Hiking and biking the French Alps . 11 days in July-August/2025
Summer 2025.....Yeehaa
More Pics☝
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7wGnwVrJwe1h7RfJA
This summer we travelled to the valleys of Serre Chevalier, Cervieres, Vallouise and the valley des fonts, all around the city Briançon in the French Alps.
La Salle les Alps (1397m) was the first village were we stayed.
From here we did a gravel ride to the top of the Col du Lautaret (2058m) and continued to the top of the Col du Galibier(2642). Very nice climb and beautiful scenery. In total 57K and 1300m climbing.
Day 2 was a gravel climb up to the col du Granon (2413m). Exactly, the grind path stopped 6K below the top, so we joined the road cyclists for a bit. It was a heavy and not well surfaced gravel road so by the time we were on the road most of the energy was gone😀...No pain no gain...From the top we continued on a old military gravel road down to Val-des-Pres and Briançon. Total 46K with 1200m climbing.
Day 3 was a kind of relaxing day which started in Chantemerle. We hiked along a small canal which was build in the 14th century to Briançon, had a coffee and croissant, strolled through the old part and afterwards went up the mountain with a skilift and hiked to the Serre Ratier ski station just above Chantemerle and went down. Good for 20K .....kind of relaxing😊.
Day 4 we moved our "Gus the bus"van from Chantemerle to Vallouise in the Vallouise valley.
Strolling through the village and a small bike ride beside the Le Gyr river, including the climb to Puy-Saint-Vincent was the only thing we did. The scenery was amazing. This part is also were the Ecrins national park is located
Only 27K that day and 650m elevation....
Day 5 we entered the Ecrins Nat. park . Starting in Vallouise (1149m) with a 8.5K cycling climb (500m elevation) through the village Le Villard to a small hut were the road ends. We switched our cycling shoes for hiking boots and hiked up 4K to Refuge des Bans (2076m). Had a tasty soup and some cheese at the hut....including the nice scenery.....what a day. (Total 1000m elev.)
At the end of day 5 we moved our van a little deeper into the national park and found a campsite (municipal) in the tiny village Ailefroide. A ver big campsite with few restrictions where to park or camp. There is place for 500 vehicles. It is a climbing walhalla with more than 500 climbing routes around. Very chilled and surrounded with mountains. In the evening there's little light so on a clear night you can see lot's of stars..and we did.
Still day 6😊....only hiking shoes that day.
15K hike up to Refuge du Sélé (2550m) with the last 500m mainly steel cables and lot's of scrambling to do, but the effort was very rewarding. Total of 1000m elev. gain.
Day 7 was our last day at the campsite. So we took our time with a lovely breakfast in the sun and enjoying the scenery.
Afterwards we did a small bike ride to the end of the valley/road to Refuge du Pré de madame Carle (1864m). 13K with 390m elev.
In the evening we parked our van in Briançon and did a 8,5K hike with 400m elev. around the castle and had a beer beside the city lake. Nice side of the city.
Day 8 was again..... all about cycling.
The plan was to climb to the top of the Izoard (2360m) via the small village Cervieres. Enjoying the top with fellow cyclists and bikers, made some pictures and going back the same road to turn off at Cervieres and climb into the valley Des Fonts. A beautiful valley where the road ends at a refuge were we had a delicious omelet with cheese and salad before returning. Total 65K and 1700m elev. gain.
Again a very nice day on the bike🌞🌞
Day 9 Last night we had a clear night again and i saw 2 falling stars....yeehaa...but the next morning we woke up at a the blue lake in Arsine planning to do a hike but it was raining and 14 degrees so we drove further to Allemond (702m) in the Oisans. Here the weather cleared up so we could get active again. We did a 15K hike around the lake, had a picknick and hiked up to the ski village Vaujany and Oz. Total 600m elev gain.
Day 10 we cycled the famous Tour de France mountains Glandon ( 1924m) and Croix de fer (2068m).
Many cyclists, bikers and cars on top but the scenery and ride was beautiful. There is a small hut which sells food and drinks so we chilled there for a moment enjoying a drink, the scenery and did some people watching....also nice.
Day 11.....our last day in the alps😒
From the campsite we cycled on the "voie vert", cyclingpaths in France to the beginning of the Alpe d'huez climb. Climbed 6 turns from the famous 21 turns. We exactly did this climb 28 years a go. It's a classic but also busy with cars and trucks. After 6 turns we entered the village Le Garde and cycled to Grand-Châtain with some magnificent views. Then going down to Le Freney were we had to follow the very busy road D7091 for a couple of kilometers and finally turn off to start the Col de Sarenne (1999m) climb. 
First through the village Mizoén and a thick forest road. The last 6 or 7K was very open with mountains and glaciers to see......were in heaven....haha😁. We noticed that the climb isn't that famous. Not that much cyclists as on the other climbs....and it is so beautiful.
First through the village Mizoén and a thick forest road. The last 6 or 7K was very open with mountains and glaciers to see......were in heaven....haha😁. We noticed that the climb isn't that famous. Not that much cyclists as on the other climbs....and it is so beautiful.
After a nice break and a Orangina we went down to Alpe d Huez village, had a small lunch and continued to Allemond. Total 70K and 2020m elev. gain.
After a well deserved beer, meal and a good night sleep we slowly drove to Belgium with a stop at Lac de Petichet, hiked 6.5K around the lake, enjoyed a coffee and continued.
So this was our French Alps experience. The scenery was amazing, We met a lot of friendly people and the sun was shining most of the days.
Thank you France!!!!!
Check the link below for more pictures.
Comments
Post a Comment