July 15 - We crossed the Col du Grand St. Bernard, the location of the hostel that bred the dogs used to rescue people in trouble in the pass. Napolean brought 10's of thousands of troops over the pass into Italy. This is the first of the two big mountain passes that the Tour de France will cross on July 21st. The 6,000 foot descent into Val d'Aosta was a lot of fun, but parts of the road were torn up and road crews were furiously repaving the road in preparation for the Tour coming through. I asked one of the road workers if they would be finished in time and he said it was "a necessity". Seems like they should have started earlier!
At the top, just across the Italian border, I had the best gnocchi I've ever had. Pasta and rice are staples when you are riding up mountains every day.
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