One of the things that has been on our bucket list for many years is the chance to sit on the side of the road in the French countryside and watch the Tour de France go by. Even though it involves backtracking about 700km we are determined to do it.

After leaving the family in Pisa we rode through the western side of Tuscany until we hit the coast. We then headed around the coast passed La Spezia to Rapallo for 2 nights. This is our second trip to Rapallo, a pretty seaside town with a multitude of hotels, bars and restaurants to choose from - perfect for a couple of nights rest. Just around the corner from our hotel was the Porta delle Saline, the only surviving gate from the walled city dating back to 1629 which separates the boardwalk from the old city where we were staying. We spent our time strolling along the waterfront keeping in the shade wherever possible. Cold beers were consumed while sitting beside the locals on park benches. We slept through lunchtime in our air-conditioned hotel room and feasted on seafood and pizza for dinners. Kerrie found a pretty Murano glass-bead necklace that she added to the parcel that was posted back to Felixstowe - no need for Greg's leather pants any more or jacket liners!

Back on the bike on Friday saw us follow the coast line - but up on the top of the cliffs - until we got to Genoa. This city is enormous so we skirted around the edge on the water-side catching a glimpse of the Costa Concordia wreck that is tied up to the wharf there. We then got on the Autostrada to enable quicker travel as the temperatures started to climb. I know we have mentioned the great roads, tunnels and bridges to be found in Italy in previous blogs. Today we were very appreciative of the tunnels that we passed through as they gave us respite from the heat - it almost seemed that they were built with summer bikers in mind! Our destination was Cuneo, only 150km from Rapallo and we arrived at the hotel just after one and checked in to our air-conditioned room close to the town square.

We had no expectations of Cuneo as it was picked as a halfway point to Grenoble (our next stop) and the hotel was air-conditioned. The town has a population of 55 000 and was the centre of the Italian Resistance during World War Two. The town squares are bordered by arched walkways in front of the shops. The town has wide streets in the new town and the usual, more narrow alleys in the older area. The new town is laid out in a planned manner with all streets following a vertical or horizontal format. There are 6 churches in the town centre. We spent our time resting and wandering under the arched walkways in the shade. Both afternoons threatened rain with electrical storms but only a few sprinkles eventuated.

The route to Grenoble was to take us through the countryside across a couple of mountain passes. The ride was beautiful, up over the mountains following SS21 to Col de Larche. I even had to get off the bike at one of the switchbacks as it was a bit tricky for us to navigate fully loaded. After the first 80km of the ride we came to a build up of stopped traffic only to discover that there had been landslides over night and the road down the mountain was cut in 4 places. We could either wait 2 to 4 hours for the road to be cleared (maybe) or backtrack. As it was getting hotter we decided to cut our losses, ride back down the mountain to Cuneo and start again! What was supposed to be a leisurely ride through the countryside had turned in to a quicker ride on the Autostrada. On the way, we had to cross in to France via the Traforo del Frejus Tunnel. This tunnel made The Monte Blanc Tunnel look small as it is 12 686 m long compared to the 11 000m Mont Blanc! We arrived in Grenoble about 6pm instead of the 2pm that we had planned.

Grenoble is at the foot of a rugged mountain range and we would spend 3 nights here before heading 60km south to watch the Tour de France ride through Corps on Thursday. We also hope to get an oil change for the bike here.

We used the local tram system for transport; cheap and gets you all over the city - a bit like the London Underground but not underground! We travelled 266m up the mountain on the Grenoble-Bastille cable car. This cable car was the world's first urban cable car, inaugurated in 1934. The egg shaped bubbles used today were introduced in 1974 and ascend the mountain in groups of 5 giving panoramic views of the city and surrounding mountains. At the top you can explore the Bastille. We thought it might be cooler up the top but it wasn't so we descended and had dinner in a shady Italian restaurant by the fast-flowing L'Isere River that the city is built along. The bike has been left at the Triumph dealer for an oil change and filter, we will pick it up in the morning.