Day 9 – Route des Grandes Alpes – La Bolline Valdeblore to Roquebillière
Thanks to our unscheduled extra climb yesterday, today was a short and gentle day – and much appreciated for that. Cycling distance 26km, ascent 572m.
Leaving the village we continued immediately on the climb to Col Saint Martin, stopping in a sister village of Valdeblore for a coffee and to admire the local church. The col itself was a great disappointment: an ugly 1970’s style ski resort – Colmaine – had been built around it and gave the place the air of a dilapidated and semi derelict town. It was hard to identify the col itself; in the end we took a selfie on the way out as the best evidence of our successful climb.
Dropping to the valley was another short and easy descent, and we soon found our destination for the night, arriving in the village of Roquebillière in time for lunch. Roquebillière is a pretty village; classic mediterranean architecture, fountains in the town square and lavender growing in window boxes.
