10th July. Derval, Brittany

I arrived at Fred and Elaines early morning, and Fred drove over to my cabin during the day.
On the return journey after getting some grass strimmed, I had severe shooting pains in my foot.
I think it was the combination of all the driving and the strimming that stressed my injury.     The pain is worse than when I 1st injured it, bollocks.
Elaine gave me some Reiki and hopefully this will be a speeding up of getting back to walking.
There won't be any more postings until I'm backpacking again !!!

9th July. nr Angers

After finding the local Nissan dealer shut for holidays I decided to drive by autoroute to Bourges-en-Bresse for a Nissan dealer convenient for the Haute Jura, my intended destination.
I was told that the brake pads would have to come from England. I thought I wouldn't find the pads easily, that's why I tried Nissan dealers. I haven't seen more than 5 or 6 Micra's in France.
Well, I didn't want to wait 4 days with the car as it was.
Plan B then, drive across France to Brittany, carry out some maintenance on my cabin and visit friends, before returning to Dorset.
24hours previously I was planning to go back to Switzerland ! With this happening  it feels like my road trip is almost over. C'est la vie.
By staying on autoroutes I wouldn't have to use the brakes too much. I was a bit stunned by the turn of events. Expect the unexpected is the way of all adventures.

7th July. Ailfroide

Another walk from the valley to Claphouse ! I followed yesterdays route but crossed the river and steeply ascended through the woods to arrive at the top of the waterfall, that's in a photo in yesterdsay's blog. I was hassled by fly's, which pissed me off, until I left the tree's near the top.
I was passed by a fat old bloke, who when I thought about it, was no fatter or older than me ! A few oldies were descending, so I wasn't the 1st by any means today.
Claphouse was just the change into a bare mountain valley with huge scree slopes either side. One group of mountaineer's carried on, but from here most people returned.
The fly's must've had a good feed as they were not a problem going down.
  I saw a Marmot really close to the path feeding and totally oblivious to me trying to get a photo. It was obviously used to people as they are usually so cautious.

8th July. nr. Chamonix

Reluctantly I decided that I didn't want to push it too much with my foot, so I packed and left the best campsite and setting so far.
The drive from Briancon to the Col du Lauteret had some great views of the Ecrins,
The road up to the Col du Galibier was scary at times in a rhd. car with very steep drops from the unprotected road edge. When another vehicle was coming the other way I was very close to the edge of the road. The road surface was lumpy and in poor condition.
The other side of the col the road was resurfaced, a sure sign that's the way Le Tour de France will come !
I followed the route de cols through the Parc de la Vanoise over the spectacularCol de L'Iseran dropping down to Val-d-Isere.
Soon after I could hear my front brakes, indicating that the disc pads need replacing. From here I stayed on main roads and used the gearbox for braking assistance as much as I could.
5pm. is the time I try to find a bar/cafe to see the finish of each days Tour de France. My version of a soap opera ?
I was gobsmacked  by my 1st glimpse of the Mont Blanc massive,it certainly is massive.
I stopped at the most expensive campsite so far, but I'm close to Chamonix and Switzerland.

6th July. Ailefroide

An early walk up the valley before the heat of the day, into the heart of the Ecrins Massif. Barre des Ecrins to the north of the valley is 13700'
I had the luck to see a pair of young black woodpeckers less than 30' away, and they flitted from tree to tree in front of me for a good while. I assumed they were young birds as normally they are so elusive.
As I gained height and vegetation became scarcer the going became rougher. I could see the Sele Refuge atop a massive rockwall blocking the way ahead.
I couldn't see the route up to the refuge, and the route became boulder strewn. At the base off the rockwall, I could see the path going across the lower part of the cliff, so followed it until a warning that it was cables to hold onto. I'm a walker not a climber, so It was at this point I returned the way I'd come.
Just as I turned around I met the 1st other walkers of the day. From here on down the valley I met plenty of people. Some Alpinist's, complete with ropes, ice-axes and crampons.
I was back at the tent, very hot 7hours after setting out, having walked over 13miles and getting up to 7400'

5th July. Ailefroide

As I'd been told that the Glacier,s Blanc and Noir, in the Parc National des Ecrins, were in some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in west Europe, I drove up to have a look.
What a drive to Ailefroide up a narrow valley from les Vigneaux. It was much higher than Briancon, with spectacular mountains all around and dashing milky rivers of glacier melt water.
The campsite was close to the village at the junctiom of another valley with lots of trees. A quick look around convinced me to return to Briancon and come back here to camp.
When I had a look for a pitch, I found the site was really spread out. I found a spot amongst some tall larch trees.
My french neighbour told me they'd come here to get away from heat further south. It was 34 here !

4th July. Briancon

A long day driving !
I travelled from alongside the Tarn into the Cevennes, then the western edge of the Ardeche region. Too hot and early in the day to stop. I crossed the Rhone valley to the Vercours, very beautiful mountains, but still too hot.
I pushed on to Briancon. Enough driving for one day. I booked into a large campsite and had a swim before making camp.