The Tigers had eaten here quite a bit and the fondue was well tried and tested. Despite Michelles talk of cheese hangovers and Steves morbid health warnings, they couldn't sway us or themselves from the idea. Fondue got a unanimous vote all round.
Very nice it was too. It's not just melted cheese and bread. They mix wine with the cheese, and give you a plate of filthy processed meats too. You couldn't live on it every day, at least not for very long, but I'll defo have it again. Catherine really enjoyed it too. Possibly a bit too much, but she's on a serious cheese binge after weeks of avoiding all dairy products on her faddy eater plan.
We all went our separate ways the next morning. Steve, Michelle and Zach had a ferry home to catch while we were heading south.
Guys, thanks again for everything. We gatecrashed your family jollies with empty hands and sparse panniers but left well fed and watered.
While there were ferry duties to the north, there were great riding roads to the south.
We worked out a route down south that, with the exception of a couple of unavoidable towns, stuck completely to the scenic twisties. At the end of the day, I'm struggling to think of a single bad road today. There was a nice mixture of fast twisties, some lovely towns and some tighter technical stuff. We rode through forests, tunnels and canyons. The weather was sticking around 36 degrees.
The bike is a completely different beast this year too. Gareth at Reactive Suspension near York recently changed the rear shock spring. I reckon he got it spot on. The bike always suffered when it was fully loaded. It used to wallow about and bottom out, which was neither pleasant nor particularly safe. Now it behaves so much better, especially in corners and on uneven roads. You can now throw it into a corner with absolute confidence.
While it was in bits, Marty at SmartRRRs fitted gel inserts to my seat. That's defo the second best investment I've ever made in the bike.
Roadworks are popping up everywhere, but we saw the same in Germany and Luxembourg.
One pass, Col de Porte, had patchy gravel on the way up but you were rewarded with lovely tarmac down the other side to compensate. The D520b was a superb stretch of road.
The temporary traffic signals are kinda cool. They have countdown timers under the green light so you know when they're due to turn green. There were two sets of lights, some distance apart, between roadworks on one particular road. We're convinced they were phased so if you stuck to the speed limit you would sail through the second set without waiting. We had a bit of a wait but the locals driving behind cruised up just as the lights were changing.
In my two year absense, I forgot just how courteous other road users are to bikes over here. Cars will part like the red sea and throw themselves into ditches to let you past. And other bikers will always wave, even if you're separated by 6 lanes of motorway or they're knee down in a corner.
The D991 next to Lac du Bourget and through Aix-les-Bains is defo worth remembering. The lake looks crystal clear and you can stop by the roadside for a dip. Loads of people were doing it. There's even a path in some sections between the road and the lake for safe access. South of Aix we stopped at a rather nice fish restaurant called La Maison des Pecheurs. We were too late/early for food, but a coffee and a beer was brought out to the patio for us. They have chalet rooms too, each with a balcony overlooking the lake.
The menu looked great and didn't appear expensive. There were very reasonable plat/menu de jour options.
Also south of Aix there's jetties for sunbathing and diving off.
Coming down off the D512 mountain road into Grenoble there was a lass sunbathing in the nip. She was by the roadside, hiding very badly behind a wooden shelter. An unexpected treat, but a bit of a dangerous distraction when you hoofing around twisty mountain roads.
We rode straight through Grenoble and picked up the N85 Route Napoleon. Once we'd cleared the city and the hit the wilderness we stopped at a municipal campsite in Laffrey. It's right next to the lake, which itself looks lovely. Too cold to venture in by the time we were sorted but the water looked perfectly clear. Maybe in the morning.
We were out of proper food and had no chance of getting to a shop or supermarket before they closed. The young lass on reception convinced the onsite restaurant to make up a couple extra places for dinner. Friday night is moules frites night. Every week. It's always busy and was fully booked up. They thankfully took us in and looked after us very well. The food was brilliant. Huge portions of delicious mussels and chips for €12 each. All washed down with cold beer.
170 miles
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