Lots of twisty turny roads!

16th century castle in France.

July 12, 2015 - Today we had a free day to explore more of the French Alps.  We drove through 5 passes and 2 gorges.  One of the passes, Col de la Bonette, is the highests pass through the Alps at 9193 feet.

 According to Wikipedia:
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route.

So although we have driven our motorcycle up to Mount Washington, NH that is not a mountain pass because it is a dead end road.  The roads we drove today were through roads, we did not have to make a U-turn to come back down.  

Marker at the top of La Bonette Pass, highest pass through the Alps.

 The roads were bumpy and narrow, like a driveway. In the USA, the roads we drove would be considered one-lane roads.  We felt lucky to be on a motorcycle who could pass a car going the other way.  When two cars pass, or worse - a car and a camper, or even worse - a car and a bus pass, one of the vehicles may have to reverse before proceeding.  We never saw 2 campers or 2 buses pass each other, nor do we want to even think about what happens in those encounters.

 We saw many stunning views.  Mark and I agree that the camera is incapable of capturing the expansive views that we see.  Odile's hands have been busy "holding on" to Mark and/or the motorcycle, so camera shots while we are in motion are limited.  Nevertheless, below are some of the pictures we took today. 

We enjoyed a French white pizza with brie, bacon, Italian cheeses, and creme freche.  We asked for a red wine, but we got rose instead, perhaps because it was a better pair for the dinner.  We drank the rose.  Our French speaking ability is limited, and Odile was trying to converse with an Italian waiter speaking French mixed with English...  Sometimes it is easier to just take what you get..

 Tomorrow we have breakfast at our Embrun, France hotel before we drive to Sauze d'Oulx in Italy.  If we drove the highway, we would get there in 90 minutes.  Our route should take 6 1/2 hours, driving over 10 passes and seeing our first glimpse of the Italian Alps.  Vive L'Italia!