We were a bit slower getting going this morning. Andrea didn’t feel 100 percent, so only Keith made it downstairs for breakfast.

Breakfast.
Breakfast.

After breakfast, Keith walked about 20 minutes to the car rental office (near the duomo), while Andrea tackled the re-packing of the suitcases (which is already proving to be a challenge).

Our rental car is an Audi Q8, which it turns out is probably a far larger car than is ideal for navigating around the hectic (and sometimes very tight!) streets of Milan. We got the car packed and were on our way from the hotel at around 11:00 am. Even though our time in Milan was brief, we thoroughly loved the city.

Our first stop on the 400km trip to Geneva was the quaint little town of Ivrea, in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Ivrea was founded by the Romans and briefly served as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy in the 11th century.

After a tense battle with a local parking machine, we left the car and had lovely walk around Ivrea, before stopping for lunch at a local pizzeria in the Piazza di Città (the main square).

Palazzo di Città di Ivrea (Ivrea Town Hall).
Palazzo di Città di Ivrea (Ivrea Town Hall).
Andrea, in Via Arduino in Ivrea.
Andrea, in Via Arduino in Ivrea.
Keith, in Via delle Torri in Ivrea.
Keith, in Via delle Torri in Ivrea.
Lunch.
Lunch.
Lunch.
Lunch.

In 1908, Camillo Olivetti founded the Olivetti company in Ivrea, and there is no shortage of Olivetti typewriters on display in many of the local shops.

An iconic Olivetti M20 typewriter (one of 87,000 produced between 1920 and 1931) in a local shop window.
An iconic Olivetti M20 typewriter (one of 87,000 produced between 1920 and 1931) in a local shop window.

We set off from Ivrea just before 3:30 pm, thinking we’d shortly be in Geneva. However, we didn’t count on maintenance in the Mont Blanc tunnel, which resulted in the two-way traffic through the tunnel sharing just one side of the tunnel. We sat for nearly two hours in the queue to enter the tunnel, before being relieved of €56 on our credit card and allowed to finally enter. On the plus side, we got to look at a lot of beautiful scenery in the Alps while we crawled our way along in queue.

The jagged peak of Aiguille Noire de Peuterey, as seen from the road on the the Italian side, near Courmayeur.
The jagged peak of Aiguille Noire de Peuterey, as seen from the road on the the Italian side, near Courmayeur.

When it opened in 1965, the Mont Blanc Tunnel was the longest road tunnel in the world, stretching about 11.6km straight through the Alps beneath Mont Blanc (the highest mountain in Western Europe). At its deepest point, the tunnel is 2.5km below the surface, making it one of the world’s deepest road tunnels. We entered the tunnel around 6:10 pm and about 12 minutes later, we were in Chamonix, France.

We crossed into Switzerland at Gaillard, and from there we had a short drive to Geneva. We arrived at the hotel at around 7:30 pm, somewhat later than expected.

We checked into the Roger Moore suite at the beautiful Beau-Rivage Hotel, at Quai du Mont-Blanc on Lac Leman.

Our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.
Our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.
Our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.
Our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.
Our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.
Our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.
Our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.
Our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.
Our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.
Our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.
Our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.
Our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.
The jacuzzi on the terrace of our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.
The jacuzzi on the terrace of our room at the Beau-Rivage Hotel.

We settled into the room and ordered a light meal from room service for dinner.

Dinner.
Dinner.
Dinner.
Dinner.
Dinner.
Dinner.
After dinner treat.
After dinner treat.

After a big day of driving, we’re looking forward to a restful sleep tonight, so we can hit the ground running in the morning. Our plan for tomorrow is to drive back into France to spend the day in the lake town of Annecy.