Start of the France chapter of this adventure

Saint Bernard at the top of the Grand St Bernard Pass

So I decided that yesterday's plan was rubbish and so changed everything after "get to the top of Grand St Bernard". I had a great day because of it, although got on the wrong train in the morning, had to go an extra 20kms as Google thought the address for my booked accommodation was different to where it actually was, and the Spot Tracker ran out of batteries. However, I did miss the rain by about 2 minutes so all is well that ends well. And I am now in France!!

So after yesterday's blog I had an uneasy feeling about the plan so did some more checking around routes etc. Strava Heatmap (google it, awesome for route finding) showed a lot of tracks down the Swiss side of the Grand S. Bernard pass even though my maps showed it to be a motorway. I had a look through different maps and it didn't show any motorways at all. I then did some more reading and people were saying that the road is a lot quieter and safer since the Mont Blanc tunnel opened.

I then thought about the train to Geneva, and the fact that it didn't get me any further down my route, and in fact took a day away from me if anything. So, I decided to crack on. What could possibly go wrong...

So I got all sorted in the morning, got packed up, was at the train station just after 8am for the 8:35 train to Aosta (the base of the Grand S. Bernard pass) to allow time for tickets, validating the bike (i.e. paying 3.50 EUR), finding the platform and all that. Unfortunately there was no counter to 'validate' the bike so I went to the ticket machine and just got a ticket for me (was really easy as had English as an option). Looked at the timetable and the live info boards and found the correct platform. All was going well.

A train then arrived at the platform, one door to one carriage opens and the conductor ran off and talked to his friends. A little bit of chaos ensued by the locals as to how to get on the train before the conductor yelled across three tracks something and everyone then piled into the one open door. It was the right platform, the right time, so I got on.

It wasn't to just before the train got 20 minutes down the line when the conductor checked my ticket and said I was on the wrong train. He did suggest I get off and get on another one and return to Ivrea and then get the right one to Aosta though, very helpful. The guy then opposite me starting rabbiting on in Italian (even though about three times I said I couldn't speak Italian) and kept pointing at his watch. I could not understand if he was saying I was stupid or that I have wasted a lot of time or a little bit of both maybe. Anyway, the ride back to Ivrea was fine, as was catching the right train to Aosta. I have to note though that I was not the only one heading back and forth, there was at least a dozen of us who got on the wrong train.

Anyway, so Rose has now been on a plane, train and automobile (and ferry) as we got to Aosta only an hour later than expected. From there the climb up Grand S. Bernard starts almost immediately and to be honest hardly changes in gradient all the way for 32kms. It hovers around 6% for the first q0kms, where you start on some switchbacks.

The first of the switchbacks

As you climb out of those the road levels out a bit for a km or two to allow your breath to come back. Then it gets back into the 6%. I was really confused when planning as my maps told me this was a motorway (and bikes aren't allowed on motorways - hence my planning concern), but on climbing it I can now see the confusion. In true Italian form it had signs up for the road being both a motorway and an open road.

There was not much traffic up there at all either really. One comment I read last night in planning (the 2nd time) was that traffic had decreased a lot since the Mont Blanc tunnel opened. Considering it was a Saturday, and normally passes are full of cars in weekends, maybe the comments are true.  This is particularly true after the road does actually split, and the motorway goes into a tunnel and the open road continues winding its way up wit even less traffic.

The last third of the climb is really my favourite part. Although the gradient ramps up, you climb out of the tree line into the rugged countryside. This is where more switchbacks happen as you push through the last of the climb to the top. Today there was a lot of cloud about as well which made it look a touch eerie. Was really quite cool to cycle into.

Climbing into the cloud

At the top, I only just saw the St Bernard statue out the corner of my eye because of all the cloud, and it is just before the Italian/Swiss boarder. I stopped obviously and had a look. Turns out around 1050 Bernard (wasn't a Saint back then) made a hospice on the pass to protect the travelers crossing from bandits and getting lost. It was really successful. The hospice decided to used dogs and so bred the St Bernard to be big to leap through snow, and to have good smell to hunt out people. The dogs only stopped being used in 2004, but there are still some there in summer for show and tell. So there you have it...the pass is named after a hospice that is named after the guy who set it up, and the dog is named after the hospice as well.

So I got a photo next to the pass sign as always, only to be told by a guy I passed on the way up something in French and him pointing further down the road. So off I went only to realise that in the murk of the cloud the road climbed up slightly more and went past the Swiss border I and I finally got a photo going past one.

 Past the Swiss border is the real top, and the hospice of course, as well as a lot of shops selling Swiss Army knives and dog soft toys. There was also a nice lake up there splitting the Italian and Swiss sides, which the cloud briefly opened up to let me see.

Unfortunately I did not see any of the real dogs, so I went into a cafe and got a coffee and cake as an excuse to be in warmth while I put all my gear on. After paying the equivalent of the price of a small house in Huntly for the food (I was back in Switzerland) and all dressed up I sped off downhill. As soon as I started off I came out of the clouds and was greeted by blue sky everywhere. No frozen hands this time!

The downhill was really awesome. Long, decent gradient, but there were not enough corners unfortunately to really have fun. I also realised that the descent was also not a motorway so my maps really were telling porkies!  

actually, just a random aside. I got really confused again around the border as to what language to speak. So I was going from Italy to Switzerland, but from about half way up the climb everyone started saying "hi" in French. at the top French was what everyone was speaking as well. Why French? Confusing! Luckily this time I did a little bit of study. 

So anyway, downhill I went for a very long time. I do think it would be incredibly boring to come up the Swiss side I noted as I descended. Once the downhill finally stopped after about 40kms, I was on flat road again before climbing for the second time today up the Pas de Morgins and over the French border - three countries, one day! This is not a famous pass, and was OK, but was just a road that wound up through small villages on normal roads really. Was awesome though to cross into France and have a real feeling like the next chapter was starting! 

From the pass it was only 7kms to where Google placed the hotel I pre-booked last night. I wanted something booked just in case of a headwind or something slowed me down during the day and as I did not know how easy or hard it was to find accommodation in France I wanted some certainty (I now know I will not have any issues compared with Italy). 

Arriving at the dead end street up a 13% short incline I relised that there were no pensions there, or houses of any kind at all for that matter. So I double checked a few things and realised that I was in the town of Chef-Lieu, and the accommodation was in a town just down the road on Chef-Lieu Road. Hmm. Gutteed. It was 5pm and was happy to have arrived, and conversely gutted with having to go another 20kms down the road to find a bed. There was a lot of accommodation around me and I did contemplate choosing any one of them and writing off my booked accommodation as collateral damage but as my legs felt fine and it was in the general direction I was going I decided to carry on. 

Thankfully the place is grate and was worth the trip, and the owner understood stomaches of cyclists and ensured I was well fed above what was in the set menu. So, really great day with a great climb in there, and really happy with my decision to keep cycling today instead of returning to Ivrea and training to Geneva tomorrow. Tomorrow I will head off to Forclaz and Joux Plane I hope.

Highlight: Climbing into the clouds, really added to the beauty of the harsh surrounds.

Lowlight: Starting an hour late because of train issues.

Lesson Learned: Trust no one!! Especially google maps.