# Alpestanding!



## philippec (Jun 16, 2002)

As mentioned <a href="http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=39855"> earlier</a>, I've been a busy boy this summer and have lugged my bike and camera all over France for my riding -- and you're viewing -- pleasure. Second from last stop was a week in the Aravis near Annecy with the family for some hiking and very serious demi-pensioning (half-boarding -- you know, room, breakfast and dinner included!). The bike came but it was let out on only a few rare ocasions -- I had ridden it hard and put it away wet when I was last here in June (see <a href="http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?postid=305686#poststop">my race report here</a>) -- and now was the time to really enjoy this area by foot and with my girls. I did manage to grab a few pictures on the few rides I did and have posted them here.

The first few are of the Gite d'Etape where we were staying in Manigod -- home to the Reblochon and Marc Veyrat's sister's restaurant! While we ate a lot of the former, we did not manage to eat at the latter -- pity!

Afterwards are some random shots of the landscapes around the Cols de la Croix Fry, Aravis and Colombieres -- and the last pic is a nod to MarkS: do you remember this stretch of road? It was -- more or less in your words -- "the most terrifyfing piece of asphalt you had ever ridden to date". Doesn't look so bad from above, does it?

A+

Philippe


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

*Absolutely awesome*

I'm am always awed by the altitude differences between the valleys and the high points in the alps. I live in some pretty big mountains but the geography can't compare to your pics. Incredible. Thanks!


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

*Whoops*

double post. Darn.


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## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

*Col de la Colombiere*



philippec said:


> Afterwards are some random shots of the landscapes around the Cols de la Croix Fry, Aravis and Colombieres -- and the last pic is a nod to MarkS: do you remember this stretch of road? It was -- more or less in your words -- "the most terrifyfing piece of asphalt you had ever ridden to date". Doesn't look so bad from above, does it?
> 
> A+
> 
> Philippe


Do I remember the descent from the Col de la Colombiere from the 2002 Etape? Like it was yesterday. Steep grades, switchbacks and, my favorite, gaps in the guardrails/blocks on the side of the road where cars had gone over the side -- Colobiere has it all. If you look carefully at the upper left quadrant of the picture that you posted, you can see some of the blocks about which I speak at the side of the road (all of the ones there appear to be intact, however). The 2002 Etape was my first experience with my descending from real mountain passes. I must be more brave or more stupid (or both) than I previously had thought. Notwithstanding my being scared to death on Colombiere, I keep coming back for more. 

Your Brittany pictures and now your Alpine pictures really want to make me jump on a plane and come back to France. Although I truly have developed a love of the Pyrenees over the past few years, the photos with Mont Blanc in the distance really make me miss the Alps.

A few weeks ago, I was at the local Whole Foods (aka FreshFields when you lived in DC) and they had both raw milk Reblochon and raw milk Raclette. Given that the temperatures were in the high 90s, I really was not in the mood for making Tartiflette or eating melted Reclette. The next day, when I changed my mind and went back, all of the raw milk cheeses were gone and the cheese department manager said that she did not know when they would be in stock again. I'm happy to hear that at least the C family is keeping the Reblochon makers in business.

Finally, a warning to all of my red-blooded, freedom fry eating compatriots: When Philippe finally posts the pictures from our trip to the Pyrenees, do not view the thread. If you keep reading Philippe's posts and looking at his pictures, you, too, will find yourself riding your bike around France, eating all kinds of good things that you will not find in your local Giant, Safeway, Kroger or Piggly Wiggly and spending all winter figuring out how you are going to convince your spouse/SO to let you go back to France for another trip. These report are like crack cocaine. As Nancy Reagan use to say: Just say no. LOL.

Mark


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

This post should be a sticky. I plan on traveling to Italy next spring for a tour and maybe an additional week in Slovenia. A culture that embraces cycling, great food and drink at a reasonable cost, scenery, and no ********. Stupid French, hate them.


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## wayneanneli (Jul 8, 2004)

Philippe,
Ick, les Alpes sont belles... I agree with Mark, your photos are like a drug - the more you look at them, the more they drag you in. Southern France is just amazing. Now that I live in Sweden, France is really accessible. Thanks for the great ride report.
Cheers, Wayne


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## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

*French *********



bigbill said:


> A culture that embraces cycling, great food and drink at a reasonable cost, scenery, and no ********. Stupid French, hate them.


France has ********. The difference is that the French ******** like cycling rather than NASCAR. This summer I was joking with Philippe that the Pyrenees were France's equivalent of Appalachia. Soon after my making my snide comment, I was hiking up a road (without a camera) when I saw a car on blocks. 

The parts of the Alps that are in Philippe's pictures are very close to the Italian border. So, when you are in Italy next spring, maybe you can sneak across the border for a little taste of France. Now that there are no border controls within the EU you can go between Italy and France and no one in authority need not even know that you have visited "enemy" territory.


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## The Walrus (Apr 2, 2000)

Astonishing views of the mountains; makes me feel like yodeling for the rest of the afternoon. Especially liked that shot with the fog drifting between the ridges. 

Add yet another location to my life list of places to visit....


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## philippec (Jun 16, 2002)

*col de la colombiere it is...*

and let me tell you, it seemed *a lot* easier than last time I did it! Of course, I had only ridden 30kms when I hit the bottom.

A+

Philippe


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## SteveCnj (Oct 6, 2003)

philippec said:


> As mentioned earlier, I've been a busy boy this summer and have lugged my bike and camera all over France for my riding -- and you're viewing -- pleasure. ....
> A+
> 
> Philippe


Those pictures can't be real, no place is that incredible. I call you out as an RBR fraud! 

(In the event that those places actually exist, great job!, thanks)


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## philippec (Jun 16, 2002)

*accessible, but not cheap!*



wayneanneli said:


> Philippe,
> Ick, les Alpes sont belles... I agree with Mark, your photos are like a drug - the more you look at them, the more they drag you in. Southern France is just amazing. Now that I live in Sweden, France is really . Thanks for the great ride report.
> Cheers, Wayne


accessible, but not cheap! It costs us as much, if not more to get to scandanavia as it does to fly to the States.... ouch! But yes, you should get down here while in Europe!

A+

Philippe


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## Leopold Porkstacker (Jul 15, 2005)

Those are some beautiful photographs. Keep up the great photojournalism.

-he who stacks pork


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