Barcelonnette and the Southern Alps

Barcelonette is a town located in the southern Alps of France.  Although it is the largest city in the Ubaye Valley, it only boasts about 2700 inhabitants.  The town was founded in 1231, although the Romans lived in the area in the first millennium B.C.  During the Middle Ages, control of the area bounced back and forth between France, Savoy, and Provence.

Between 1850 and 1950, Barcelonnette was the source of a wave of emigration to Mexico. On the outskirts of town, there are several houses or villas "colonial style" erected by emigrants to Mexico, who returned to the country between 1870 and 1930.

The town is hit hard by the First World War, with 81 deaths. During the Second World War, the Ubaye valley was one of the important centers of resistance mobilization that followed the invasion of Normandy. The city was liberated in the summer of 1944, before the arrival of Allied troops.

The city is now mainly a tourist and resort centre, serving many ski lodges. The Pra Loup ski area was the finish of a stage of the 2015 Tour de France. Barcelonnette is the only subprefecture of France that is not served by rail transport.

As far as cycling goes, the area is famous for the Brevet des 7 Cols.  These are seven mountain passes that climbed from the Ubaye valley.  You can get a punch card from the local tourist office and validate your achievement at the top of each climb.  Although I haven't done all of the climbs, I have been to the top of the Col de Vars and the Col de la Cayolle (twice each ) as well as the Col de la Bonette, Europe's highest pass.  If you climb all seven cols, you will have cycled 400 km and done 7200 m of climbing.

Although it is not part of the Brevet des 7 cols, the climb to Maljasset gets special mention. This is a 72 km out and back ride which climbs up to the hamlet of Maljasset, one of the highest inhabited villages in Europe. The climb is fairly gentle, save one section of 8% and one brutal kilometer of 11%.

On a side note, it snowed the night of July 14.  The  Col de la Bonnette and the Col de la Cayolle were closed the next morning—much to the frustration of a group of motards.