Driving in France and Italy 2014

After some marathon drives across France last summer, I have made a new rule this year. No one-day trips longer than 650 kilometers (400 miles). So far, I have driven from the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris to the Vosges (505 kilometers) to the Baronnies north of Mont Ventoux (610 kilometers) to Saint Savin in the Pyrénées (575 kilometers) to Biert in the Ariège Pyrénées (175 kilometers). The drive from Biert to Bormio Italy was 1130 kilometers, so I spent the night in Saint Jean-de-Maurienne, which is about halfway. I still have to drive back to Albertville, France (525 kilometers) and then back to Paris and the airport (650 kilometers). In the end, I think that I will put over 4000 kilometers (2500 miles) on the Dacia (my leased car). You can see the Dacia in the photo below. Its the red car with red plates next to the grey Porsche. The other red car is a Ferrari.

I leased the Dacia Sandero for five weeks from Renault USA. It came to me brand new. The Dacia runs on diesel (cheaper fuel and really good mileage) and has GPS, although the GPS is a different brand than last year's car. Last year, the voice on my GPS was Serena. This year's GPS is nameless. If you are wondering what a Dacia is, the car is made in Romania. These cars used to have a reputation akin to a Yugo. However, Renault bought Dacia in 1999. The Dacia now seems to be a bit more reliable. Oh, the car has a manual transmission too. You don't find too many automatics in Europe.

If you haven't driven in France or Italy, they drive on the right side of the road, the same as in the U.S. There are differences though. Italy and especially France is the land of the roundabout.  The roundabouts do seem to control speed, but they must be trying to save money on traffic lights. The roads can be divided into autoroutes (tollways), two-lane roads, one-lane roads with a strip down the middle, and one lane roads. It's amazing to see trucks and tour busses using some of these smaller roads.

Autoroutes are expensive. A 600 kilometer trip on the autoroute might cost 40-60 euros (1 euro = $1.34). Fuel is also expensive, but unlike the U.S., diesel is cheaper. I have seen it as low as 1.25 euros per liter in France to as high as 1.65 euros per liter in Italy. That's over $8 per gallon.  The cheapest place to top off is usually the supermarket. The most expensive places are on the autoroutes. If you buy fuel at a French supermarket, you will need to find out that has a manned kiosk, so you can pay cash. Otherwise, the supermarket pumps expect a pin-and-chip credit card, which your U.S. issued credit card is not. The unmanned pumps in Italy accept euro notes, so this is not a problem.

The speed limit on the autoroute is 130 kilometers per hour. My pet peeve about French and Italian drivers is that they think it is okay to stay 10 feet off your rear bumper when you are traveling at 130 kilometers per hour even if there is a line of cars in front of you. The Italians seem to bit a bit worse than the French, but both at least respect cyclists.

Finally, Italy is the land of tunnels.  To get to Bormio, I drove the length of Lake Como.  But I saw very little of the lake.  Most of the time was spent driving through tunnels.  However, the biggest tunnel was the Fréjus road tunnel. It runs under Col du Fréjus in the Cottian Alps between Modane in France and Bardonecchia in Italy for 13 kilometers (8.1 miles).  It's expensive (42 euros one-way or 53 euros if you return within 7 days).  I did not like driving underground for over 8 miles.

Wednesday Morning Ride up the Stelvio

One of the most famous climbs in Italy is the Passo dello Stelvio. At 2757 meters (AKA 9045 feet), the Stelvio is the highest pass in the eastern Alps and the second highest pass in the Alps.  That honor goes to Col de l'Iseran in France, which is only 13 meters higher.  Of course, there are higher passes in the Colorado Rockies, but you also start climbing at a much higher elevation. The elevation of Bormio is only 1225 m (4019 ft).

There are three routes to the top of the Stelvio. The route from Bormio is very difficult, gaining 1557 meters (5108 ft) in 21 kilometers (13 miles). The average gradient is 7.3%, but there are extended sections of more than 9%, and it gets as steep as 14% at one point. The northern and eastern approaches are even more difficult.

The Stelvio is often included in the Giro d'Italia, Italy's grand tour. The Giro is held each May, so there is still lots of snow on the Stelvio. Stage 16 of the 2014 Giro went over the Stelvio in a blizzard. Stage 20 of the 2012 Giro came up Bormio side to finish at the top.

The Stelvio is famous for its switchback turns. There are 39 switchbacks if you ride up from Bormio, and they are all numbered in decreasing order. The pavement is good to excellent, and even though you are above the tree line, you are on the shady side of the mountain if you ride up in the morning. The downside of the climb is that there is a lot of traffic as well as seven tunnels that you must ride through. The tunnels are one lane wide and can be wet, but there are much better now than in the past. The pavement is very good and the tunnels are now lit. The Giro was the reason for the improvements.

My recommendation is to be a wimp and take lights for your bike.  Imagine meeting a full size tour bus in one of these tunnels. I never ride during the daytime with lights, but I made sure that my bike had both front and rear flashing lights. It give me a modest degree of comfort. Apparently, everyone else was comfortable without lights.

The Stelvio would be one of my favorite rides if it were not for the tunnels and the traffic (especially the motorcycles). As it is, I will just check it off my bucket list.

Looking down the north side

The top of the Stelvio looks like a three ring circus

The Ariège Pyrénées

Les Deux Velos

I am staying at Les Deux Vélos, a small cycle lodge in the Ariège Pyrenees. The hotel is located in the Massat valley between the villages of Massat and Biert.  Mark and Elma, the owners, are from Holland  and took over the lodge in 2008.  Before that time, Les Deux Vélos was the Roquefort Cycling Lodge, founded in 1991.  This is a great base for exploring the Ariège.  Some of the famous climbs nearby are the Col de la Core, Col de Port, Col d'Agnés, Port de l'Lers, Portet d'Aspet, and Plateau de Beille.  There are also lots of little backroad cols that are not as famous, but some, like the Col de Crouzette, are very demanding.  Elma is a wonderful cook, and you will have a hard time keeping your weight down at Les Deux Velos.

Historical Tidbits

The Ariège is old.  If you go over the Col de Port, you can descend down to Tarascon.  Nearby is the Prehistoric Park with cave paintings dating back to 10,000 B.C.  In fact, the Ariège has more prehistoric caves than any other area in France.

The Ariège was also the home to the Cathars, a branch of Christianity that was a direct challenge to the Catholic church in Rome.  Eventually, the Cathars were suppressed.  About 15 or 20 kilometers to the east of Tarascon is the chateau (castle) of Montsegur, the site of a Cathar massacre. The chateau stands on a mountain about 1000 meters above the valley below.  Montsegur was one of the last holdouts of the Cathars.  The castle survived a siege from an army of 10,000 for 9 months, until in March 1244, the Cathars finally surrendered. They were given 2 weeks to convert to Catholicism. Over 200 knights and their families were burnt alive when they rejected these terms.

Another interesting Ariège town is Aulus-les-Bains, one valley over from Les Deux Vélos.  The town can be reached by going down the valley to Oust and then up the next valley, climbing over the Col du Sarriellé (not too demanding on a bicycle), or climbing up and over the Col d'Agnès (very demanding).  From Aulus-les-Bains, you can continue up Col de Latrape and then on to the ski area of Guzet Neige for a great view of the Ariège Pyénées.  Aulus-les-Bains is known for its thermal springs and was very popular during the Belle Époque (late nineteenth century).  People who were "invalids of love" frequented the thermal springs. This disease was otherwise known as syphilis.  Before modern antibiotics, syphilis was treated with mercury, which may have been worse than the disease itself.  The thermal baths of Aulus-les-Bains were thought to have counteracted the effects of the mercury.  Now that we have penicillin, Aulus-les-Bains markets itself as a cholesterol spa.

The Market in Saint Girons

Every Saturday morning, Saint Girons (about 20 km to the west) hosts a market.  This is one of the best markets that I have seen in France.