Col d’Iseran

We were still in the Tarantaise valley area, so going to Val d’Isère and then the highest tarmac pass in Europe, seemed to be a sensible thing.

It’s quite a long way and the road is steep. Also there are lots of tunnels and open sided tunnel things that allow avalanches to slide over. One had water pouring over it as we turned a curve - quite a shock to see.

Val d’Isère was what we expected; a ski town that’s not really awake. The wooden chalets of lower down have changed to stone and that reflects the distinct lack of trees around here.

We didn’t know what the Col would be like but did know that it’s about 1,000m above Val. So as you can imagine, the road ascends steeply. As it gets higher, it gets narrower and just when you want some barriers, everything at the side disappears. Driving a right hand vehicle meant that I was looking straight down over the edge, driving one leg to a hairpin and then safely tucked against the mountain on the next leg.

Soon we were passing snow and then reached the summit with no bad things happening to our 27 year old vehicle. Some of it is newer but I think I’m allowed that.

It’s bleak at the top but surprisingly warm today and there’s plenty of people up here, even though the southern side is closed due to a landslip. This is a pain, as we wanted to move that way but came up aware of this.

We took photos for some Italian cyclists and I feel a little inadequate, when I see just what an effort they have made to get up.

Returning to the valley we tried four campsites before settling at one for the night. The Huttopia site had given us a barrier code for our stay a few days ago and as the office was closed for the afternoon, we tried it but of course these digital types are wise and it was disabled.

We finally stopped in Montchavin, just under La Plagne and the site was strange, in that it has a few battered permanent tourers that are setup for the winter  but the best bit was the ‘sanitaires’ which are sealed from the weather, beautifully clean and full of hot water.  They also had very clear instructions on how to use the various facilities.

There were only two vehicles on site so it was very quiet. The view down into the valley was stupendous and included peeps of Mont Blanc.

We wandered into the village and learned from the English owner of a tapas bar, that it would wake up for the weekend but then go back to sleep until France goes on holiday in July/August.

With that, we decided to explore a new area and do some proper mountain walking.