Neil and Kerry's Travel Blog

From the top Col De Galibier we have the most amazing fast and fun ride downhill as there are almost no cars and few turns to negotiate. Briancon turns out to be a bigger town than we anticipated and at first we are not keen, but road signs lead us up the hill to the walled old city which is much nicer. We eventually locate the info centre and are pleased to find it still open as we can get directions to a 2 star hotel in the centre of the old quarters.

Housed within the old city walls

We opt for room only and walk the cobbles streets to find the small store while still in our lycra before showers. This makes us look a little odd as we walk about in tights without our bikes. The bikes help to justify the outfit somewhat! The store is well stocked so we decide to have tapas in our room, our favourite and enough to get us excited. It is so nice to be able to shower and get warm and comfy in PJs.

Our room is large and grand looking with a canopy over the bed, chocolate brown leather chairs and a dark wood table. A very stylish 2 star. We get warm and clean and make up delicious tapas including breads, feta and pesto, brie cheese, thin sliced meats, olives, carrots and apples, and a bottle of red French wine of course. Life on the road.

Next day the forecast is for 70% chance of rain but we hardly need much excuse to stop here for a day. We enjoy our cereal in our plush leather chairs at our table. Heading out for a walk, we request another night stay and have to move our stuff into a room across the hall. This room is cosier but just as fine with a table and chairs with light wood furniture.

We go for a look around the old walled town and a snap a few photos from the castle walls. The sun is hidden behind the clouds and it is a grey day. Find for our day off. we have a coffee and cookie and browse the arty stores. It makes Kerry feel all creative to do patchwork, print and frame our photos, knit, bake, pottery, paint… all things to add to our list.

We retreat back inside and it is not long before Neil is asleep. We get another blog finished before heading back out to get dinner. we are way too early for restaurants to open but the small store opens at 4pm. The shopkeeper is late so we have anther coffee and cookie before getting our groceries and make up another tapas meal. The rain never actually arrived today, but the following morning brings a nicer day for riding with the sun blessing our way. Anyway, our sink is blocked by now, time to depart!

Our alarm rings at 7am and we head downstairs to find a tray of packet toast bread, jams and butter but no plates, cutlery or anyone about. We go back upstairs for 15 minutes and try again. Still there is no one about so we make some noise. The unsmiling lady comes out and offers us tea and gives us our ‘breakfast’ of 6 pieces of stale bread. She leaves the mild carton out so Kerry heads to the room to get our cereal and banana and we eat our own food instead. This is typical of our Italian experience.

We depart without a smile from the lady. Back through the village we check the thermometer which reads between 0-5 degrees – cold! We pass a couple obviously prepared for a mountain bike adventure and we all head down the valley. The road is empty and we make the most of gravity and thoroughly enjoy going downhill at speed.

We follow the signs and GPS to Vanasca and Busca where the road flattens out but we still have an easy fast ride. We reach an intersection and ponder which valley to return up so we decide to bike to Busca and find the info centre. This decision making cost us the few minutes that meant we reach the info centre at 12.02pm. They closed at 12, but then again, it probably wouldn’t have mattered as they wouldn’t have helped us at 11.55am anyway.

It is closed for 3 hours which is a long wait so we decided to look for lunch and consider our options. The centre of town isn’t very pretty, a small cafe, shop and a closed pizzeria. We manage to buy bread, tuna and pickles before the shop closes for lunch and we make use of the cafe table and chairs to make up our sandwiches. The cafe lady has difficulty understanding decaffeinated although it really doesn’t sound very different to decaffinato. Neil has to point to the jar for her benefit. Silly Italy.

We decide to bike to Dronero, a flat easy 10km. We get another contender for the hideous hundred km photo and chat to a lady at her closed campsite. In Dronero we find a walled town which we bike up and down looking for the info centre. A man directs us the opposite way until we get back on track by another lady’s directions. By the time we find it, it is at least open. The ladies are thankfully helpful and help to book accommodation in town and call ahead. We leave there after almost an hour.

We find our 3 star over the bridge and the man welcomes us in. After the usual settle and showers we take the laptop downstairs to log in and use the 3 hour quota to blog. This fills the time to dinner although it isn’t easy as Neil is hungry and restless. A supermarket stop for yogurt and fruit, and again for pastries still doesn’t satisfy. We have to wait until 8pm for the restaurant to open and we go down at 8 to be told to return in 10 minutes. Another 15 minute wait and we go downstairs again where we are the only guests. At first there is confusion over the menu but we are given the 1/2 pension deal via the english speaking son. Our starters is pate and cold meats. Primi is spaghetti with either spicy or tomato sauce. It wouldn’t matter which sauce as the taste is completely overwhelmed by salt. At least we won’t get cramps. It is almost as aweful to eat as it is to watch the waiter pour wine all over the table. However the main meal helps to make up for it as the duck served with a marmalade sauce is delicious, tender and tasteful and the green salad was a nice change for Italy too.

Breakfast is better in a 3 star than 1 and we enjoy fresh bread. The sun doesn’t provide any warmth until late morning so are are not early risers and leave right on the 10.30am deadline. We head for a camp site which we know is open for just 2 more days before winter descends. We have a 700 meter climb but it is over a long distance and we chat all the way. Each village we pass marks another 100 meters until we reach the turn off from the valley and a pretty ride alongside a stream.

At the edge of Marmora we see the campsite tepee structures. We meet a lovely lady who is relaxed and happy. We choose to stay in an apartment where we have use of a kitchen and even though the lady says her store is not well stocked as they are closing, it has plenty of variety for us to get all we need. We shower in our massive bathroom and use the washing machine to make good our stinky tights. Neil makes us a mega tasty pasta meal with tuna, anchovies, peas, capiscan, onion, garlic and tomato sauce and we sit at our table with our meals and wine. We get quite comfortable upstairs and push our single beds together. Here is where we stay with spoonfulls of nutella and lots of cups of tea. After a while Kerry remembers to bring in our bikes and lock the door, although we probably are the only guests in the village.

We push our bikes up the cobbled street in the own town of Briancon, stopping again at the store for bread, ham and brie cheese which is added to the back of our bikes for lunch. We have to go down to the centre of town and loose some elevation but we soom make it up again climbing out of town. There is the little matter of the Col d’Izoard at 2361 metres for us to get over on our way to our next highest road.

There are Tour de France markers every km to inform cyclists of how far we still have to go to get to the top and the average gradient. Sometimes it is better not to know! Actually they are helpful and we count down the 17km ride up. We have a wide dedicated cycle path all the way up, separating us from other road users with clear white lines. This is unique for all the way up the mountain and makes us feel quite safe. Around the usual 2000 meter mark we see marmots scurrying up and over the grassy hills and we also see a goat with the biggest droopiest balls ever. Neil thinks this is highly amusing, the poor thing must scrape them on the ground all the time.

Towards the top we pass a mountain hut and start to feel the wind. Reaching the tip we feel the full force of the gusts and it is freezing! Fortunately we can hide from the wind behind a small building and make use of the picnic bench in the sun to make up our foot long sandwich lunch. It is a delicious mountain top meal.

While dining, two cyclists take off back from where we came into the strong head wind. Two more cyclists arrive and take photos posing with the altitude sign and start dancing and clapping to keep themselves warm. We can’t believe that they haven’t got warm gear. We get cold enough, they must get absolutely freezing.

Feeling satisfied with our cheap lunch we rug up while still out of the wind and head down the other side. There are views across the peaks of the alps for a long way into the distance. However, we have to concentrate on staying upright as the wind gusts blow us about with force. It is quite scary and we take it slow in the middle of the road so we don’t get blown over the edge.

It is nicer when we are down a few km and the wind is less strong but we still have to hold tight. There are some incredible rock formations on this side sticking upright from the mountain scree. The rocks feel very close to us on this ride.

Down the valley we are happy to reach La Chalp where we intend to stop. It is lucky we looked up accommodation on the internet in Briancon as it is a ghost village and incredible quiet. Signs we are cycling in low / no season. We stop the hotel that we noted but the sign on the door says back at 4.30pm. We have about an hour and a half to wait so we go further down the hill into Arvieux. We find the tourist info centre but this is also firmly closed. It takes us a while but we figure out the information about open accommodation in the surrounding villages. There are a couple of potentials but we don’t know if it is up or downhill and our legs can’t take much more up today. Plus we are still cold as it takes ages to warm up after coming downhill in cold wind. We decide to sit and hug in the sun before we bike back the 2km uphill to La Chalp where at least we know they are open and do 1/2 pension.

It takes us 10 slow minutes to bike back to the hotel where we check in and warm up straight away with hot showers. We have a little wait before the usual time for dinner at 7.30pm so we take the laptop downstairs to use the internet. The local beer goes down nice.

At 7.30pm we join the other guests for our French feast of pumpkin soup, a cheese and potato bake served in a ceramic casserole dish, green salad and a freshly prepared fruit salad for dessert. It is all very tasty. Neil can hardly keep his eyes open at the table and it is not long before we are fast asleep.

Distance Up: 22.4 kms

Start Elevation: 1280 metres

End Elevation: 2744 metres

Total Ascent: 1464 metres

Average Gradient: 6.5%

Level of Pain: Freezing Cold

We are going to tackle our 11th high road today and have a beautiful day for it.It will lead us over into Italy though which we are not looking forward to. We don’t want to go back to having pizza or pasta as our meal options and we mostly met rude Italians last time, it is not a welcoming prospect. However, we are determined to complete our self-set challenge.

Breakfast in La Chalp is another French feast with a variety of cereal, fruit, yogurt, pastries, and delicious small soft brown bread rolls. We have our usual 3 cups of tea and fill up.

Setting out we have an initial downhill back past Arvieux and down to Chateau-Queyras and Ville-Vieille. We pass through cute villages including one with a castle fort museum where a classic car club are gathering. At Ville-Viellie we turn on the mountain pass road to Col Angel and start our climb. At first it is gentle and consistent and we stop at another small village for bread and quiche. We see loads more marmots and plenty of healthy looking white cows ringing their bells as they munch on alpine grass.

We are commenting on how pleasant the ride is and all of a sudden we face variable steep sections. We can also see grey clouds gathering at the exact spot we are aiming for. We had read about the impact of the Alps here where it will be a perfectly sunny clear day in France but grey, cloudy and cold in Italy. The stories are accurate and the cloud is hanging pronounced along the line of the mountain ridge. It is no wonder that everyone we see at the top is looking back over the French side.

When we reach the top we can’t see a thing but grey cloud and cold mist into Italy. We put on our overgear, snap a few photos and depart before we loose nerve.

It takes about 2 seconds before our fingers are painfully cold. Fortunately the thick grey cloud dissipates a few km downhill and we can at least see and be seen by the few cars coming up. We also see a few cyclists coming up this way and we are grateful that we didn’t ride over in this direction as the road is an incredible steep gradient all the way. At one point we see a 14% gradient sign which would make for an incredible slog, especially into miserable grey cloud. They do have one thing on us – biking up keeps you warm. Coming down is painfully cold. The coldest our fingers and feet have been even under our winter gloves and over boots. We have to make turns blowing warm air into each hand when we don’t have them both on the breaks. At one point, Kerry has to call stop so that she can blow warm air and life into her fingers. The cold makes them painful and our underarms or the slapping of thighs isn’t enough to keep them alive. The short stop helps at little, at least now we don’t feel like our fingers will snap off.

We are very happy to reach Pontechianle where we know there is an open 1 star hotel. We called from France last night and with very few Italian words for Sunday/Dominaco and duo persona we think we managed to make a booking. We can’t see any sign for the hotel so we follow the signs to the village centre. We see a few open bars and ask directions, get lost after the first request and end up at another bar. This time our request is answered by the lady grabbing her jacket and coming out to walk us to teh hotel. This is really nice of her and we are super surprised to have received this help in Italy. Still, our Italian experience has a long way to recover from our last treatment.

At the hotel, which we would have never found alone, we met the lady and don’t have to say a word, she guesses it was us calling. We are instructed to take our bikes around the back and shown to a room which is gloriously warm. We can’t wait to get the tingling out of our feet and hands under a hot shower. Walking here felt like we were walking on stumps.

Once we are warm again we head out to the cafe where the lady helped us as it was warm and the coffee smelt good. However we are tempted by the local beer and Neil has a warming whiskey. We ask about restaurants and find out there is a pizzeria open at 7.30pm – surprise. It is only 6pm so we resort to ordering a ham and cheese toasty and a small white pizza which is actually a cheese and speck open sandwich. So much bread and so little else. We each take an ice block for the walk home, it is cold but we need something for the flavour.

In our hot little room we use GPS maps to see the elevation profiles of our potential routes and decide to go down the valley tomorrow. We have breakfast set for an early 7am due to a bit of a communication breakdown so we settle to watch a movie and sleep.

Distance Up: 22 kms

Start Elevation: 944 metres

End Elevation: 2511 metres

Total Ascent: 1567 metres

Average Gradient: 7.1%

Level of Pain: A few absolute killer sections.

We make use of our little camp apartment kitchen to cook up scrambled eggs, sausages, onion and capsicum and lots more cups of tea. We check out at 11am with a nice farewell from the lady who will be returning to Cuneo for the winter today. She warns us that it will get cold tonight but we reassure her we will reach Demonte.

Our ride takes us directly up out of Marmora towards the signposted Colle Esischie. It is about 1km away and 1200 meters. There are km markers along the way letting us know the gradient but we can’t work out if it is average, maximum or just fibs. The road is different to any other we have taken. The valley is closed in with forest and farming land and it is a single land track all the way. it is marked as a mountain biking track and it feels more exclusively for bikes rather than cars. The very few cars that do pass are going super slow. The tarmac is pretty bumpy and pot-holled and at some points has fallen away down the hill.

The gradient is steady for a while and then all of a sudden, we are faced with a real challenge. The road ahead looks almost as if it goes straight up! It must be the steepest we have faced. We both tackle it with unspoken determination, we can’t let one of these mountain roads beat us to the point of pushing. We manage to reach the turn point by leaning heavy over the front bars. Our legs and lungs burn and we stop to catch breath at the switchback. The next part is shorter and we attack with fury. The Colle di Morti is living up to its name.

The last few kms go in a blur. We start seeing marmots at the 2000 meter level and beyond and all of a sudden we are within the 3km striking distance of Colle Enshschie. WE can see the turn point where there is a parked van and we slowly get there to look back on where we have come.

We depart before we get cold to do down 10 meters before our right turn toward our Colle and our 12th conquered highest road. The track gets even more variable and dodgy and we stick close to the wall edge rather than the drop-off. The top is in striking distance. The ride has been so peaceful and dreamy that it almost doesn’t matter that it doesn’t actually reach the published 2511 meters, but only 2480 meters instead. Down the other side we can see directly down a valley and across the surrounding mountain tops. We are amazed at how we manage to get up here. We have a couple of spoonfulls of nutella and ogle at the view.

With jackets, hats and gloves on we start out descent which runs for a gentle gradient along the ridge.

Distance Up: 18.1 kms

Start Elevation: 1401 metres

End Elevation: 2646 metres

Total Ascent: 1245 metres

Average Gradient: 6.9%

Level of Pain: Manageable, we getting used to this now

Our worry over stopping for a rest on a sunny day and potentially cycling in cloud is not founded as we have another perfectly clear day for our ride over Galibier. We put on nice clean tights and our tent even dries in the sun before we roll it up.

All it takes is clean tights to feel like its a great start, although one day off isn’t quite enough to effect a full recovery of our legs and it is slow going just to get up the 2km hill out of the village. At the base of the road, the Tour de France marker tells us we are 17km from the top and each km marker informs us of the average gradient for the next km. It is nice to see 4%, 5%… even 7%. But it is mostly 8 or 9 as we near the top.

There is a switch back coming back on itself all the way into the valley but higher on the other side of the road. We begin to see cyclists below who were soon upon us and passing and eventually the whole cycle club steadily trickle past us, calling out bonjour as they go.

One km and 100 meters from the top is the entrance to a tunnel with the sign pointing to Briancon. We stop at the cafe and cant’ believe the few cars who line up at the small traffic lights to let one way of traffic through the tunnel at once. If you are this close to the top, why wouldn’t you go up for the best views? Funny what you must get accustomed to, these amazing views!

We enjoyed a yum omlette, cappaccino and a crepe while looking at our last little bit of challenge. The lady who served us is really friendly, we love being in France. We are also congratulated by a couple of motorcyclists for getting this far and one of them touches Neil’s legs in awe!

Going up the last km isn’t so difficult, especially as we know that after it is all downhill. A spectacular feeling. At the top is a car parking area where people are gathered to admire the view. We part up our mack truck bikes and join in the viewing. The road ribbon from where we have come looks clear as it stands out against the browns and yellows in the grasses. On the opposite side we can see below to the other side of the funnel exit and another cafe and another road ribbon. A German couple chat to us about our adventure and take our photo saying that his achievement is worth remembering. So lovely. We wait for a while for the sun to come through the cloud for a photo opportunity but the clouds are slow moving. This is a blessing as there is hardly any wind and while it is cold at this altitude, it is not freezing.

From where we have come

To where we are going

After a while we make our move and start the ride down. The scenery is grand and dramatic. The colours are of autumn and an alpine garden of grasses. Past the initial switchbacks the road leads us on a long gentle slope making it easy for us to simply enjoy. We stop for photos and chat to a 21st century hippy sitting at a corner drawing the scene. Her 3 whippet dogs are happily watching from her van which provides her proud title of no fixed abode. She advises us to camp in the church yard in Briancon and describes herself as the flower painting lady. She says she loves the area for the Zen with nothing in the way. We have to agree.

We breakfasted in the cosy warmth of our tent and sleeping bags. We don’t skimp on luxury with cornflakes, muesli, kiwifruit and banana, our regular fare. We wait for the run to reach our camp spot to dry the tent but even when the sun reaches us it hasn’t the strength to warm us sufficiently.

We are dressed in our warm gear to go the rest of the way down the valley to Modane. Modane is rather tired, although we did find a nice tasting apple tart.

Our map doesn’t cover the next stretch of road so we are biking blind. We stop into a supermarket where Neil checks a guidebook to confirm we are going in the right direction. What we don’t expect was the long downhill ride taking us below 700 meters further down the valley. We had hoped for an easy climbing day to get to our destination but we are zooming down the hill in horror! There is nothing we can do as we deduce that we have to reach St Michael to start our climb over Col de Telegraph and Galiber.

By the time we reach St Michael we have missed our chance to buy lunch before siesta time so we have to go with snickers which really do satisfy. At the bottom of the hill an info board tells us the distance, gradient and legends of the road within the Tour de France.

It is a popular cycle challenge route and as we begin our climb, we get a call of ‘good luck’. Luck is nice but what we really need is time as we will always get there – just slowly. It takes us 3 hours to get to the top, and they are 3 hours of hard slog. Our legs are pretty tired today.

We are very happy to finally make it, and very happy when the man at the bar tells us it is all downhill for the final 5km to Valloire. We both order a cheese and ham toastie, the only offer available at this hour. He is almost embarrassed that this is all he has, but it is actually the very best toastie that we have tasted. The Frenchies do food again!

We have a really lovely, no effort, ride downhill to Valloire and find the info centre straight away. We pick up details of 3 hotels and debate the pros and cons of spending 80-90 euro over 15 euro at the campsite. We are keen for a bed so check out 2 hotels to see if they will cut us a low season deal but they don’t even budge. The camp office isn’t open until 5pm so we sit in the sun and eat our crackers and cheese and drink a bottle of wine while we discuss our dwindling money situation. The wine helps to convince us that we are doing the right thing by camping rather than staying in a nice warm hotel.

We pitch our tent and head into town to find an open restaurant and end up getting led to a small Italian pizzeria. This wouldn’t be our first choice, but at least we don’t go hungry.

Despite the next morning looming perfectly sunny, neither of us feels excited about the prospect of cycling 1400 meters to the top of Galiber. We both agree that we would have rallied if the other had insisted, but neither of us is going to insist. Instead we stroll into town to do a supermarket shop and go for a hunt to find the bakery for fresh bread, finally finding it amongst the houses.

We settle into the campsite common room to use the internet and update the GPS with maps, which much later in the evening Neil uses to direct us into the village (500 meters away) to find a French restaurant where we are treated to a delicious meal. Kerry has a fresh salad with mustard dressing and Neil has a ragolette where he cooks pieces of beef and turkey on a hot plate at our table. A nice french wine and chocolate crepes for dessert finishes off a proper French meal.

Distance Up: 13.43 kms

Start Elevation: 1787 metres

End Elevation: 2770 metres

Total Ascent: 983 metres

Average Gradient: 7.3%

Level of Pain: Hard

Our ride begins along the lake and through long tunnels with a slight downhill making it a fast short ride to the ski village of Val d’Isere. We can get a glimpse into the excitement this village must host throughout the winter with loads of hotels, pensions, bars, restaurants and shops all quiet or under construction at the moment. We stop at the Spar for snickers bars and lollies.

The road leads us straight inot the valley on a gentle gradient. We see loads of marmots sucrring up the hills with their little bums bouncing. We can see the Frenchman cyclists who stopped us for a chat way further up the road on the switchback and before long we are the ones looking down on the lower road seeing a few more cyclists on their way up. It amazes us how quickly we reach the high altitudes.

We soon pass under the ski gondola station and head into the switch backs. Slowly, slowly we reach the top of yet another conquered mountain pass. Col De I’Iseran. We had planned to have a meal at the top but the one mountain hut up here is all closed up. We try to seek out the last few meters in height by biking to the end of the paved part of the car park area but we are just shy of the 2770 meters printed on the sign.

The wind is blustery here but it is coming from behind so after photos we only put on jackets, hats and gloves for coasting down. As soon as we are down the other side we are out of the strong wind and Kerry is deliriously happy that her sensitive parts are not getting icily cold. Such a relief, Kerry can enjoy the ride down.

The French Alps are pretty spectacular and when we reach a corner we are stopped in amazement at the grandness of the view. It is beautiful on a Grande Scale. The autumn colours in the hills make them shades of grey, brown, red and yellow. The distant peaks are covered in white snow and we can see far below us for a long long way. We are trying to drink it all in and soak it up to keep it in our memory banks.

We reach Bessans, a ‘typical’ French alpine village just before 3pm. We have missed the chance to eat at the only restaurant in the village that stopped serving at 2.30pm. The girls cleaning the tables just shake their heads. We keep going down the beautiful valley, Neil says Frank would call this God’s country.

We skid to hault when we come to a cafe in Sollieres-Sardieres. Thank goodness we are not in Italy – they don’t turn us away but instead offer us lasagne or salad. Kerry had the best goats cheese salad ever. The cheese is lightly fried and has chrispy shell and the dressing is divine. Neil’s lasagne is the best yet. The French know food!

We don’t go much further before reaching Bramans where we know there is a campsite, which turns out to be super cheap and still bathed in sun. By divide and conquer, we are soon homed and eating a huge ham salad from our folding bowl. The showers don’t ever get hot, but that is no-where near as annoying as the church bells that ring every 15 minutes. Neil’s long johns give Kerry and extra layer of warmth and she sleeps through the bells anyway.

After our hour ride downhill we meet up with the valley and turn to ride towards the view of Mont Blanc. The iconic view stood majestic in the distance and presented our promise of riding into France. Without finding an ATM we stopped into a local restaurant to present our last 12 euro cash and see what this would get us. Not surprising, pasta. We devised one of our best plans yet while we were sitting – find the next closest campsite, pitch up and have an afternoon nap. We did just this and thoroughly enjoyed being lulled into dream land with the sun shining on our tent creating a yellow glow with a nice breeze coming in through the open doors. Afterwards we were just capable of making it to the showers and shops to buy supplies and retreat back to the comfort of our tent cocoon and make up a salad in our folding bowl.

A perfect 16 degrees and sunny day presented itself for our ride over the Petit San Bernardo, just this little mountain road in the way of our highest 15 roads. Heading out of the village we had a view of the ant sized people in brightly coloured clothing rolling their way up hill. They made surprising speed and came past us like they were out for an easy weekend stroll. A group of about 30 eventually past us, their 2 small wheels and leg power was more powerful than ours. But we are not racing and in our true style, we always get there.

The high point marked our entry into France, a happy moment indeed. On one side of the border, the Italian mountain hut offered… guess… pasta, pizza or a ham and cheese sandwich. Finally, the French side offered us variety; soups, crepes, salads, pastries. The delights! Our joy and the sunny day prompted us to bike on and we ended up cycling our biggest day in terms of altitude gain. We could see a campsite on our map but we discovered a ghost village when we reached Tignes. With drastically limited options, we lucked upon a man who suggested a hotel alongside the lake and we ended up banging on the closed door. The big OVERT (open) sign was apparently not applicable to Sunday’s but the girl let us in anyway and we were the only guests for the evening.