Peelies travels

You can get a bit blasé about castles and not think too much about them. In that case I suggest a visit here to Château de Coucy, to the north west of Reims because as castles go, this will revive your interest. This place is huge in every dimension and as it’s been here since 920 you can spend the time looking in awe at the work that would have been involved in building, maintaining and modifying it.  Then you can feel sad as although it was in partial ruins, it was blown up as recently as 1917. This is a castle on a massive scale. How do you even begin to move stone and cut it before assembling it into these big forms with such precision? I have enough trouble moving a big bag of sand into my garden and assembling a few concrete blocks. The dates need to be read carefully because phases of the castle’s use and changes to it, have taken place over hundreds of years. Our house is only sixty years old and has altered several times. 920 built 1079 extended 1220 new castle built 1380 ...

We thought that after the descent from Col du Galibier, we would be done with cols. They are brilliant to drive but hard work. The narrower the road the harder it is, especially at hairpins. These are almost always steep and so the vehicle speed and engine revs need to be correct before the turn. If it’s a right hand bend then the driving line is obviously on the right part of the corner which is always the steepest. It’s all about teamwork, especially as those bikers love the roads and like to be close to the middle. A Land Rover 110 needs a wide turning circle and so we have to look out sideways and either up above or down below to see what’s coming. After Galibier the road finally descends to the ski area of Valloire and on to Col du Telègraphe, which from the south isn’t much but those ascending from the north will feel the height gain. Then down to the Maurienne valley and we think we are done with hills. However there’s one last surprise as we turn right off the motorway route to...

To complete the alpine part of the trip, we nipped to La Grave. We should have been here weeks ago but the Bourg d’Oisans thunderstorm was the beginning of some unsettled weather and we had decided to go south. La Grave sits under La Meije, right under it. At 3,982m it’s the same height as the Eiger but you can camp literally below it. The problem then is this causes neck-ache. I have never looked up to such a high point for so long, from such a position. The glaciers are strung along the north faces of these peaks and in some places seracs are visible, appearing to be ready to crash down. Now this isn’t the Khumbu icefall but it’s pretty good. With binoculars, several burgschrunds are also visible under the faces. It’s amazing. To complete the picture, the river flows alongside the campsite and this is flowing so fast, with such a volume of freezing water, that it is scary. It’s flowing quicker than a human could run and it’s no place in which to cool a  bottle of rosé. I really ...

It’s quite a way and also a loss of some height, to follow the river from the campsite at Fontcouvért to Nevache. The don’t-move-far-from-the-car tourists go only to the first waterfalls which are 5mins away. With snow melt continuing, they are spectacular. We walk along la Clarée river following a recognised path and it skirts meadows full of wild flowers. There are two or three steep downhill sections and after yesterday’s climb we wonder how these will feel on the return. The river thunders below and beside us and very occasionally it slows down and becomes placid. It’s a long way but after yesterday’s exertions it’s a stroll. In Navache we take up residence outside the boulangerie which is also a patisserie and coffee shop. We buy a quiche each and sit and watch the Sunday morning world. Much of it comprises cyclists who have made their way over from Italy but also ‘church’ is over and the congregation moves outside and walks past us en masse . We later find that they have moved o...

We headed for the valley of the river Clarée but first had to drive over yet another col. We have driven so many real mountain roads on this trip; more classic roads than ever I think. Today we are going over Col de l’izoard at 2,381m on the road to Briancôn, which at 1,326m is the highest city in France. As usual, so are others - an amazing mix of drivers, riders and cyclists. The cyclists have to be slightly mad to do what they do. The sun beats down, motorcycles race up and down in groups past them and us and there’s cars, vans and camper vans, all making their way up and down.  These are long pulls for everyone but the cyclists just keep going. The roads up these cols can be very long - 30km wouldn’t be a surprise and all the time it’s uphill. This col is memorable for the dramatic screes that sweep down, across the road and continue down. The stones must be frequently cleared but even so, there are plenty of pebbles and small rocks. It’s a lottery as to whether or not you can ...