European roadtrip 2023 Part 2

Sometimes, when planning a roadtrip, it’s good to have a date in the diary when you need to reach a destination – otherwise, the danger of being sidetracked by all the beauty and adventure that our planet has to offer would mean that we would struggle to even get out of Portugal, let alone make it to the Alps! For us, that date was July 19, Stage 17 of the Tour de France and the day that cyclists braved the 160km mountainous route through Meribel to Courcheval. It proved to be a great choice, as the near 11% gradient of the final climb of Col de la Loze meant that the cyclists were at their lowest speed rather than going by in a complete blur on one of their 100kph downhill legs. As a Tour de France ‘newbie’ (and recent convert, having watched Netflix’s highly recommended “Unchained” series!) I am in complete awe of these supreme athletes who are still able to tackle such a monumental mountain having already endured so many hours in the saddle. I’m learning that it is a team sport, but seeing the gruelling effort of these elite sportsmen whilst climbing this monster, it’s clearly also about digging deep into inner reserves and embracing the pain. We were so close to the riders that we could see the sweat (and tears!), hear the laboured breathing and really feel the effort being expended. Wondering if this kind of mountain climb was normal on the Tour, I looked up the hardest climbs……it turns out that Col de la Loze has the #1 spot – no wonder it looked hard!!

Col de la Loze; number one hardest climb of 28.6km @ 6.0%

And just how did we get to the peak of the climb of 2304m? A gentle bike or even hike up maybe?! No, we’re not that masochistic! Of course, it was a very civilised gondola up to the top and then an easy, enjoyable hike down and around to the road the cyclists would be using. The atmosphere was electric with lots of groups dressed up, with music on and beers in hand, giving raucous encouragement to the amateur riders who were struggling with the insane gradient. It was a real carnival feeling; riders’ names were chalked in on the road, supporters signs and flags were on display and even Sandie was sporting a Union Jack scarf! The first sign that the cyclists were on their way was the travelling “Carnival” procession – a huge Yellow Jersey figure atop a car, various quad bikes turned into watermelons, strawberries or even houses and vans handing out sponsors’ merchandise. Lots of the vehicles had loud speakers and promoters at the back, throwing out sweets and other “merch” and generally getting the whole crowd revved up for the main event.

It was extraordinary being so close to these supreme athletes on a brutally steep hill at the end of an already gruelling few hours. We were amazed at just how close we were allowed to be to the riders and ensured that Sandie was on a close lead at all times – we didn’t want to cause a crash like the person taking a selfie had done several days earlier! Being fairly spaced out by this stage of the race, we were able to see all the top riders go past before walking up to the Col just in time to see the Peloton…..

Once at the top, it seemed a shame not to make the most of the mountain restaurant and have a celebratory drink – judging by the number of empty bottles around, plenty of fans had clearly spent the whole afternoon there! By the time we’d walked down to the mid stage gondola, we were lucky to get the last one of the day……that would have been a very long walk back down the hill! And the Tour excitement didn’t even finish once back at Skye, as we were in the same car park as 3 of the teams staying in the nearby Le Mottaret hotel. Watching the mechanics service, clean and prep the bikes and the Chefs create mountains of carbo-heavy food in their food trucks was really interesting; the support required to keep these riders going is phenomenal.

As we wouldn’t have recognised any of the cyclists in these teams, we didn’t know if we would be able to spot them the following morning, however they soon became apparent…..easily picked out as the tall, whippet-thin guys walking a bit stiffly and often covered in bandages! After their brief stay, they were off for another 185km hilly stint on their bikes; Bon Courage guys, the Champs-Élysées is not far off now! Getting our own bikes down from Skye’s rack made us wonder – could we ever get up a monster like Col de la Loze?? Maybe a couple of decades ago, maybe with a lightweight road bike, maybe after lots of training……let’s just leave that in the maybe pile! As for us, we were happy with a flat bike around the Mottaret Lake!!

While the car park had been a great spot for our Tour day, it certainly wasn’t the most beautiful parking place in the area, so we went off in search of one. Heading up to Meribel Altiport, we saw a sign for the Golf Club – well, golfing being a daylight activity, perhaps it would be nice and quiet there if we were allowed to stay? Fortunately, France being very motorhome-friendly, there were no interdit signs, so we were in luck. We had a lovely hike up the course for a picnic and leisurely afternoon by a lake and, having not spent a summer in the Alps before, I couldn’t stop marvelling at swimming along while looking up at a chairlift.

We’d stumbled upon such a perfect spot, so decided to stay put the next day and walk the golf course, as it was such a perfect setting. Being on the side of the mountain, it was steep to say the least – no wonder so many golfers had chosen the buggy option! Taking a well-earned rest for breakfast between the front and back nine, we heard the sounds of gunshots……turns out that our nice flat area was the Biathlon shooting site! Two French girls had put a torturous contraption on the roof of their car to replicate the exhausting Langlauf arm movement before shooting on the range. Judging by their almost perfect shot record, these girls were clearly in the training zone for the next Olympics! Refreshed, we continued our walk and, finding a few stray balls along the way, we were able to borrow a couple of putters and have a little fun on the putting green. Sadly, Skye’s garage doesn’t have room for our golf clubs, but now that we’ve discovered golf course parking it would be a shame not to have a few onboard. Mr Skye is in charge of the garage, doing an excellent job of packing away all our toys like the canoe, BBQ and paddleboard, but I think I might just sneak a few into his Man Cave when he’s not looking once home!! 🤣 🤣

Not only were we spoilt by stunning views of the Alps, but we were also treated to a few small aircraft flying in and out of this tiny Altiport. Judging by the slope of the runway, these small machines must gain speed very rapidly – although it must be a very strange feeling once airborne, to see the ground falling away so quickly. Maybe one day we’ll come here by air?!

Driving down the mountain made us think once again about what the Tour cyclists put themselves through – even using engine braking, our brakes must be roasting by the bottom…….and these guys are flying down these inclines at an insane speed. So much respect 😅

Once on the valley floor, we drove to Lac d’Annecy for a swim; it’s good to have a mission on a roadtrip and one of ours is to swim in as many Alpine Lakes as possible – it’s proving to be the perfect quest! As for our final stop, it was a small lake (of course!) half an hour from Geneva airport which is becoming our ideal airport pickup/dropoff spot and was, in fact, the point at which this blog actually started. Yes, off to work again for another trip to Delhi – but only away for 2.5 days before embarking on European roadtrip Part 3……what an unusual adventure!