Day 5 – Route des Grandes Alpes – Briançon to Guillestre What a fabulous day! The threatened rain did not materialise and we set off from Briançon on a fantastic, clear sunny morning. Almost before leaving the town we hit the 20km marker for the ascent to Col d’Izoard and we began. We climbed steadily …
Day 4 – Route des Grandes Alpes – Valloire to Briançon Today, as anticipated, was the biggest climb so far. The 18km Col du Galibier is an iconic climb in the Tour de France and no less iconic to the humble touring cyclist. It climbs slowly up a spectacular valley from Valloire, but at the …
Day 2 – Route des Grandes Alpes – Val d’Isere to Termignan Today we really felt we were starting the tour. We have cycled up to the Col de l’Iseran twice before but have not descended the southern side. We departed Val d’Isere on a stunning clear morning, autumn in the air and our bikes …
Day 1 – Route des Grandes Alpes – Ste Foy to Val d’Isere The Route des Grandes Alpes was established in 1911 by the Touring Club of France and has subsequently become a popular route for sports cars, bikers and cyclists. It starts near Lac Leman and finishes in Nice, covering 750km and a total …
It’s now exactly five month since Jonathan snapped his Achilles whilst skiing off-piste. He’s been doing lot’s of rehab with an excellent physio called Jo who is based in Val d’Isere. His walking now only shows a trace of a limp and, following our lovely cycle trip in Annecy, we thought we might attempt something …
For the last few weeks we’ve been revisiting some of our favourite walks, choosing those with good paths and gentle inclines as Jonathan continues his rehab. The walk to Lac de le Sassière starts at the small reservoir high above Lac du Chervil and ascends along a wide track to the lake. More walks lead …
We returned to London on Easter weekend, three weeks into the UK Covid lockdown. The journey itself was quite surreal, with French motorways almost entirely devoid of motor traffic and just an inside lane of HGVs transporting life’s necessities across the country. Our stop at a motorway service station was reminiscent of a Mad Max …
View towards Ste Foy Station This is our final entry from Ste Foy for now and, with France and England in lockdown, we’re not sure when we’ll return. It’s so sad to leave as, despite the restrictions imposed over the past 4 weeks, it has been an amazing month. The weather has been glorious although, …
How things have changed over the past few short weeks… I returned to Ste Foy on the 7th March saddened that I wouldn’t ski with Jonathan again this season, but still looking forward to friends joining us for several weeks before the end of April. Carol arrived the next day and we had lovely fresh …
Sunday brought another fantastic sunny day and we headed back to Col du Palet in Tignes to see if we could find untracked powder. Success! We dropped down the valley and headed towards Col de la Grassaz, circling the Aiguille Noire, and after an hour’s walk found a superb descent. We had planned to climb …