We pack up, leave the site at 09:55 and drive 3 miles to join the autostrada. Traffic is light and we make good progress for the first 40-odd miles until we enter long sections of road-works. We're still moving quickly but it gets much busier where the road is reduced to two narrower lanes. Just before mid-day we reach the toll station and pay the €12.90 fee, good value today as it saved nearly three hours. We enter Monza's suburbs still on dual carriagew...

Yesterday was a long day so we don't rush ourselves this morning. We leave the site at 11:00 and drive along the valley floor directly towards Mont Blanc which looks very different this morning with the sun behind it. Instead of glowing white like icing on a cake the ice glistens grey and blue, looking colder and harder. We drive through Passy and join the motorway which climbs gently at first before getting steeper, eventually snaking along through mid-a...

We wake early and have to put on some heating as it’s only 9C. Opening the curtains we are greeted with a surreal scene. The lake is blanketed in a layer of wispy mist steaming and rising in small columns. Moorhens and ducks paddle about in small groups amongst one another leaving v-shaped wakes. Taken in miniature, it looks like little sea-battles raging with flotillas and smoke. The toll-lady arrives and we pay the €7.50 for our stop. When Ali dumps so...

With only the Dutch biker on site in his tent we left the blinds half open last night, and this morning when we wake the leaves in the trees around us are glowing Autumnal in the morning sunshine. Over breakfast we re-check our route, as when we looked last night we thought we’d made a mistake. We set off at 10:10 with a long drive ahead. The first part of the journey is through thick forest which eventually gives way to lots of fields of white Charolais cat...

The courtyard is bathed in sunshine as we get up and the flowers in the huge planters stand out brightly against the stone buildings. For breakfast we try some of the honey we bought on Friday and it's lovely. As we are getting ready to leave Monsieur comes out of the house to water his patio- and rockery-plants. Ali has a little chat with him, pleased with how her French conversation is improving. At 10:30 we set off in sunshine and clouds with a temperature...