LH2, well done - a great adventure so soon after finishing your PPL. Yes, the valleys look wide on the map but with 5000ft + mountains on all sides one is bound to view the first visit with trepidation.
I can visualise quite well the approach to Chambery from Grenoble - quite straightforward. Would be interested to see exactly how you routed Chambery to Girona? If you have time, how about posting a map for us all to see - maybe grab a image from Googlemaps and draw your track on it.