Wednesday 17 July 2019
So farewell to Camping River. Thank you Claire and David for providing a lovely home from home.
Today we are heading east into the Maritime Alps close to the border with Italy. So first we head back to Barcelonnette. It is market day and quite congested. We filter through the traffic and find a service station to fuel up.
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| Leaving Camping River |
It’s another beautiful day and we are soon in Jausiers for the turn up to the Col de la Bonette road. It claims to be the highest paved road in the Alps and rises to the dizzying height of 2802 metres above sea level.
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| Stopping for a breather in Jausiers |
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| On the climb up Col de la Bonette |
It is a 20km climb up the twisting road to the summit. We break out above the tree line and get the breathtaking views across the Maritime Alps in all their glory. A few years ago I battled up here in heavy mist before emerging above the clouds to see the peaks poking up out of a sea of flowing clouds. Today the few clouds are high up and the views are amazing.
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| Looking north well above the tree line |
Bonette is busy today. It is most days. As the highest road etc it will be on most lycra and leather bucket lists.
So we take it steady, weaving around the cyclists and the odd tourist car. There is quite a crowd at the monument at the summit. Quite a few are toiling up the steep footpath to the viewpoint right at the top. We’re too old and weary for that!
The descent down the southern side to Saint-Etienne-de-Tinee is even prettier than the northern ascent. Gone are the shale slopes and the loose piled gravel on the drop side of the road, to be replaced by grassy meadows and wild flowers. There are no roadside barriers so we ride pretty cautiously.
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| The southern descent |
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| Loving it |
Once down it is not far to Isola for the climb up to the Col de la Lombarde and the border with Italy. This is another high pass, over 2300m and the road up is twisty and very technical. The tight right hand hairpins are difficult to negotiate at times but there is not much traffic. We ride through the ski resort of Isola2000 and on up to the summit.
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| Italian border on the Col de la Lombarde |
So now we are on the Colle della Lombarda ready for the descent into Italy. The SP255 is a phenomenal road full of beautiful tournanti with great asphalt and much sweeter radii on the turns. Oh Italy we salute your road builders!
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| On the spectacular SP255 on the way down to Vinadio |
We are getting weary now so we decide it is time to find a camping ground. The nearest along our route is in the tiny village of Forani just off the main road.
Campeggio Il Castagneto is perfect for us. A tiny site with bar and good sanitary arrangements. Sadly no food is available but the very friendly owner, Flávio, gives us a couple of big bread rolls and with our emergency supplies of cheese, ham and boiled eggs we make a reasonable repast.
As the sun goes down two completely knackered old bikers get into their tents and sleep the sleep of the just.
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| Arrival at Campeggio Il Castagneto, Frazione Forani, 1, 12010 Aisone CN, Italy |
Tomorrow we go back on the small roads in search of the famous Castelmagno cheese!
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