Tuesday, July 17 - Still here...

I know it's been a while, but a lots been happening. When you pay an extra 100-300 euros a night, an Internet connection is no longer free and they become a little less frequent....

And, Trish is here. So, we've been busy together.

Since I last posted, I climbed L'Alpe-d'Huez twice. I must say, it's easier than the Madeleine was. A lot easier. And only half the distance. Steep, but not too bad.

I did it the first day in 1 hour, 19 minutes. That included a 1 minute stop. Yeah, that first section is a little steep.

After I got used to it, I did it the second day in 1 hour, 12 minutes, 45 seconds. I was happy with that.

A view from various points along the road.

An outline of the route to the top of the mountain. There are 21 switchbacks on the way to the top. They're all named after famous tour riders. The top switcback, number 1 is named after Lance Armstrong.
This was the view from my hotel room. By the way, that was fresh snow that fell while I was there...often. It got a little cold at night and during the day.

I took a drive and took this picture at the top of the Col du Lauteret.
I left the Alps to pick up Trish at the airport in Nice. I stayed in Digne-les-Bains for 1 night. Not much going on. It was a long beautiful drive to get here, but not much time for pictures. I got to the hotel and packed my bike. The next morning I drove about 3.5 hours to go 100 miles - the roads and/or traffic suck here!


I did drive briefly throught the Gorges du Verdon on the way.

And, that is a Smart car. Just big enough to hold you and a fart!
More later...