This was our last breakfast in Italy. Today we drove from Italy to Colmar France and are staying at the same campsite as before.

The trip took us north along Lake Maggiore towards Switzerland. It is only about 45kms to the border. The road was narrow in places and hugged the lake but the scenery was beautiful. There were many villages and towns scattered along the lake with some houses built on the small bit of land between the lake and road. There were little cut outs where they could park and get down to their houses.

We didn't have any issues crossing the Swiss border. There were many vineyards in valley before the Alps. We didn't go over the Alps this time but went between the Alps to the Gotthard Tunnel which takes you under the mountains. The towns along the route were built along the mountainside and you wonder how they get to their houses. I'm sure there are roads but they are not visible.

The Alps we saw today had very little snow on them until we came to the tunnel. There were many waterfalls along the way. The road above the tunnel could be seen winding up the mountain and there was snow at the top. The tunnel is 17kms long and the traffic is regulated by traffic lights allowing only one or two trucks through and a few cars at a time so it is spaced.

We stopped and had lunch and toilet stop in the car park of one of the service centre just past the tunnel. Unfortunately while we were eating a farmer decided to spread watered down manure on his field and the smell was really bad. This reminded me of growing up on the farm.

We were made good time to Colmar and were able to go back into the town once we booked into the campsite. This time we walked round the town using a tourist map. Trevor started off doing the directions but we were missing part of the route we were supposed to take. I ended up doing the directions. It was good being able to enjoy the town at our pace instead of the fast moving train we took the first time we were here. Paul and Trevor were able to get some great photos.

It was starting to get late and we wanted to have dinner but most of the cafes and restaurants were closing so we ended up back at the Brasserie Les Dominicains. This time we had a much better waiter and received the food we ordered. Paul finally got the hotpot and really enjoyed it.

The world cup was also on while we were there with Australia playing the Netherlands. The waiter kept us up to date with score. Unfortunately Australia lost and is out of the competition but they played well. However the Netherlands are OK as that is where my parents come from.

We finally got back to the campsite at about 9.30pm after having difficulty negotiating the road network round Colmar. We have another day in the car tomorrow travelling to Luxembourg. Need to get some sleep.

xxxxx