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 Albertville and climb once again, this time it’s to the ski area of Saint-Francois-Longchamp 1650 which looks really attractive and should go on the list of nice local areas to ski in France.
The road continues to rise and twist and turn until finally we reach ~2,260m and the Col de la Madeleine. It’s a long climb up for anyone; even a Land Rover but a loooong run out north to finally reach civilisation and the road to Albertville.
We are back on familiar ground and the beautiful waters of Lake Annecy are there, shimmering an incredible blue. We have to stop to be able to swim and sleep and we pick a campsite where it’s only 15 mins walk to an accessible beach.
The campsite is crowded and ‘tight’ but the lake is very nice with warm water that is refreshing after the heat of the afternoon.
Annecy is a perfect holiday spot but the camping needs to be carefully selected for convenient access to the lake and thus also to the cycle path that runs around it.
We are only here for an overnight stop and in the morning get snarled-up in traffic. It’s something to do with roadworks.
The stop/go crew do not realise that the six queuing cars they can see in both directions, is in fact six cars in the queue travelling south but 2km of cars travelling north. We use a sneaky cut through and lop off 20 minutes but no one else does. 🤔
We escape and begin the drive to Burgundy. We pick another Huttopia site at Arny-le-duc because it has good reviews and a swimming pool, plus it’s next to a swimming lake.
Most of the plan went well but we weren’t expecting the site to have a large proportion of German families with young children. They are well behaved but seem to get everywhere, including the swimming pool. This though is only 1.35m deep at maximum and so is better for the kids than for us.
It’s mostly the case that the kids are up and around until dark and then suddenly they are in bed. Very few times have they been up early; usually it’s surprising to walk past a tent or camper, knowing that there are young kids in there who must still be asleep. How do they do that?
Our only ‘noise’ problem is with the Dutch couple in their motorhome next to us. They are sitting outside, watching a TV inside. Consequently it is fairly loud. The programme changes and the theme to Silent Witness blasts out and they continue to listen to it in English. It’s too much and I go and have a word.
We go to the lake both days and have a couple of swims; nothing excessive but it is very nice in the heat.
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| No, that isn’t ours! |
We get trout, from the supermarket, not the lake and poach them. It’s been done before but still, we are very pleased with the result.
The next day is a special one and we treat ourselves to menu du jour at a beautiful place in the village.
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I’m ‘envious’ again of the things that they do in France. This village is nothing in particular and nowhere special but it is looked after.
In general there’s little litter, the roads are in good condition and no one seems to work much on Sundays!
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