Day 10: Col de la Bonette

I woke around ten and after packing up camp set about planning the day’s route. By now this process had developed its own pattern; pick a direction and then fill it with a selection of small roads, using a point…

Day 9: Gorge du Daluis

It was with a heavy heart that I checked out of The Chocolate Tree this morning. Giovanna’s hospitality and the quiet ambience of the B&B had provided a perfect base from which to explore the Ligurian Sea Alps and the…

Day 8: LGKS, Take #2

Much of this region has changed hands between Italy and France over the years. Recent evidence comes in the form of inexpertly corrected roadsigns, where graffiti under the names of towns proclaims them to belong to Conte de Nissa, or…

Day 7: LGKS, Take #1

You’ll have to excuse the radio silence for the past few days. No, not blog fatigue, it’s been rather … interesting; I’ve wandered through abandoned Napoleonic forts, nearly come a cropper while riding in snow, and slept in a river…

Day 6: Gouta

When planning this trip I thought I might need a “short day” to relax at The Chocolate Tree and given yesterday’s late arrival I decided to play that card today. The plan was simple: 35 miles of trail riding to…

Day 5: Isolabona

I’m sitting on the terrace of L’albero Del Cioccolato (The Chocolate Tree), a beautiful B&B in the foothills of the Ligurian Alps, family home of the equally beautiful Giovanna and her charming parents. In true fashion it’s been another long…

Day 4: Digne

I had a strange dream that I’d gotten up in the middle of the night and ordered a new sat-nav. When I woke at 10:00 I was still tired and a check of the inbox confirmed matters: a hotel had…

Day 3: Guillestre

Ended up staying in a cheap motel in Bourg en Bresse after the tyre swap last night. There’s pretty much nothing to recommend the Forest Hotel – it was last refurbished in the 60s, the restaurant isn’t open at the…

Day 2: Bourg en Bresse

Yesterday was a late night with me only crawling into my pit at 01:00, so an early start was never on the cards. Still, consciousness and I became acquainted around 09:00 and by 10:00 I’d packed the bike and was…

Day 1: Châlons en Champagne

Nothing much to report as yet, so far it’s been a typical Bank Holiday escape mission; horrendous traffic with everybody rubbernecking at a car on its roof in the other carriageway of the M25, followed by madness at the Channel…