Today we leave Grenoble and head over to Italy. Our first stop is Asti in the Piedmont region of Italy. Just to be different, we've programmed the GPS to take us through the Alps, avoiding major highways and tolls. Our route will take us from Genoble to Briancon, before crossing into Italy and on to Asti, taking us past Alp d'Huez, and the Col du Galibier.

Looking at the map, it appears we will be following the valley floor most of the way. Wrong. Soon after leaving Grenoble we began to climb up and out of the valley. It wasn't long before we were passing through 1000m, and the road was still climbing. It looked like we had made a mistake by taking a regional road instead of the Autostrada. An hour after leaving Grenoble and we were still crawling our way through various villages. But then as we cleared the valley floor the most magnificent vista opened up before us - towering snow clad peaks surrounded us as we climbed higher out of the valley. Soon the entire mountain range was bathed in brilliant sunshine, bringing every crag and ridge line into stark relief. The temperature plummeted to -8C as the altitude passed the 2000m mark. Fresh snow bordered the road as we negotiated switchbacks and tunnels. It really was a most magnificent drive.

After a couple of hours we reached Briancon , a large ski resort/town. By now we were desperate for a coffee and something to eat - just happened to pass a Maccas in Briancon. I know - fancy coming all this way just to go to a Macdonalds, but they do have the best coffee in France.

Soon after leaving Briancon we crossed over into Italy and began our descent down the other side of the Alps. Tunnels were the order of the day here. Long winding tunnels ( some of them 2-3km long). Then it was along the Autosratda - and associated tolls- down to broad flat valleys and on to Asti: all the while the snow capped peaks of our Alp crossing ever present in the rear vision mirror.

Despite taking three times longer, the drive was one of the most spectacular we had ever experienced in all our trips. One which will forever be in our memories.