"DON'T PANIC!!!!!!!"

So if you are yelling "Don't panic!" at someone who is panicking, it may not help a panicked situation. Two hours into our trip towards home and the petrol light flashes, beeps, and I start to panic. Just a little. Okay, a lot. Winding roads thru the Alps, single lane 11km long tunnels, cars sitting on the speed limit of 130km/hr; not the ideal situation to break down in. Set the GPS for next petrol station, (that I miss the turn off for), aim for the next one, oh my goodness, there goes the exit, (Louis help me out here)! It has been over 20km, how much time do I have!!! Do an illegal turn and find ourselves in the single street town of Oulx. Wait at a railway crossing for 5 minutes (with the engine off, do not want to have to push car down the street), then find a little gas station. Could of guessed, "Gone to lunch, back in 2 hours!" Try for the other end of the street to find another gas station, unattended, but after a few tries we manage to work out the self pay/pump system.





As we had just crossed the border we enter a little pizzeria to be surprised inside by a bustle of families having lunch. Two wood fired pizzas cooked in front of us and 1 litre of wine later, we walk the street, take in the mountain views and decide we have procrastinated the end of our holiday long enough.




Apparently it is the role of the driver to keep their eye on the petrol gauge. Moral of the story; don't yell "Don't panic" at someone who is panicking; and maybe I let the petrol gauge get low on purpose so we could have a lovely lunch and views to finish our holiday, (maybe)??

Our one week's road trip between Italy, Switzerland and France, ended up costing us over 200€ in toll charges. We did not think that it would be this much, and next time we would probably avoid more tolls to see some little towns. It was a lot of time in the car for the children, but with snacks, stories, singing, naps and of course the DVD player, they were both very well behaved. Daughter managed to entertain herself by slowly tearing her sunshade each day and was actually wearing it as we pulled into home. Son managed to keep us entertained by waking (partly) for quick snacks, then back to sleep again. (See attached video.)










Thanks soul mate for our amazing memories and opportunities. I change my mind... I think we would be great on the Amazing Race!

Oh by the way, remember when we packed up to leave a week ago, I said that I felt like I had forgotten something. I remembered. The salmon cakes in the oven from the night before we left. "DON'T PANIC!" the oven was off, but the kitchen was pretty smelly!