Part Way Through Day 3, Tuesday, San Giulliano Milanese - Bonneville
This diary begins not at the start of the trip but halfway through, at the point where I’ve reloaded and about to start on the journey home.
I left Luton on Sunday and it was almost a repeat of last week’s job, apart from having two drops near Paris yesterday instead of the one last week. This morning I did a delivery at St. Quentin Fallavier, near Lyon, and arrived in San Giulliano Milanese on the southeast corner of Milan at 15:00. After delivering here I loaded 21 cabinets weighing 600 Kgs each. These are unpacked and on wheels so it took over an hour to protect and secure them in the trailer, it was warm work as the thermometer was flirting with 40ºC. Since Sunday I’ve covered 1309 kilometres and now at 16:30 it’s time to turn round and wind them back in. The Hours Guard shows I have 4 hours and 4 minutes driving time left today and I aim to use that to get back into France before calling it a day. I could go through Switzerland but to do that requires an invoice for the load, so a transit t-form can be raised, but I don’t have one so that option is ruled out.
For once the Tangenzialie round Milan is running freely and before long I’m on the A4 towards Turin, after collecting a ticket from the machine at the peage. There are a lot of road works on this road at the moment with it constantly going from three lanes to two and back again but traffic is light and progress is good. At the A4/A5 junction I take the A5 towards Aosta and Monte Bianco, it’s still warm and sunny although ahead the sky is the colour of slate and rain looks imminent.
On the A4 between Milan and Turin
In need of a caffeine injection I pull into a small services for coffee. I love Italian snack bars with their smell of fresh coffee and the hustle and bustle of organised chaos. The procedure is first to visit the cash desk, order and pay, then take the receipt to the bar counter. This is no time to be British and queue quietly, it’s every man for themselves, hesitate and you will wait forever to be served. I’ve just started on my battle to reach the counter when the door opens and a gorgeous, dark haired, leggy woman, wearing the shortest of skirts enters. Her arrival distracts several of the patrons and taking advantage of their lapse in concentration I’m able to nip in and stake a place at the counter and get my coffee. Gorgeous women are one thing but nothing distracts me from a double espresso.
Coffee time
With the caffeine level back above the safety mark it’s time to get back on the road. As I’m climbing back into the cab there is an enormous rumble of thunder and within a few kilometres the rain is hammering down. Cars are pulling over and parking on the hard shoulder it’s so heavy and within minutes the temperature drops from 35 to 22 degrees. A few kilometres more and the rain stops as I start the climb through the Aosta Valley towards Mont Blanc. Just after the peage at Aosta, €40.10 from Milan, is the control point for the tunnel where I’m given a ticket showing the EURO classification of the truck then it’s onto the final leg of the climb. This isn’t as good as it used to be as the old road has been by-passed and the ascent is through a series of long tunnels, giving no chance to enjoy the scenery. At one point you exit a 3 km tunnel straight onto a 500 metre viaduct, which gives a feeling of hanging in the air, before plunging straight into another 3 km tunnel. The rain is back with a vengeance as I reach the top and pass through the heat detector before paying the €206.30 toll to enter the tunnel.
The Aosta Valley on the way up to the Mont Blanc Tunnel
Travelling from the Italian side to the French the road goes slightly downhill during the 11 km length, the French entrance is at 1274 metres while the Italian entrance is at 1370 metres. Passing through there is nearly 2,500 metres of solid rock above your head. Part way through I cross the border into France, the summit of Mont Blanc lies in France with Italian territory ending 200 metres below the peak. Exiting into France I find it’s raining this side of the mountain as well. The first part of the descent is a 7% slope through a series of hairpins before it flattens out a little before another 7% section, twisting and turning while it hugs the rock face with a sheer drop on the right. This section used to be two way years ago but is only for traffic descending now, the up road is over to the right climbing across the valley on it’s high stilts. With the rain the road surface is very slippery and use of the engine brake is kept to a minimum because with braking force only on one axle it would be easy to lose control. I take it steady despite the French truck hard behind me urging me to go faster, he eventually looses patience and comes hurtling past, still in the no overtaking section, narrowly missing my cab as he does and gesticulating wildly. I respond with the traditional two fingered sign made popular at the Battle of Agincourt.
At the bottom I pass through the peage, €10.60, and join the Autoroute Blanche - The White Motorway, I’m hoping to make the services at Bonneville in the driving time I have left so I can get a shower. It’s a close call but I make it with just 2 minutes driving time left at 20:50.
After making use of the facilities I make a ham salad for supper then watch some TV before turning in and reading for a while before going to sleep.
9 hours 58 minutes driving and 768 kilometres covered.
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