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France / Swiss Alps region in June 2016.
- Thread starter wobbly
- Start date
wobbly
Well-Known Member
Ok, now home, bit of time to give some actual detail 
The theme of the trip was as mentioned, balcony roads.
In my opinion, the key to a succesful trip is all about the planning, and in this case I was very lucky that in 1992 I had the foresight to invest in a brand new CollinsRoad Atlas of France.
Couple this with a website called Worlds Most Dangerous Roads, success guaranteed!
My eldest lad travels with me, and we had with us a mate Steve from 4x4 Response in his Series 3 LWB Landie - if truth be told its not a vehicle I would choose to have as part of the trip, but he has owned it for over 20 years, its got permanent 4x4 and a home made fuel injected head, so can cruise at 60, about the speed I like to cover distances at.
Day 1 was the usual silly o'clock start to be a Portsmouth for an 0815 ferry, we have to leave a bit extra time 'cos Steve looks like a jihadist recruit, we always get delayed by border force asking if he's off to Turkey/Syria etc.
Easy ferry ride over to Caen, then a drive down to Chartres to stay in a reasonable Ptit Dej motel.
Day 2 spent driving down to Grenoble, camped in the garden of a couple I met on an overlander forum, lovely couple, very froendly and also helped us by showing us some extra routes in the Vercors - this is the national park just below Grenoble, mountainous and wooded.
We spent two days exploring the area - there is no off-road element to this, its all tarmac, but these are little used roads, leading to some pretty stunning scenery.
Included in these were the Combe Laval, probably the most archetypal balcony/tunnel route (altho not the scariest).
This area made me feel like when I first passed my test - going out for a drive for the sake of it.
Camping was at a municipal site, run by the local council they tend to be my favourites, far cheaper than commercial sites and simple without being too basic.
We then moved onto the east of Grenoble, the area of Alpe d'Huez.
Grenoble itself was not particularily inspiring and we found it the least attractive part of the trip, traffic was busy and not at all relaxing.
The Alpe d'Huez is part of the Tour de France, and was full of cyclists, thousands and thousands of them. Think of what cyclists can be like here, ignoring lights, random manouvres, wrong way on roads etc etc. Now add in that everyone else was the same, cars, vans, motorcycles, pedestrians, dogs.......just chaos!
The road up to Alpe d'Huez is steep, respect to anyone cycling up it! We stayed at a commercial site at the foot of it for a couple of nights, full of deadly serious cyclists getting psyched up for the attempt, or drunken cyclists who had done it and were celebrating, lycra being the comon denominator.......
From the top of the Huez we took a track on a circular route through the hills, passed the worlds scariest runway - basically a concrete ski slope, not sure if taking off or landing would be worse.
This was a great track, all good until we came across the 'road ferme' sign 3/4 the way along....they do reopen but it would be a 2 hour wait, so we backtracked and diverted to a lane called La Berarde. This was one of those 'one last lane' tracks, simple on the map, far from it in reality. We had to wait for it to reopen as it was closed due to landslips on the route - basically it was closed until 5pm, when it reopened - this doesnt mean the work was done, just that French bureacracy said it had to open at 5pm, so it did.
This led to the single most white knuckle part of the trip. Imagine a single track lane clinging to the side of a hill, with my Toyota clinging to the track, and my arse clinging to the drivers seat......then remove about 1/4 of the width and all the safety wall - couldnt reverse back without a guide - who coulnt get out of the truck cos it was suicidal, so had to go forward - if I had dropped a coin from the window it would have travelled vertically about 1000m uninterrupted except for the sudden halt at the bottom. I've been told that during exercise a heartbeat of 150 is good for your health - I wonder if the same applies when navigating narrow tracks?
On the topic of closed lanes - of which there is rarely any actual warning - we found the main road to the Italian side closed due to a tunnel collapse - this led to a massive detour (about 100km) along what proved to be a great drive, this is a mountainous region so any road twists back on itself - on a minor road these are far steeper than we are used to in the UK, and this particular route went over the Galibier Pass, where we found the first snow.
On to Italy, where we spent a day traversing an old military road from Sestriere to Susa, unsurfaced but well defined and solid underfoot, this was great route amongst deserted ski slopes. We then based ourselves in Bardonechia and spent 2 days driving minor roads and tracks - including the Glacier Sommeiller. This was a game of 2 halves, the track mainly goes to a Refuge (like a bar!) by a lake, rough and uneven it needed ground clearance, what amazed me was the number of normal cars at the Refuge!
By the Refuge was a small track heading up to the top, complete absence of traffic so we thought an ideal time to attempt the summit. Logical thought process - the locals will happily drive to the Refuge despite the road conditions, but the track onwards was deserted. Hmm. What could the track onwards be like? Our thought process however, was 'everyones having a beer, lets beat the rush.....'.
There wasnt going to be a rush, cos the next stage was stupidly steep with switchback turns which needed a 5 point turn - in order to do this I had to have the pickup hanging back over the drop, and there were dozens. The dry conditions made the dusty track ever so slippy, and it wasn't much fun tbh. At a level wider section a Land Rover 90 was returning back down transpired the summit was not possible as the track was still snowed in - driver said he had a real struggle to turn round and reversing was an unpleasant option, his reaction when I asked how my longer hilux would fare was to laugh, which I took to be a bad sign and chose discretion and an early finish Going back down was actually worse as you were driving towards the drop when doing the turns, and it was a relief to get back down.
The last day in Italy was to be on an unsurfaced track back into France, but in reality it turned out to be an untracked track, suitable for hikers and goats, with some ominous anti-offroad graffiti, so we detoured back via the Galibier Pass again.
That was pretty much it, 2 solid days driving back to Caen, overnight ferry back to Pompey, then a morning run back to Somerset.
Overall, a very enjoyable trip. Everyday was solid driving on some great routes, tarmac or unsurfaced, covered just under 2000 trouble free miles at about 30mpg. Technical difficulty was low, but thrill level was high, the balcony roads would probably not exist in the UK without barriers, signs, parachutes etc. For less tarmac, I would aim more for the Italian side, where here are many more tracks to discover.
Rural France has changed (considerably more than my 1992 map has done, thats for sure - each village has an intermarche supermarket, campsites are common, people are friendly, Police pretty much non-existent, unlike Portugal where they are simply revenue collectors.
It was a great trip, the one thing I will say is that French roads are elastic, they seem to get longer as you drive them, its very easy to underestimate the time taken to cover distance and as a result it can be easy to overlook some lovely spots because you are trying to get to the next stop.
Photos to follow once I've sussed how to upload them
The theme of the trip was as mentioned, balcony roads.
In my opinion, the key to a succesful trip is all about the planning, and in this case I was very lucky that in 1992 I had the foresight to invest in a brand new CollinsRoad Atlas of France.
Couple this with a website called Worlds Most Dangerous Roads, success guaranteed!
My eldest lad travels with me, and we had with us a mate Steve from 4x4 Response in his Series 3 LWB Landie - if truth be told its not a vehicle I would choose to have as part of the trip, but he has owned it for over 20 years, its got permanent 4x4 and a home made fuel injected head, so can cruise at 60, about the speed I like to cover distances at.
Day 1 was the usual silly o'clock start to be a Portsmouth for an 0815 ferry, we have to leave a bit extra time 'cos Steve looks like a jihadist recruit, we always get delayed by border force asking if he's off to Turkey/Syria etc.
Easy ferry ride over to Caen, then a drive down to Chartres to stay in a reasonable Ptit Dej motel.
Day 2 spent driving down to Grenoble, camped in the garden of a couple I met on an overlander forum, lovely couple, very froendly and also helped us by showing us some extra routes in the Vercors - this is the national park just below Grenoble, mountainous and wooded.
We spent two days exploring the area - there is no off-road element to this, its all tarmac, but these are little used roads, leading to some pretty stunning scenery.
Included in these were the Combe Laval, probably the most archetypal balcony/tunnel route (altho not the scariest).
This area made me feel like when I first passed my test - going out for a drive for the sake of it.
Camping was at a municipal site, run by the local council they tend to be my favourites, far cheaper than commercial sites and simple without being too basic.
We then moved onto the east of Grenoble, the area of Alpe d'Huez.
Grenoble itself was not particularily inspiring and we found it the least attractive part of the trip, traffic was busy and not at all relaxing.
The Alpe d'Huez is part of the Tour de France, and was full of cyclists, thousands and thousands of them. Think of what cyclists can be like here, ignoring lights, random manouvres, wrong way on roads etc etc. Now add in that everyone else was the same, cars, vans, motorcycles, pedestrians, dogs.......just chaos!
The road up to Alpe d'Huez is steep, respect to anyone cycling up it! We stayed at a commercial site at the foot of it for a couple of nights, full of deadly serious cyclists getting psyched up for the attempt, or drunken cyclists who had done it and were celebrating, lycra being the comon denominator.......
From the top of the Huez we took a track on a circular route through the hills, passed the worlds scariest runway - basically a concrete ski slope, not sure if taking off or landing would be worse.
This was a great track, all good until we came across the 'road ferme' sign 3/4 the way along....they do reopen but it would be a 2 hour wait, so we backtracked and diverted to a lane called La Berarde. This was one of those 'one last lane' tracks, simple on the map, far from it in reality. We had to wait for it to reopen as it was closed due to landslips on the route - basically it was closed until 5pm, when it reopened - this doesnt mean the work was done, just that French bureacracy said it had to open at 5pm, so it did.
This led to the single most white knuckle part of the trip. Imagine a single track lane clinging to the side of a hill, with my Toyota clinging to the track, and my arse clinging to the drivers seat......then remove about 1/4 of the width and all the safety wall - couldnt reverse back without a guide - who coulnt get out of the truck cos it was suicidal, so had to go forward - if I had dropped a coin from the window it would have travelled vertically about 1000m uninterrupted except for the sudden halt at the bottom. I've been told that during exercise a heartbeat of 150 is good for your health - I wonder if the same applies when navigating narrow tracks?
On the topic of closed lanes - of which there is rarely any actual warning - we found the main road to the Italian side closed due to a tunnel collapse - this led to a massive detour (about 100km) along what proved to be a great drive, this is a mountainous region so any road twists back on itself - on a minor road these are far steeper than we are used to in the UK, and this particular route went over the Galibier Pass, where we found the first snow.
On to Italy, where we spent a day traversing an old military road from Sestriere to Susa, unsurfaced but well defined and solid underfoot, this was great route amongst deserted ski slopes. We then based ourselves in Bardonechia and spent 2 days driving minor roads and tracks - including the Glacier Sommeiller. This was a game of 2 halves, the track mainly goes to a Refuge (like a bar!) by a lake, rough and uneven it needed ground clearance, what amazed me was the number of normal cars at the Refuge!
By the Refuge was a small track heading up to the top, complete absence of traffic so we thought an ideal time to attempt the summit. Logical thought process - the locals will happily drive to the Refuge despite the road conditions, but the track onwards was deserted. Hmm. What could the track onwards be like? Our thought process however, was 'everyones having a beer, lets beat the rush.....'.
There wasnt going to be a rush, cos the next stage was stupidly steep with switchback turns which needed a 5 point turn - in order to do this I had to have the pickup hanging back over the drop, and there were dozens. The dry conditions made the dusty track ever so slippy, and it wasn't much fun tbh. At a level wider section a Land Rover 90 was returning back down transpired the summit was not possible as the track was still snowed in - driver said he had a real struggle to turn round and reversing was an unpleasant option, his reaction when I asked how my longer hilux would fare was to laugh, which I took to be a bad sign and chose discretion and an early finish
Going back down was actually worse as you were driving towards the drop when doing the turns, and it was a relief to get back down.The last day in Italy was to be on an unsurfaced track back into France, but in reality it turned out to be an untracked track, suitable for hikers and goats, with some ominous anti-offroad graffiti, so we detoured back via the Galibier Pass again.
That was pretty much it, 2 solid days driving back to Caen, overnight ferry back to Pompey, then a morning run back to Somerset.
Overall, a very enjoyable trip. Everyday was solid driving on some great routes, tarmac or unsurfaced, covered just under 2000 trouble free miles at about 30mpg. Technical difficulty was low, but thrill level was high, the balcony roads would probably not exist in the UK without barriers, signs, parachutes etc. For less tarmac, I would aim more for the Italian side, where here are many more tracks to discover.
Rural France has changed (considerably more than my 1992 map has done, thats for sure
- each village has an intermarche supermarket, campsites are common, people are friendly, Police pretty much non-existent, unlike Portugal where they are simply revenue collectors. It was a great trip, the one thing I will say is that French roads are elastic, they seem to get longer as you drive them, its very easy to underestimate the time taken to cover distance and as a result it can be easy to overlook some lovely spots because you are trying to get to the next stop.
Photos to follow once I've sussed how to upload them
Last edited:
wobbly
Well-Known Member
https://goo.gl/photos/94twvd9Qa89vdZMr5
I've put a few photos in this album for now, hopefully its viewable!
I've put a few photos in this album for now, hopefully its viewable!
AndyCook
Well-Known Member
Thanks for report, will check on photos now.
thinking of exploring around alp duez next year.
I don't recall the track upto sommelier glacier being that scary, but had done some other exposed. Trails further south in Italy - so maybe I was used to it by then
you should try the old salt roads next, further south on Italy side down towards nice. I found the tracks in Italy longer and better overall
thinking of exploring around alp duez next year.
I don't recall the track upto sommelier glacier being that scary, but had done some other exposed. Trails further south in Italy - so maybe I was used to it by then
you should try the old salt roads next, further south on Italy side down towards nice. I found the tracks in Italy longer and better overall
wobbly
Well-Known Member
I think the problem was a thick layer of dust sitting on the corners of the bends, 4 or 5 inches on some of them.
The offputting bit was the thought of having to reverse back down from the summit as the snow had narrowed the track!
Do you still have routes for the salt roads?
The offputting bit was the thought of having to reverse back down from the summit as the snow had narrowed the track!
Do you still have routes for the salt roads?
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Great write up Pete, lovely photos too, what a great journey !
AndyCook
Well-Known Member
When came down it had started raining, my wife zoomed down on her mountain bike !
yes i can send you GPS tracks, I got them off wikiloc
