Our little car chugged through the mist. In the summer, this mountain pass overflows with cyclists–the legendary route up the Col de la Madeleine is amongst the steepest and most challenging in the Tour de France. The road was empty though in the October chill and as we ascended a thick fog blanketed us. We could barely see ten metres ahead.
But it’s only miserable weather when you think of it as such. All it takes is a quick shift in perspective, and suddenly it’s the perfect day for a picnic in the clouds.
I once read that before blood transfusions, EPO and all that nonsense, the old-school way of cheating in cycling competitions was to clamp a cork between your teeth and attach it by wire to a vehicle in front. Our Citroen could certainly have done with a bit of a yank itself as it struggled in second gear up the final stretch of the climb.
With one last stab of the accelerator we reached the summit, parked, and ventured on foot into the cloud.
The moisture froze on our hair and eyelashes and the bitter wind tore through our layers. But when you’re plonked on a boulder with man’s best invention–the humble sandwich–clamped between your frozen fingers, all that sort of adds to the experience.
And it didn’t much matter that, this time, we’d forgotten dessert. Because after our picnic in the clouds came the sweet experience of trying to relocate the car…
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