Chain Of Fools

Until my friend, Hans, asked about the weather via email, I had completely forgotten to tell you about the day we left Italy for France.

You may recall that our B&B, Bella Baita, was situated on top of a mountain at about 3,000 feet. When we left on Sunday, it snowed like crazy in the upper elevations. After going down a ways, we soon realized that our front wheel drive Peugeot 807 Mini Van could not handle the switchbacks and would never make it down the mountain without sliding off the road.

I called the innkeeper, Fabrizio, who while picking up guests and running errands wouldn't be able to get to us for nearly two hours. When he finally reached us in his little Fiat Panda 4 x 4, he took me down to buy tire chains (at 120 Euros, quite expensive).

It took a considerable amount of time for Steve and I to attach them on the front wheels while fumbling around in the cold. Finally secured, Steve guided us down the mountain safely. We then had a horrendous drive to France. While crossing the border through the Frejus Tunnel, Steve was clocked via camera by the French authorities going 79 km/h in a 70 zone. They are very strict as a tragic fire occurred in the tunnel about 6 months ago. They slapped us for a 45 Euro fine.

While I am quite happy with the Peugeot 807, I would highly recommend that anyone driving in Europe in February rent a 4 wheel drive vehicle.

Later!

Keith