Le Grand Tour d' Europe 2024 (DAY 40) (4K)

Le Grand Tour d' Europe 2024 (DAY 40) - Martigny - Martigny (A circular route around Mont Blanc) Sped up video recorded on a windscreen mounted GoPro. The trip was a 52 day driving tour of northern Europe taking in 17 Countries. Almost the entire route avoiding motorways. Day 40 - How my brain works... Why spend €56 to drive through the famous Mont Blanc Tunnel and get to see nothing but the inside of a tunnel?... Why not spend the day driving an incredible route right around Mont Blanc? This is a 3 country type of day with multiple high mountain passes along the route. Setting off after breakfast from Martigny we headed south, with Mont Blanc over to our right, through stunning valleys, winding our way towards the 'Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard'. Passing through the 'Grand-Saint-Bernard Tunnel' we cross the border into our 14th country of the trip so far, Italy. As the tunnel opens up you are welcomed into the fantastic scenery of northern Italy. Heading down the valley, we reach our southernmost point of this entire trip, the lovely city of Aosta. Turning west, with Mont Blanc now directly in front of us we drive a way along the Aosta valley, through some beautiful Italian towns before turning off the route that would have taken us to the Italian entrance to the Mont Blanc Tunnel and onto the start of a seriously incredible climb up to La Thuile. Beyond La Thuile the climb becomes even more spectacular as the 'Colle del Piccolo San Bernado' The Italian name of the 'Little St. Bernard Pass', although there is nothing 'little' about this incredible pass, with it's highest point being a modest 2188 metres above sea level. A lunch stop at the summit (on the Italian side), before setting off again. Within just a few metres of our lunchtime stop we crossed the border into country number 15 of this trip, France. The route down the 'Col du Petit Saint-Bernard' (French name of the 'Little St. Bernard Pass'), was even more breath taking than the climb up. Passing through, and near, many famous ski resorts, we made our way to the valley floor before immediately heading up again over the 'Cormet de Roselend' (1968m). I was fascinated by the people we passed 'roller skiing' up some of these seriously steep roads. Several valleys and lower level passes, passing more ski resorts we eventually reached the World famous resort town, right in the shadow of Mont Blanc, of Chamonix. We stopped here for a wonderful evening fondue sat at an open air restaurant with a view of the summit of Mont Blanc as we ate. Setting off late into the evening we headed north east, back into Switzerland, over some more steep and windy routes before finally descending a wonderful, sweeping, bendy road down back into Martigny and back to our hotel. This had been a fantastic, stunning days drive and SO much more scenic than heading through the Mont Blanc Tunnel. Tomorrow we stay at a lower level but equally as spectacular, heading along the coast of Lake Geneva.