MOUNTAIN PASSES: (Italy to France)

It's 9pm, we're due on the Cote D'Azur at a reasonable time before the our friends Glynn & Shalene are going to bed - they have the keys to the lovely villa we'll be staying in. Between us is the highest pass in Europe. I feel like we've been quite unkind to our car of late…do we turn back and find a camp site, or attempt a further 1000 meter climb, in the dark, on our 5 litre spare can of petrol (at 13.8 litres/100km) with 40 km to the nearest petrol station? Well, an Englishman's word is his word…and we'd told our friends we'd be there. N wasn't at all anxious throughout!