Beech's 1st moho adventure

[Ian Bosman]

We also saw some lovely cars on our drive down. I think it’s a bit more than patina now though...

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[Ian Bosman]

Upper photo shows a Peugeot 504, we had a "Familiale" which had three rows of seat, 2 litre petrol automatic which was brilliant at towing a caravan. Rusty buckets the 504 and the 505 but the 405 was a brilliant improvement. 504 was first in our long line of Pugs from 1978 until 2018 when we bought a Corsa having bought a motorhome, last ones were a 206 and 508, both excellent Pugs

 

[Riverbankannie]

Just caught up with this thread.
Wow and more wow.
The photos of you carrying your bikes on that precarious trail and those of you descending on those rocky, tree rooty paths are just jaw-dropping.

 

[Rob and Val]

Loving your adventures and photos are superb. Thank you!

 

[Andy Gos]

Great thread. Have really enjoyed reading it so far. Have a great time and look forward to its continuation. Thanks.

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[Ian Bosman]

Two dogs,

And a few choice pics from MH's phone:

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The two dogs, social distancing, no fear!

 

[Helen Ariel]

Hello mum human checking in. I'm not sure how many days have passed since the last update as time really is doing strange things and whilst on one hand it feels as though we've been in France for months as we've done and seen so much it only feels like a couple of days since we finished our mountain bike adventures.

Like most of Europe our region had a bit of a heat wave recently so after leaving the comfort of the camp site and catered holiday we headed into town (Bourg Saint Maurice) to get our 1st haircuts since before lockdown and stock up the fridge with food and lots of cans of beer. It is lovely to feel fresh air on the back of my neck again rather than a sweaty tangle of hair! We were quite pleased with ourselves at managing to have a good chat with the hairdressers during our cuts and they even complimented our French (being kind as i know it's terrible but i think they appreciate the effort)

Temperatures were around 36 that afternoon and due to be similar for the next few days so we headed up into the mountains about a 30 minute drive up many tight hairpins until reaching a beautiful open valley (le Rosuel) with views of snowy peaks, a distant waterfall and a shear rock face that has a vera ferrata on it. There is a smart toilet block, washing up sink, 2 carparks, pic nic benches and communal bbqs up here plus a few basic restaurant/cafes nearby.
It was still hot but more like 30 degrees at the peak of the afternoon.

The next morning we got going on a hike up the steep, wooded mountain side before it got too scorching and reached a viewing platform that looked across at the waterfall but still at quite a distance so we continued up until we reached the top and it levels out after some wrong turns we found an unmarked path that would take us back around the other side of the valley towards the waterfall. There was some pretty challenging rocky terrain and then a choice: go all the way back or cross a fast flowing, rocky stream at just above walking boot level so soggy feet for the rest of the steep descent. We went for it and DH carried Beech over so she couldn't be swept away. Eventually we made it so close enough to the waterfall that it's cooling spray was blowing onto our hot skin.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Internet flaky continued....

River crossing.

We spent 3 days up here, hiking, bathing in pools in the river regularly to cool down, a lovely rustic lunch at a restaurant, bbqs for dinner, watched an amazing thunder and lightning storm before coming back down to Landry/Bourg with the smell of burnt breaks on arrival!

 

[Lenny HB]

How did I miss this thread, looks like you are having a great trip, Helen & Paul.
Look forward to seeing more of your adventures.

 

[Helen Ariel]

How did I miss this thread, looks like you are having a great trip, Helen & Paul.
Look forward to seeing more of your adventures.

It's been amazing so thankful we made it over!

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[suavecarve]

How did I miss this thread, looks like you are having a great trip, Helen & Paul.
Look forward to seeing more of your adventures.

So many of us have missed this thread.
Its a cracker, keep up the great updates and photos
Thanking you in advance Helen Ariel

 

[Helen Ariel]

We have left France! An hours drive up a lot of hairpins and we've landed the most stunning spot of our trip so far. Just when you think it can't get any better it does!

We are parked on a grassy carpark at the edge of a meadow of flowers that drops off steeply to a clear blue lake and a panoramic view of rugged mountains and a snowy mont blanc. It's so much cooler up here and it has made me realise how the heat had been making me rather sluggish. Suddenly i feel inspired to cook and food seems more appetising. I think we'll stay here a few days despite not having much fresh food or booze on board. There's a restaurant and bar nearby anyway and I'm keen to do a few hikes/bikes from here and a dip in the lake will help save water consumption.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Well what an adventure Beech has had today! She hiked all the way up to Mont Lancebranlette at 2936m. It was steep and the air felt thin leaving me rather breathless and a bit dizzy but no trouble for Beech. Towards the top we had the most amazing encounter with a group of Ibex coming down the slope towards us and stopping only 10m away to graze. Then some hikers decending spooked them and we were a little concerned as we were on a section close to a shear cliff edge and they were trapped between us and the other hikers but miraculously they disappeared over this cliff and when we got up higher and peeked carefully over the edge we could just see one perched on this cliff of hundreds of feet drop. Just amazing.

The view from the top was panoramic snow capped mountains and we were perched on ridge with a staggering shear drop one side which made me feel rather vertiginous. The descent was as tough in some ways partly as my toes were sliding into my shoe ends and also as we didn't bring enough food and water so energy reserves were very low. Moving time was 3 hours 23 minutes. Ascended 2600 ft and back again. 6.3 miles.

 

[Glas Robin]

Superb thread. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your travels.

 

[Andy Gos]

Wonderful photo's. Great thread.

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[Just smiffy]

Finally caught up and so grateful for the pictures and commentary, although I try to get to most places I can, I would never be able to see views like this.....
Thank you and please please keep it coming....

 

[Helen Ariel]

Apologies. Yet again we’ve been tardy with the updates so brace yourselves for the pics from the last 10 days! Before that though, here’s another pic of the Ibex we encountered close to the summit of Lancebranlette. When I say encounter, it was more a case of they blocked the path so more of a Mexican stand-off while we very quickly decided to freestyle it up the steep slope to bypass them to the next switchback.

It was a large male and his gang of girls. His horns were at least 75cm long.

That’s Lancebranlette with the van parked in the bottom left, and the lake we swam in to the right. We took this pic as we cycled over to La Thuile which has more MTB trails.

 

[Helen Ariel]

We then hiked around the hill behind the lake. This pic was taken looking north into the Aosta valley which was our next destination.

Our destination was Pila which is the ski resort above Aosta. I’d been there 15 years ago with my MTB and was keen to see how it had changed. It’s held World Cup downhill races, and you can ride from 8,700ft down to 2,000ft in one go if you fancy it!

We parked up in the sosta right at the top of the trail which goes all the way to the valley floor, and near the chairlifts. That’s us by the red van.

 

[Helen Ariel]

We stayed for a couple of nights, rode our bikes for a day and did 17,500ft of descending in 36 miles. Needless to say we needed the pizzas that night! They were delicious and €8 each. Bargain.
Then we drove to La Thuile, en route back to Bourg St Maurice to pick up a spare part for one of our bikes. It is hard on kit & bodies out here so we took a few days off from riding and did some hiking instead.

Beech was keen for a Mum to get back from the less busy view of the waterfall.

We then went back up towards the Col du petit Saint Bernard, but stayed about a mile before the border in a quieter spot where we foraged some wild myrtle berries!

 

[Helen Ariel]

After we popped back to Bourg to do some life admin, ie laundry & bike fixing, we drove over the Col de I‘Iseran which is the highest paved road in the Alps at 2,764m. We’ve only had the brakes smoking once on this trip and miraculously it was not here. They did get hot though!
We stayed below the dam which created the Lac du Mont Cenis.

We’d been in the Alps for a month by now and decided to have a days drive south west to Grignan in the region famous for olives, truffles & Cotes du Rhone wine. After a quick degustation we picked 3 bottles for €18.

Nice to put something back into the local economy after they provided a lovely free aire amongst the oak trees & lavender fields. Free water from the local spring too!

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[busby]

Can't believe I missed this thread until today, Food for thought, crossing 1 Sept.. BUSBY.

 

[Lenny HB]

Can't believe I missed this thread until today, Food for thought, crossing 1 Sept.. BUSBY.

Must go into stealth mode, I never get any alerts for it.

 

[Helen Ariel]

From Grignan we decided to have another longer drive as we want to go and do some body-boarding. Our plan is to get to the Bay of Biscay for early September after watching some of Le Tour de France.
We ended up at the top of Mont Aigoual which is the windiest & wettest place in France, with views of Mt Blanc, the Med and the Pyrenees on a clear day! It was pretty cloudy and windy when we arrived but got even windier overnight. The view from the top was amazing.

It’s also the finish of a stage of Le Tour this year. We’d somehow managed to follow at least 2 stages as we’d meandered our way across Provence and into Occitanie.

Written on the back of the banner was a warning that it was under video surveillance! Everyone loves a souvenir.
Anyway we kept on trucking towards St Cirq La Popie where we’d been before, and a fabulous aire by the river. We planned our route to pass below the Millau viaduct and follow the Tarn gorge for a while. France continues to impress.

 

[Lenny HB]

We ended up at the top of Mont Aigoual which is the windiest & wettest place in France

Try Mont Ventoux (the windy mountain), I had to get up at 2 am to turn the van to face the wind, 6000 ft up 6 or 8 vans there in the evening next morning only one other brave soul. Bike cover torn to shreds.

This was the gas bottle after a summer night on Mont Ventoux.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Said viaduct lived up to the hype, especially viewed from the village of Peyre.

We continued driving through the gorge and have reached our first paid aire in over a month, and only our 3rd to date - campsite not included when we were MTBing! It’s a fully serviced aire on the shores of the Lac de Pareloup at €11.50 for 24hrs. We’re hooked up for the first time in about 2 months.

Clouded over a bit but it’s still lovely and warm. Swim tomorrow.

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[Helen Ariel]

Not sure why the last pic was upside down!

Feels strange to be surrounded by other motorhomes but the aire is well organised with every pitch facing west over the Lac de Pareloup. There are 3 tiers and they’re spaced so that nobody is overlooking anyone else. Water and power on every pitch with hedging separating you from your neighbours. We’re on the middle tier so have no passers by unless they’re our neighbours.
This layout means everyone had a view of last nights sunset. The first good one we’ve seen in a while as you don’t get views to the horizon in the mountains, and it’s been almost unbroken blue skies since we left the UK so no clouds to make it pretty. Not complaining about that though!

Everybody we have met so far in France & Italy have been super friendly and keen to chat. We’ve been made to feel very welcome.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Here’s some screenshots of where we stayed in the Alps, where we drove to across Provence, and where we currently are. We’re aware we’ve missed out lots but we don’t want to spend time in the busier parts of France, plus it’s been hot! Relatively cooler here today with it forecast to be mid 20s before rising into the 30s again!

We covered a lot of ground in a couple of days but are yet to use a toll road. Bimbling about on back roads at a max speed of 50mph suits us.

Current location.

 

[Just smiffy]

You see a lot more if you stay off the toll roads, I actively avoid them... loving the scenery

 

[Helen Ariel]

We’ve arrived on the free aire by the river Lot but it’s full so we’re parked up on a bit of grass close to the river. We’ve chosen this spot as there’s some MTB trails nearby. Is anyone spotting the theme here..?
The screenshot is from an app called Trailforks for any other MTBers out there.

It’s currently a balmy 31c at 17:15. Perfect for us & Beech especially after a swim!

You can see the aire behind us. All 8 spaces are taken and it looks like some people might be in residence for a bit!

 

[MR BLO]

Looks a lot different from my ride around a very wet Grizedale this afternoon. However the final result is the same - I too am having a dip in the river, only the water is 20 degrees cooler.
Loving the blog, giving me ideas for next summer. Safe travels.

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