The anticipated trip was upon us: my mom’s arrival to the Land of Cheese! I was seriously counting down the days until her arrival. In addition to spending some quality time with my mother—which is invaluable as a new mom—we were also planning a trip to the French Riviera, a.k.a. the Côte d’Azur. Ooh-la-la! It was to be our first major road trip since we moved and we were psyched to be going with a built-in nanny.
My mom arrived safely in Switzerland on a Wednesday and we wasted no time—we were heading for France on Saturday. With the stay-wag packed (and I mean packed!) we pulled out of the garage. Brad printed out directions and handed me the four-page document … all seventy-eight steps. I wondered if I’d packed enough to get us to the fourth page.
The trip was estimated to take about five and a half hours. The directions took us into France, then Italy, and back into France. While in France, we followed signs for the Mont Blanc tunnel. I was super excited about seeing my friend Mont Blanc up close and personal, as I often see him on walks with Tycho in the vineyards. The road became less highway-esque and more two-lane-nail-biting-should-be-featured-
in-a-car-commercial as the car climbed to the tunnel. Winding through rocky cliffs that made us more than a little nervous, we caught glimpses of the massive mountain. As Mont Blanc is a glacier, it continually has a snow-covered precipice that stands out for miles. We arrived at the tollbooth, paid our euros, readied our ice-picks, and began our journey through the mountain.
Now, you would think that this massive tunnel would be different in some way—oh, I don’t know—extra cool and maybe even blue? But no, it was just a tunnel. At over seven miles long though, it’s a little nerve racking. Seriously, if you stop to think about it (best to wait until you get out of the tunnel to do this), you are driving through a glacier. Driving through Mont-Blanc-the-glacier—it’s a little disconcerting.
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