Blogs from Alpe d'Huez, Rhône-Alpes, France, Europe

This entry by Tom. Another day, another superb Kyriad breakfast--the last one of our trip--here on the planet Venus. Yup, it’s going up to the mid-30’s AGAIN today. We heard stories of some from our group departing at 6am or thereabouts. Not me though. After a relatively long and challenging day on the bike yesterday, Caroline and I shoved off at about 9am with a plan to ride together until about noon. We figured that we could make it through Grenoble to Uriage-les-Bains and possibly Vizille. We tackled the steep climb out of Voiron and enjoyed the descent to the Isère river. There was traffic on D1075 as expected, maybe a bit more than expected. After several kilometres we saw a sign for a bike path to Grenoble. We checked our maps and couldn’t see it ... read more

With today being a layover day, I decided to take advantage of the fact that I didn't need to have my stuff packed and ready by 8:00 to sleep in as best I could - all the way to 7:30. That would have been quite luxurious (my body is still quite confused about what is going on, given my erratic sleep/wake times and eating cycles) were it not for the fact that I got to sleep (vs. to bed) late due to the rather sonorous slumber of my fellow traveller. Having had a reasonably hard day yesterday, and not wanting to revisit areas I have seen before, I ignored our suggested routes and opted instead to investigate Deux Alpes, a moderate climb on the other side of the valley from Alpe d'Huez. The climb itself was ... read more

It was markedly cooler following yesterday's rain (yay!) and gloriously sunny this morning, providing excellent conditions for today's assault on Alpe d'Huez. The Alpe isn't the highest or toughest climb around, but it does have a well-earned cachet that puts it on every serious cyclist's to-do list. I last climbed Huez 15 years ago, and I was curious to see what difference the passage of time would make. But first I had to deposit my bag in the hotel across the street from the lovely place where we have stayed the last 2 nights. I found out when I checked in after my ride that our new home is pricier but very much inferior, although I am pleased to report I did manage to reconnect the toilet seat to the toilet. But I digress. The road ... read more

I'm writing this on June 20, which has turned into a rest day in Bourg d'Oisans since we are spending 3 nights here and the forecast for today is not as good as tomorrow's. So to try and catch up: After supper in Valloire we were met by Brice from the Routes des Grandes Alpes office who had earlier (when we were researching things) expressed interest in our trip - as in he thought he would do a promotional video starring us! We were hoping he could provide some inside information about the state of the Col du Galibier since to this point it was still closed, but we had been hearing rumours of its imminent opening. In fact in the morning he actually drove up to see what the deal was, and of course I ... read more

We had finally got our chalet looking spick and span when I turned to see Viv waving out the window with a big smile on her face saying through her teeth ‘shit, they’re here’! I said, ‘Viv, the window’s open’. I went down to greet our guests; three of them had driven themselves and the others would be arriving later. They seemed nice but slightly intimidating given that they had stayed in the chalet every year for the past ten winters. We knew that their expectations would be high and were already nervous for the evening meal. Luckily, we had had time to prepare before they came and also our chalet manager, Jim, was helping us so the service went smoothly. The next day wasn’t quite the same; we had a lot of work to do ... read more