We slept in this morning – that meant until 8:15. We packed up most of our stuff before heading down to our last breakfast. It was a beautiful clear, sunny, blue-bird day; too bad we didn’t have days like this while we were skiing! After breakfast we took a walk in the town of Chamonix. It was nice to get some fresh air and see what was on offer before our long ride back to Rome. We made the obligatory stop at the pastisserie and everyone chose a pastry. The views of the surroinding mountains in every direction were majestic.
I’m certain that after reading the blog of our ride up from Rome six days ago, that all my readers are curious as to how the return trip went. So here goes:
12: 48 Depart Hotel Les Aiglons
12:50 We take the wrong turn at the roundabout and start heading for Geneva
12:54 Turn around; going in the correct direction now
13:20 Exit the tunnel; we are in Italy
14:22 We miss the A26 exit - Josh has a fit - we go 4km before we can turn around. Avery has to pee.
14:26 We have to exit the Autostrada in order to turn around. We pay the 12.50euro toll
14:33 Avery is yelling for another cookie
14:37 We get back on the Autostrada. Lola now estimates a 20:49 arrival time in Rome. We take the wrong turn and are going the wrong way again. We make an illegal U-turn to exit in the same place a second time. Josh has to explain why we've only travelled 200 meters and there is no toll to pay. Who knows what would have happenned if he wasn't fluent in Italian?
14:49 We are on the Autostrada, on the correct course!
14:56 Charlotte has to pee
15:01 Avery is intolerable; he won't listen; he keeps kicking my seat and hitting Olivia; I smack him and he stops
15:02 We stop for gas and windshield wiper fluid. Josh gets a coffee.
15:17 We are back on the road: 20:58 expected arrival
15:20 The kids put on a movie -- Flushed Away
15:30 I relax and take my shoes off
15:35 Josh realizes that Lola is sending us through Genoa instead of Bologna. He resets GPS. We have to exit Autostrada again to redirect. Pay euro 16.20
15:45 We're driving through Spinetta -- it's ugly and gray
15:50 We get back on the Autostrada; expected arrival now 21:10
16:05 Charlotte's fart starts to stink
16:22 Piacenza
16:49 The movie is over -- we've had an hour and 29 minutes of relative calm
16:50 I hand out the potato chips
16:59 I hand out the cereal bars
17:10 Avery is kicking my seat; he can't get comfortable
17:13 Modena. Olivia starts her homework.
17:15 Avery has to pee
17:25 Avery is kicking my seat; and annoying everyone
17:30 Avery pees at a rest-stop. We all get out to use the bathroom. There is the usual maze of the Autogrill. What's the idea behind putting a bar (people are having beers) off the highway?!?
17:44 We are back in the car; 21:06 estimated arrival in Rome. We start driving through tunnels again; we are in the Appenines (that mountain range I forgot the name of on the drive up)
17:53 Starting to lose the light; Avery falls asleep
18:00 Dusk
18:30 Firenze
19:08 We take the Arezzo exit; pay euro 22.90. Charlotte needs to pee. Olivia is hungry. We decided to take a pause for dinner. Not only to eat, but hopefully avoid traffic re-entering Rome. Avery is still sleeping but we drive into town and find a dinner spot.
20:22 We are back in the car after a good Italian meal
20:54 Josh farts
21:37 I fart but no one notices because my farts don't smell
21:47 Avery "I'm hungry"
21:58 Exit Autostrada; pay 11.50 euro toll. Our total in tolls for the return trip is 63.10 euros -- I guess there's a 6.70 euro penalty for all the times we had to get off?
22:20 We are HOME.
Overall, I would say we had a more pleasant drive back home with the exception of a few tantrums on the part of the driver early on. What do you think? However, I give kudos to Josh for driving the entire way in both directions. It's not easy driving on the Autostada and he did a great job.
The house was cold, everyone was tired. We all went to bed.
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