Day 5 - Au revoir France - Benvenuto Italy

Day five was a day of traveling for the Brown Women’s Soccer Team! We began the day nice and early with breakfast at our hotel in Grenoble. Everyone was packed and ready to go at 9am for our bus ride to the French Alps. We traveled for about 3 hours – with much less traffic then yesterday! The scenery was absolutely beautiful; we drove out of Grenoble and through the winding roads of the French Alps until we got to Saint-Clement, France. The mountains were all around us, the houses and small towns were nestled between trees; it was really a special experience.

We arrived in Saint Clement just as the rain began to fall and time for white water rafting! It was an interesting site as we each were given our wet suits, rain gear, life jackets and helmets. Our group was broken into 4 boats – 3 were the team and the fastest boat (of course) was the staff. The rain really picked up as we were given our instructions for rowing – left, right, back, forward, stop and HOLD ON!

For many this was the first time being on a white water rafting trip and for almost everyone it was the first time in the French Alps. We paddled through the water, the rapids and the rain for 1.5 hours. Laughter and screams could be heard throughout the mountains as this zany group made their way through the twists and turns. There was even a chance for a little competition when the boats were close enough to harass one another and get each other completely soaked with splashes of the paddle.

After our time on the water it was a mad dash to grab our changes of clothes and find the closest place to change – it was COLD! Everyone settled back into their seats. Many took their Dramamine and prepared themselves for the next leg of our trip – 675 km from the French Alps into Italy with our final stop for the night being in Portovenere, Italy in the region of Cinque Terre.

Along the way we climbed over 1,800 meters (~6,000 feet) in elevation changes throughout the day. It was incredible to see the scenery change from the farmland of day 3 and 4 to the mountains we climbed through today. Our day ended with our fantastic Italian dinner at the hotel. The Royal Sporting Hotel became an instant favorite when we arrived at it’s doorstep around 9:45pm. The rooms overlook the sea with sights of the towns across the way – lit up in the night. We were able to enjoy our dinner outside on the balcony, taking in the amazing view. We started dinner with 2 types of pasta, a penne in tomato sauce with basil and then a pasta with ragu and minced meat sauce. Our next course was veal with lemon sauce and vegetables. To finish off the meal our group polished off an entire chocolate cake – magnifico!!

Here are a few pictures of beginning of our white water rafting experience!