Tour of the Alps 2002
Back to Day 4-5
Day 6: 26 June 2002: a nice potter in the Alps
We had scheduled two nights at La Girandole. Owing to the
vagaries of setting up accommodation trans-Atlantically, we arrived at
La Girandole yesterday to find two rooms (as requested) with two
double beds (not as requested). None of us were a couple, after all.
One room had a "double" bed that was separable into two single beds,
so that was all right; it was possible to add a single bed to the
other room, so that worked out. The problem was with bedding. When
we requested a second set of bedding for the rooms, we were told by
the owner that he didn't have any. We worked out a stopgap with the
spare duvets and slept well in spite of it all. There is something
about mountain air that seems to guarantee a good sleep.
Morning at La Girandole found us making our way up to the
breakfast room on the top floor. A marvelous repast- far in excess
of the usual French breakfast- awaited us. The apricot tarte was
particularly good. Monsieur turned up with spare bedding, too- as it
turned out he didn't have any clean bedding to give us last night.
Thus fortified it was time to make plans for the day. I had mapped
out a couple of options, both of which involved descending the Col de
l'Izoard and turning towards Chateau Queyras. One option ascended the
Col d'Agnel to the Italian border, the other went past that turnoff
towards Aiguilles and the Foret Marassan.
Kirk and Keith were ready to climb some more hills, so they wanted
to go off to the Col d'Agnel
(2744 meters). I wasn't completely convinced and my shorts hadn't
dried out overnight, so I put them out into the sun to dry and bid
Keith and Kirk a good ride. Judy and I decided to have a leisurely
ride toward the Foret Marassan and see what turned up for lunch. From
La Girandole, you can blast down the side of the Izoard as it's
basically a straight shot down the fall line most of the way- I was
going 40 mph about 100 meters from the driveway of the gite. The road
passes through several hameaux- Brunissard, le Chalp, le Coin,
Arvieux, le Pasquier. It's just about 15 kilometers to the
intersection with the D947, where we turned left.
As soon as you turn, you can see the chateau
that crowns the hill overlooking the town of Chateau-Queyras. A
couple of kilometers later, you round a hairpin turn and a bridge into
the town. The chateau is old and unrestored, with a moat and
portcullis. It was not open for entry, although it seemed as though
one might have been able to find someone to unlock the place and show
you around. We walked up to the walls of the chateau and looked
around as much as we could- the view of the valley is excellent and
the strategic advantage is evident. There were a number of tourists
who appeared to all be part of a group from Germany on an artistic
tour of the Alps. Several of them spoke pretty good English and they
seemed more talkative and inquisitive than the French.
We wandered around the town a bit, stopping at
the fountain for water, and headed towards Ville-Vieille, where the D5
to Col d'Agnel turned off. The D947 through the valley was pretty
straight along the Guil river until we got to Aiguilles. There we
found a very medieval appearing town and stopped for lunch.
The poulet a la Basquaise was pretty good. This was the first
and only place I saw a number of overweight French people. After
lunch we rode up along the back streets through town, which reinforced
the medieval feel very much, to the church that stood above the rest
of the town and a cemetery that would have looked perfectly at home in
New Orleans.
After a while Judy and I decided to head back to Brunissard. On
our way we stopped in at a local artissanat store and browsed
around for a bit. Getting back to the gite meant climbing most of the
Izoard again. On the way up I stopped at a tabac in Arvieux to
get some shampoo, and nosed around a patisserie in search of
dessert. Climbing this part of the Izoard was unique in that it was
basically a straight road going up the side of the mountain. The only
other road like it was the lower part of the Galibier coming from the
Telegraphe, but in that case the sight lines weren't as unobstructed
as on the Izoard.
We got back at the gite and I showered and then did some laundry so
as to have two days' worth of clean cycling clothes. Kirk and Keith
returned from their adventure up the Col d'Agnel. It's a climb with a
reputation for being difficult, very high at 2744 meters. The weather
had been very foggy at the top with very limited visibility; they rode
a few meters into Italy (since it was there) and then back down the
hill. I have to admit I didn't feel all that bad missing out on
it...
After cleaning up and a rest we piled in the car and down to hill
to a restaurant that was supposed to have some expertise in vegetarian
cuisine. Keith, as a vegetarian, was having some difficulty finding
things to eat as the French are not shy about meat. As was the case
in virtually every restaurant, dinner was very good. I quite enjoyed
the large cat roaming about the dining room at will- something you'd
rarely see in the U.S. Back to the gite, a bit of reading and then a
late night huddle around the maps, and we were off to dreamland.
22.50 miles (36 km) in 2:19:15.
On to Day 7
