The Alps, Loire and Paris Post # 11

27.09

A relaxing day at camp!  27 degrees!

28.09

After ‘goodbyes’ to Hans and Hildegard we headed North via Nyons and the vineyards and  villages of Provence!!  Then another beautiful drive through the steep winding roads and the  gorge of the Baronnies Ranges following the river.  Into the ‘ Department des Hautes Alpes’ and ‘Le Tour’ territory, we can still see support messages written on the road!

Through Gap and ‘The route Napoleon’ (the N85), into alpine country and the Parc National des Ecrins - perched villages, limestone peaks and steep narrow valleys. Stunning and dramatic! Found a great spot for lunch overlooking the peaks, one still with snow!  200kms and we arrived at our chosen camp in St.
Theoffrey, 27kms from Grenoble.  Camping ‘Ser Sirant’, a great camp situated on a large lake, ‘Lac de Laffrey’ (15 euros).  Went for a walk through the village and around the lake.

29.09     

 

It’s raining today (as forecast).  We’ve found out the camp closes today, but they kindly let us stay another night!  We thought it strange everyone left this morning!!, also found out that the other camps we’d planned to stay in Annecy are closed as well!!  Oh no we’re homeless!! 

Went on a run/brisk walk in the afternoon we went exploring and discovered there is lots to see and do here.  We found beautiful ‘Lac de Petichet’ framed by peaks and plateaus with lovely beach and restaurant not far from our camp.  There are four lakes in this area all with cycling and walking tracks, in fact there are many sign posted cycling and walking routes in the forests, lakes and summits between Gap and Gronoble (The guide of the ‘Rondonnees of Les Valbonnaise, Beaumont and Matheysine mountain ranges’).  We were surprised to see just how good the cycling is on the quiet, scenic mountain roads.

30.09
 

We followed the signs to Vizille but had to back track as the route was barred to all vehicles over 2.60 metres high (Lefty is 3.2 metres).   We took the deviation following the steep gorge carved out by Le Drac river. As we were so close, we decided to tackle Alpe d’Huez (elevation 1860 metres) in the Massif des Grandes Rousses.  We followed the signs to the little village of le Bourg-D’Oisans at the bottom of the mountain. 

 

There is a campsite here.  We took the steep and winding road 14kms up to the top.  Stunning panoramas overlooking the Romanche Valley!!  Evidently there are

21 hairpin bends and an average

gradient of 8.5 per cent. Record time for Le Tour to the top is around 37 minutes.  It’s hard to imagine how 500,000 plus fans can fit on this narrow, steep road to watch the race.  We saw a few courageous souls attempting the 14kms steep climb.  Because of Le Tour, it’s easy to forget that Alpe d’Huez is first and foremost an extensive ski resort with
245kms of pistes  and lodges right

by the chair lifts.  We got to the

finish line of Le Tour and took

photos of us on the ‘winner’s podium’!!

We then made our way into the Savoy with it’s peaks, dense alpine forest, lakes and rural life towards Chambery via Grenoble with it’s mountain ‘backdrop’.  Nearly got to Chambery and our

GPS decided to take a ‘quick bypass’!! It took us on the ‘circuit de Vignobles de Savoie,’ mountain vineyards and  the road becoming narrow, winding and steep !! we ended up leaving the valley and going up a mountain!!  Into alpine country, mountain villages and pastures up to the ‘Col des Pres’ in the ‘Parc Naturel Regional du Massif des Bauges’, elevation 1142 metres and at this altitude we’ve struck rain!!  However, we got to see some beautiful Savoie panoramas and lots of biking and hiking opportunities!! 

 

Our journey continued into the ‘Haute Savoie’ via Sevrier and into Annecy and a stunning panorama of the very blue Lac d’Annecy ringed by mountains.  250kms, we headed into town to the Municipal Camp,’ Le Belevdere’, one of the few campsites open in this area at this time of the year. (20 euros until end of Sept, 18 euros from 1 Oct). 

 1.10

Took advantage of a lovely sunny
day and walked into Annecy.  We wandered around the quaint old town and along the lakefront fringed by beaches.  Besides the ‘walkers, wanderers’ and buskers, there’s lots of activity both on and off the lake including cycling, blading, rowing, pedal boats and motor boats.      

Back to camp we grabbed the bikes and cycled an awesome bike path (including a tunnel), around the lake.  56kms and we were back at camp!

 

2.10

We headed west through pastures and plateaux, out of the
mountains of the Savoie and into the farmlands of the Department Ain. This region reminds us of the English countryside!  Via Bourg-en-Bresse and through Macon on the banks of the River Soane to the village of Paray-le-Monial and

Camping ‘Le Mambre’ (16 euros).  A nice rural camp with large pitches and very quiet at this time of year.

 

3.10        

After a wander around the village
of Paray-le-Monial we continued west through farmland to Moulins then turned north through Nevers and into one of our favourite regions, the glorious Loire Valley!  This is a part of the Loire we haven’t seen before.  200kms, we headed to the village of Briare, about 90kms from Orleans, and decided to go to a camp as the first ‘Aires’ we tried was crowded and the second was empty, best to be with other vans. 


We found ‘Le Camping du Martinet’ alongside the Loire and very close to town and the Briare canal.  Lots of character in this camp, there are several gypsy families staying in their caravans with young children, dogs, cats and birds.  (17 euros).  We went for a run/brisk walk along the banks of the Loire.  Lots of cycling and walking paths here.

 

4.10

We took the bike path along the
Loire towards town, passed the
Marina Canal which has 48 moorings and is situated on the old Briare Canal (17th Century). There are campervans free camping here and fishermen trying their luck.  The bike path then lead us to an amazing piece of engineering, the Canal Bridge.  The Bridge is made of metal and was built in 1890-1894 with the help of the engineer Eiffel.  It is the longest in Europe (663 metres) and allows both barges and pleasure boats to cross the Loire River and to pass from the left minor canal to the Briare canal.  It opened in 1896.  We biked passed a houseboat entering the Bridge,
a bizarre sight - a houseboat crossing above the Loire! 

We continued along the bike path through the woods and farmlands to the village of Saint-Brisson-sur-Loire and visited it’s  feudal 12th Century Chateau.  20kms back to camp via Briare ‘centre ville’ and the canal.  

On returning Col tested his fishing rod on the banks of the Loire – good fun even in the rain! Caught 8 ‘roach-like’ fish which we had for dinner.  It’s now pouring, nice ‘n cosy in the van!  First serious rainfall we’ve seen in a month!

5.10    

Once the rain had cleared we
continued our journey North towards Paris through Montargis to Souppes-sur-Loing, about 120kms from Paris.  We decided to stay in an ‘Aires’ camp opposite the canal and were lucky to get the last parking space.  (5 euros with electricity).   Walked the bike path along the canal, amazing that even in these small villages they cater well for cyclist and walkers!

 
6.10 – 10.10     

On the road to Paris early, through the beautiful old town of Nemours on the River Loing heading towards Fontainebleu.  As we entered the Paris had some excitement when we missed our turn off and ended up in the city centre heading towards ‘La Defense’, thank goodness it was early and a Sunday!!  Got to our chosen campsite on the Seine River, ‘Camping International de Maisons-Laffitte’. (16 euros).  A fantastic base for Paris and only 20 minutes by train!! 

Spent a wonderful time in our favourite city in warm autumn sunshine, strolling the Seine, the avenues and back streets, taking in the famous landmarks, visiting the Musee d’Orsay and Musee de l’Orangerie, the entertaining buskers, coffee on the Champs Elysees and meeting up with our French friends Rene, 
 Corinne, Guillaume and Justine for dinner and a wonderful evening in funky St. Michel.  More excitement on our way home from dinner as due to line maintenance our trains were cancelled.  We discovered this after waiting for an hour and had to make our
way by bus to another station to complete our journey arriving home at 1:30am!!

 

 

 

This completes our European adventure for 2013, once again we’ve had ‘the time of our lives’ and can’t wait to do it all again next year!!