Day 8 - A mini-bimble in the Vercors National Park

Sunday 14 July 2019

Today is La Fete Nationale, that’s Bastille Day to you and me!

We awake pretty early in the beautiful setting that is Camping Moto. There are maybe a dozen other campers plus a few folk staying in the cabins that are dotted around under the trees. There is room here for hundreds so I guess it counts as a quiet weekend for them.
Breakfast is the usual minimalist French style, bread and croissant with butter and two little pots of jam, plus coffee and orange juice. Mick selects a different option which gets him three fried eggs but no orange juice.


I think Mick chose the better option

We are thinking that the roads will be very busy with day trippers today in this beautiful region of France so we decide to make a simple tour on extremely tiny roads, up into the mountains and back, 60 miles or so. It is getting very warm so the camp swimming pool is looking like a good option after a few hours twisting slowly over the nearby peaks.

It is going to be hot again. I make a short (60 mile) route on the tiny back roads to the north of the camping ground. Our first stop off point is on the summit of the Col de la Croix a few miles up the road. There is absolutely nobody about, shouldn’t have worried about the crowds!


The phantom sticker man in action




Bastille Day crowds - not!

There are some amazing rock formations hereabouts. Not being a geologist I have no idea what causes them but I have noted over the years how the Alps change completely as you ride through them. The Dolomites are quite different from, say, the Julian Alps in Slovenia. They are all pointy and pretty but that’s as far as my knowledge goes!


Atop the Col de la Croix

The Col de la Croix is quite technical. It is a very narrow road with a good surface and half a dozen hairpins on each side. Not a fast road and still we meet no traffic at all. We stop for coffee at a small restaurant in Saint-Julien-en-Quint. They are spit roasting a lamb outside for the Fete later today. Looks fantastic but sadly I forget to photograph it.

A few minor cols later we are back at Camping Moto by 2pm. The temp is in the low thirties now so it’s time for a swim in the pool. The Cricket ODI final is played today. We check the scores. New Zealand have completed their innings and scored 241 for 7 in their allotted overs.
Sounds like it should be fairly simple for the English batsmen (sorry for those of you who know nothing of this game, may take years to explain it fully).
I suddenly think to check whether the Sky app on my iPad will work successfully on the camp WiFi connection. Often these broadcasts are blocked in countries outside the UK but miracle of miracles it works.

So we spend a happy afternoon watching the most amazing finale to this competition. As a big cricket fan for me it is the finest sporting achievement I have ever seen. After more than 7 hours the scores are tied. There will now be a “super over” (6 balls per team). England score 15 runs in their over. New Zealand almost get there but a runout on the last ball wins the final for England. It is their first World Cup win ever. 

Mick and I are ecstatic, no doubt to the puzzlement of the many Europeans sitting around the pool with us. We are still buzzing when we retire for the night.

Tomorrow the Col de la Machine and the Col de Rousset. It’s what we’re here for after all.
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