There are a couple of Tour de France going on at the moment, our own and some 3 week cycle race. Today was a day fo summits, we are actually ahead of THE Tour de France. In fact we have been surveying the route for them 😀😀. Stage 19 on Friday, from Ebrum finishes at Isola 2000, where we happen to be staying this week (no coincidence! ) It will cross 2 major summits on the way, the Col de Vars and the Col de la Bonette, the highest paved Road in Europe at 2800m.

We left Sablet this morning, and what better way to go than over the same 2 summits. As usual one or two incidents happened along the way. The first was a 45 minute hold up for no apparent reason at some random tunnel. Now this was quite significant as we had to get to Isola by 6pm to get the keys for our appartment. This slowed us down a bit but we still had plenty of time, it just meant fewer stops and a little less time admiring the magnificent Alpine scenery. We still managed coffee and ice cream stops. We even had time for a quick hello with Mr Fox near the top of the Col de la Bonette. He was not at all frightened of us as he leisurely ambled along next to the car.

Cycling supporters are mad!!! They are already camping on the side of the road for the stage on Friday. Camping cars in every available space covered with a multitude of different flags. We don’t envy the riders on the tour, these were some hills, both up and down, and at least we had time to view the magnificent panoramas.