A Christmas time read.

There is an interesting story behind this photo. In the late eighties a group of us made our way for climbing holiday near Chamonix using various means of travel, we met up in a camping ground there.
All went well apart from the weather which turned very wet indeed. The idea was to climb Mt Blanc if conditions were good. They weren't;
after a few days I developed a painful affliction (Don't Ask), and decided to cut my losses and return home. I'd gone by bus so passed my return ticket to Pete who had arrived in Geoff's mini van. 
Geoff had been through the tunnel to Italy to see if the weather was any better there, it wasn't, so  he was returning to the UK and I went with him.
At this point I didn't know much about Geoff, we set of and shared the driving overnight. In the back of the van was a tea-chest full of climbing gear. After a spell on an Auto Route we were stopped at the Peage and a gendarme asked for our "papiers", we must have looked suspicious.
Geoff's Passport was full of stamps and visas from around the world, this caused a raised eyebrow from our new friend.  The most noticeable thing he found in mine was where I was born on Merseyside. He looked at it then at me and in a very caustic voice he exclaimed "Waterloo!" (a district of Liverpool)
I don't think he had got over Napoleons defeat in 1815.
I will enjoy reading about Geoff's exploits since that trip to France.
He is a very hard man!