(E) Bourg-d'oisans
Total mileage : 953 miles.
Leaving Chambéry was pretty straight forward but of course I had to complicate things. I needed oil for the bike. Having done almost 1000miles in the heat I knew she would have used some as vapour from the hot engine, getting fed back into the air box. All part of the emissions control system on the bike. There were a couple of bike dealers but they were buried in industrial estates and it took a while to get to them with the sat nav. When I finally had oil and tried to make my escape the road system, geared up for wagons and such like using the industrial estate, pushed me straight onto the motorway heading for Grenoble....not what I wanted to do. I wanted to go the scenic route today but it wasn't to be.
The journey was only 76 miles, just over an hour, aided by the fact I had bought an electronic tag for going thru the toll booths on the French motorways. No more fumbling for credit cards, especially in the rain, I simply rode up to the barrier, slowly and up it opened and the money was automatically taken out of my bank account. Easy.
Bourg-d'oisans is nestled down in a valley amongst the French Alps and is a mecca for motorcyclists and cyclist's alike with it's many switch back roads leading up into the mountains. Paul, being a keen cyclist, had wanted to come here for some time; hire a bicycle and peddle his way over the mountain sections of the tour d'france. I just wanted to tour and go camping.
Camping 5 étoiles Isère is a 5* campsite just outside the town. It's situated at the bottom of the road that leads to the Alpe d'Huez. It's about 8 mile long going and climbs up over 3000 feet with 21 hair pin bends to the little town/ ski resort at the top. People on all sorts of wheeled vehicles are drawn to it. Paul told me the campsite was at the bottom on the left but he didn't tell me the entrance was right on the bend and it was poorly signposted. I missed the turning.
That was it, I was committed, fully loaded to ride up the road as far as I could untill I could find any where to turn around. The little bike struggle on the bends but it made it about 1/3 of the way up before I could turn around at a time church. Coming down was engine braking all the way otherwise I would have burnt the brakes out.
Paul had got us a large pitch, easily big enough for the 2 tents and bikes and he had been there since Wednesday, hiring a bike and cycling up the mountains. Once the tent was up it was time to walk down and find the supermarket.
