The reason for coming here was for Andy to drive the Col de Turini stage of the Monte Carlo Rally. This takes place in January, on icy roads, but I'm glad to report there was no ice on the road today.

We left Nice this morning in a light drizzle and headed north into the Alpes Maritimes. These mountains are huge, with dramatic soaring crags and gorges plunging hundreds of feet at one side of the narrow road. The rain had caused small rockfalls, which we easily avoided as it was impossible for us to drive at more than about 30mph.

As we climbed, we met the clouds, and by the time we reached our hotel at the halfway point of the Col de Turini pass we were in the clouds and unable to see much at all. After checking in to a lovely room with its own terrace - shame about the rain - we drove off to look for some photo opportunities.

We drove up to Camp Argent, where we ran out of road - literally - there's still a lot of snow there, although no sign of skiers. The road to the summit will not be open until the snow has melted, the snowploughs obviously only go this far!

We were shocked by the amount of litter. Abandoned umbrellas, barbeques, paper, plastic, empty bottles strewn along the narrow verges. I asked the hotel owner why it was so bad, and she explained that there was a rally last week, and spectators no longer take their rubbish with them. This year's unusually high snowfall has compounded the problem as fresh snowfalls have covered the litter left by the Monte Carlo Rally spectators in January, and now that it's melting the whole lot is visible.

We're having a rethink about the rest of our trip as the weather forecasts for the whole of central Europe are for heavy rain and thunderstorms for the next 8 days. Also, our budget is running out, as hotels and meals here are much more expensive than our research showed. Decision time tomorrow!