Team 96 Italian Job 2017

We had intended a pleasant 320 mile drive through the Alps to Mulhouse for a visit to the fabulous Schlumpf Motor Museum – as usual, things didn’t quite go to plan !! We left Turin at 8.15 and spent almost an hour travelling 10 miles to get out of the City. Our journey to the foothills of the Alps, and Domodossola, went well, and then we faced the challenging Simplon Pass, taking us to over 6,000 feet. The weather was warm, and the sun was shining, and our engine again began to overheat with the long and difficult climb over the Alps, and we had to take a lengthy rest for the XJS to recuperate. The air was a bit thin, but the views were stunning, and we were soon facing the downhill stretch where the only components that overheat are the brakes. When we arrived in Brig, both us and the SatNav were totally confused, and I was worried that David had succumbed to rigor mortis – his hands were frozen rigid on the steering wheel and we circumnavigated a roundabout 5 times looking for the right way to go before he finally decided to take the wrong turning. We stopped a local to ask for directions to Andermatt, and were told to drive 40km to Furka (which we couldn’t even find on the map), and then take the car on a train that would take us under the Alps – David was convinced he was having us on, though we did as we were told and had a fabulous drive through some wonderful Alpine Villages and stunning scenery. The narrow guage railway takes only cars and vans through a small 15km tunnel and the noise in an open top car on an open sided car transporter was deafening. We lunched on pumpkin soup in the tiny station buffet when we left the train, and the whole experience was fantastic. We arrived in Colmar at 6pm, too late for the Motor Museum, though our fantastic drive for most of the day through amazing alpine scenery was worth it. We enjoyed an evening meal in the beautiful Old Town Area in Colmar (very “Alsace” in architectural character). The Schlumpf Museum will be visited early on Friday, then onwards to Rheims.