Hot and cold

From Aosta, we head towards Mont Blanc, always travelling along the SS26. Despite the early hour, it is still very warm. The route is relatively varied, but overtaking is only possible to a limited extent. Due to the relatively early start, we are nevertheless travelling without any major delays.
The Little St Bernard allows us to turn left before the Mont Blanc tunnel and the tight bends that take us, bend by bend, to the Italian-French border at the pass are also small.

We stop on both sides of the border for photo shoots, scenery, organic needs, souvenirs, etc…. but a cool wind is blowing and so we head back down through the first ski villages towards Val de Isere.
Before reaching the village, the reservoir invites you to stop and dressing warmer is now a hot tip again 😉 , because the route leads higher up to the Col de Iseran.

However, it surprises us with sunshine and a lack of wind, so we join hundreds of other motorcyclists at the top of the pass to add the striking sign to our photo library.
Or even just to go for a little gravel ride.
This is all the more amusing as it gives us – once again – the opportunity to observe the male GS riders avoiding gravel parking areas.
And so the pass road is parked up with big bikes for 50 metres to the left and right. Instead, the KTMs, Yamahas and Suzukis are parked in the gravel car park….

Then it’s back down into the beautiful valley (Bonneval) and the name says it all. We stop in Bessans for a well-deserved lunch break. (This brings back memories of the 2018 tour to the WIMA France national meeting).
We continue into the valley, past the turn-off to the Col de Cimis (and another well-known car repair shop) until we reach the turn-off to the Col de Telegraphe.

As we don’t want to experience another fuelling disaster, we refuel at robber baron prices in Valloire and then head back up to the Col du Gallibier. Here, at the latest, with the view of the bends down into the valley towards Briancon, every WIMA’s heart leaps for joy.
The landscape and roads merge into a single pleasure and make the appeal of motorcycling even clearer.

Which is absolutely unusual by Austrian standards: roads like this, at this time of year in Austria, and you “drive” up the mountain in a convoy of cars, motorhomes, cyclists and, of course, motorcyclists. And here: Enough mixed traffic, but never so much that it detracts from your riding experience, c’est magnifique! And, these fantastic, perfectly tarmaced roads cost nothing, zero, nulle…
Which there are here too: Photographers. They sit at the side of the road (usually with a big sign with a website attached) and take pictures of everything and anything that goes up or down the mountain.
A great service, but without an exact web address and time, it can sometimes be a bit tedious to scroll through 100s of photos in the evening to perhaps find the perfect shot.
Halfway up the road into the valley, there is a turn-off to Grenoble at the Col de Laurent, but we follow the road towards Briancon and the yellow Diablo (but that’s another story).
For today, we drive through Briancon from west to east, leaving the impressive fortifications to the right and left, and continue quickly. Our accommodation is just before the Italian border in the sleepy ski resort of Montgenevre.