Tuesday, September 26, 2017 | Domenico Schiano Moriello | Europe
We have reached our final destination, we are at the feet of Mt. Blanc! How impressive this huge mountain! The ride was shorter than the previous ones, but not less fun, so we reached the hotel in time for some relax at the spa before going for dinner.
Issam, Patrick, Ziad, Nadim, Rabih, Camille, Emmanuel, it was a great pleasure meeting you and riding with you, see you soon on another tour!
Today we reached the Alps and it was the longest ride of the tour, around 340 kilometres of curves! And not only curves, also the landscapes were spectacular, especially on the Combe Laval (the road was unfortunately closed, so we could not ride it all) and the Gorges de la Bourne. I was tempted to use the highway after Grenoble but we also rode on the Chartreuse mountains before finally reaching Aix les Bains! What a day!
We left Albi and during the first part of the route we could almost feel like we were in Tuscany: beautiful countryside and picturesque villages. Our first "official" stop was in Roquefort, where the “king of cheeses” (as the french use to say) is produced in natural caves with a constant temperature and humidity. We then passed under the stunning Viaduct of Millau - tallest in the world and taller than the Eiffel Tower before heading to the Gorges du Tarn, another spectacular road! Le Puy en Velay has a very beautiful historic centre that we could explore a little bit before dinner.
The Gorges de Galamus, a system of bizarrely shaped canyons, formed by the river Agly and its numerous springs, was our highlight in the morning. The road is really carved into the rock, take a look at the pictures to have a better idea! Beautiful winding roads took us then to Carcasonne, where we had (quite late!) lunch inside the beautiful medieval citadelle. And on the last part of the day we also had the pleasure to had Mike riding with us, and he guided us to the hotel in Albi, located just above the river Tarn. What a beautiful view!
Leaving Castelldefels, we quickly approached the holiest place in Catalunya, the mountain range and monastery of Montserrat. Not only it is a holy place, also the roads around make it a paradise for motorcyclists! After a very nice lunch break in Vic, the weather changed as we hit the mountains and we entered France under a quite heavy shower... so not many pictures for the second part of the day!