errors (the sat nav wasn’t
updated for some new road layouts), we are looking tight on time to get there
in time to paddle. We have a very quick stop
for lunch, but another set of road works and a short hold up at a payage, and
we are cutting it really fine! As we
come over Col de Montgenevre we have to make a decision. We aren’t sure we can do the run in less than
an hour and don’t want to put out self at risk of an incident by rushing. We call ahead to Sam who had said she would
be available for a shuttle if we made it to paddle, to let her know we were
going straight to the house. We pull on
the drive and it feels like we are home.
Not a day seems to have passed since I was last here and the house is so
familiar we unpack and get to making a drink straight away.
The other return from their paddle then, and it’s like
family all getting back to the house; Keith, Ali Bill, Sam, Gregg, Trevor and
Jamie. It’s great to see Keith again,
and I go straight to him for a smooch as soon as he’s got his car on the
drive. Once everyone sorts their paddle
kit, Ali and Bill are sorting food for the evening, Jamie and Gregg go for a
ride on the bikes and Trevor and Matt cut the grass while it’s cooking. Everyone else mills around the house
unpacking, taking turns in the showers and chatting inside and out. It’s so good to catch up with everyone as we
sit around the tables outside for dinner.
Brian even joins us for dinner (we have had a life size cardboard cut
out of Brian made as he was not able to come with us, but it doesn’t feel right
not to have him here!) It’s not a late
night tonight, everyone is exhausted from their travels, and soon people are
drifting off to bed. Keith goes to bed
early too, and I stay up for a little and do pilates on the lawn with Sam. We are the last two up and go to bed straight
after.
The Alps 2018 story begins!!!
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