We woke up refreshed around 07.30 on Tuesday morning and decided to drive to Lake Annecy to have breakfast. Jill had told us of a lovely village down the eastern side of the lake called Talloires so we headed to it and found a great spot near the golf course overlooking the lake (P4N#77299).

We then made our way along the motorways towards the Alps to go through the Frejus Tunnel. We had thought about going through the Mont Blanc tunnel but we needed a Crit’Air sticker to show that Dora is a low emission diesel van and we hadn’t had time to buy one before starting out. The Frejus Tunnel is about 13km long and you have to stay 100m away from the vehicle in front. If you don’t, blue lights at the side flash. All quite clever.

On the other side, we were now in Italy and we had decided that our night stop would be Modena (of Balsamic vinegar fame). With another short stop for lunch at a motorway service station, much grubbier than the ones in France, we made it to Modena by 18.30 hours. Our stop for the night (P4N#291572) was a car park with specific motorhome spaces a short 15 minute walk into the old town and was even free! However, most of the spaces were taken up with either local motorhomes having free winter storage or work vans. Luckily, there was one space left so we quickly nabbed it. The area was a bit grubby and uncared for and we couldn’t decide whether it was safe. It didn’t feel unsafe but we didn’t want to take a chance when we walked into town so we took all our valuables with us!

The old town was really pretty with cobbled streets and piazzas. There was even a statue of Pavarotti (born there in 1932). There were a couple of restaurants that Liz had earmarked to try but they were both fully booked. A bit of a shock given that this was a Tuesday in mid March but I suppose that although it’s not really the tourist season yet good restaurants will always be popular. Anyway, we did find somewhere to eat. Ristorante da Enzo got good reviews but didn’t look too inviting as we opened the door and climbed the stairs. However, looks can definitely be deceiving as the service was great and we had a nice meal with half a litre of house wine for less than €40. It did feel a bit like a sitcom with the elderly owner pushing around a soup trolley! We didn’t stay long as we were keen to get back to the van but we needn’t have worried. Dora was fine and we had a great night’s sleep.

We should make Brindisi on Wednesday evening although it will be a long 8 hour drive so to give us some leeway we booked the ferry over to Igoumenitsa for Thursday lunchtime.

Total miles driven today: 408

Total miles this trip: 981

Tolls: €132 (including Frejus Tunnel)