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- On the way: Jura, Vercors, Western Alps Mountain tour in the east of France
- Information about the tour – Jura, Vercors and Western Alps
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On the way: Jura, Vercors, Western Alps
On the way: Jura, Vercors, Western Alps
Mountain tour in the east of France
Anyone who wants to cross the Jura and the first alpine passes in spring needs courage to face the weather gap. And a desire for the smallest of trails. Because it doesn’t always have to be the fat chunks to experience great motorcycle cinema.
Gerhard Eisenschink
07/05/2009
“This is Schengen! We are in Europe now!” Laughing, the old man reveals two rows of nicotine-brown teeth and hits the table so that the cups dance. “Even we in this little Swiss corner are now part of it!” Sitting out a rain shower under the plane trees of St. Ursanne, Gerhard and I bike with the master in holey German-French about the Jura mountains in general and the small border traffic between north-western Switzerland and eastern France in particular. In which the barriers have recently been permanently open. A green mossy customs sign in Winkel, a forgotten sign in la Motte, “Crossing between 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. is prohibited”, but in truth the formal barriers are a thing of the past.
From the bar “Cigone” you hand two coffees while we ponder the cards. And an estimated million ways to get through the Jura. Roughly following the course of the valleys and rivers and keeping your fingers crossed on the southwest course seems the best idea. When the sky clears up, we start. And immerse yourself in whole cascades of green, through which the D 437 C winds in artistic interweaving over hilly mountain meadows and through almost pure-bred rainforest. Between ivy-covered, thickly mossy trees, light limestone cliffs and rivers of all water sizes. Due to its exposed, pre-alpine western location, the Jura guarantees maximum rain protection all year round. It forms the first major hurdle for the clouds rolling in from the Atlantic. The mighty Honda carefully rolls over scree and slippery, damp asphalt, wants to be braked and accelerated piano, piano. As soon as the engine is silent, you can hear countless bird calls and the gurgling of springs, streams and small cascades. The first anglers are already gathering on the Doubs, and in the club showcases the pictures of the last eight-pounders they pulled out of the river.
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Another rusty, folded-up turnpike and we’re back in France. Immediately everything seems a little ramshackle and untidy, the driving style of the few road users is much more daring. Again and again we touch the lush loops of the Doubs and its sister Dessoubre. Sometimes wide and clear as glass with glowing river pebbles under old stone arch bridges, sometimes spirited narrow between rocks and deep green pools. They are the essence of the Jura. First French insignia in St. Hippolyte: awning-covered bars with tables and chairs in front of the door, inside the humming espresso machine and the men at the pastis, next door Journaux / Tabac and “Nice Martin”-Signs, across from the indispensable PMU bar with the TV that is forever tinkling under the ceiling. First address for every sports fan. Tall, gray stone houses with shutters in washed-out green, brown or blue. Finally France live instead of just A 36 Mulhouse-Belford-Besançon.
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Picturesque mountain villages and winding landscapes await connoisseurs in eastern France.
Behind Morteau, the Doubs is once again playing a really big movie, gurgling through a deeply hollowed, light rock bed, the small country road close to his shoulder. Beyond the mighty city gates of Pontarlier we twirl into the high valleys north of Mouthe. We try to use smaller and smaller connecting routes that are barely recognizable even on the map. We are increasingly entangled between farms, farm dogs and curious herds of cows, only to end up on a desert forest path at some point. The landscape is excellent, but neither legally nor really recommendable with the fat CB 1300. We laboriously maneuver the 258-kilo chunk back into reasonably passable terrain, sobering we try to find identifiable streets and places. Thank God that at some point the D 69 will once again reach an area of clear paths and directions, and we accelerate to make up for the wasted time and route. Via Morez we take fast trains in the direction of St. Claude. Well-developed, the D 69 cuts through the heights of the Jura and finally plunges down into the small town in beautiful bends. Unfortunately, the beauty factor decreases rapidly with every meter. St. Claude turns out to be off-putting, industry-oriented, the only passable hotel is occupied. There just remains “La Poste” between the parking lot, train station and kebab shop. 55 euros without breakfast, but with stragula, dust fluff and dodgy room neighbors. Anyway, we’re dead tired.
One last picnic at a pretty crossroads, then it’s 4.1 kilometers to the “Le Colombier”. I have no idea who or what that is, but it’s on the sign on the picnic bench, and the Michelin map shows menacing red and white hatching on the spot. Seems to be something more serious. The narrow street is minimized again and then loops its serpentines resolutely, like with a lasso, around the protruding field blocks. It is slowly becoming clear what the Colombier is all about: an almost impregnable rock barrier, a good 1,500 meters high, looming between the Rhône valley and the jutting Jura hills. The D 120 takes the obstacle in vertically stacked minimal turns. Thank goodness no one comes across, because even the perfectly balanced Honda now needs a sure instinct and real emphasis in order to hit the eye of the needle without a breakdown. One mistake and we are stuck in the nonexistent gravel bed. But she growls confidently like a working elephant until the view becomes so phenomenal that no one thinks about driving for a short time: the Rhône Valley and Lac du Bourget shimmer in the backlight as far as the southern horizon.
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Worlds in green, water in all forms.
It is only at the very bottom of the Rhone Bridge that the D 120 sets the final chord of its furious spectacle. The Lac de Bourget catches us with glowing muscles and cooling fins, guided gently along the shore to Chambery. Behind which the worlds will soon reverse. What previously played at lofty heights is now practically a basement theater. Beyond Chambery, a system of ravines branches out that almost extends to Grenoble. Here, too, the Jurassic limestone characterizes the play of the elements. And over millions of years it has been so sustainably raked by the power of water that in some parts of the small country roads the sky is barely visible. The river and the road dig deep and emphatically between rock towers, needles and domes.
Previous storms have already left their mark and buried the main route through the Vercors under a landslide. Via the tiny D 31, we quasi thread our way through the back door. Not much better either, the asphalt including the guardrail has already sailed halfway down into the valley. Squeezed close to the mountain, it rattles over a slippery layer of rubble and pine needles until the D 103 reaches safe driving conditions again. And then we’re in. Suddenly the bright rocks build up above and below us, the road just sticks like a tiny footbridge to the smooth stone, squeezes through tunnels, over rocky outcrops or under overhangs on its way along a vertical rock wall hundreds of meters high. It’s breathtaking. Down below, the Bourne, who caused the whole scenario, is raging. She evidently developed such a creative urge over millions of years that she and the branching Combe Laval created a canyon system in the soft, eroded limestone that is hardly inferior to the prominent representatives on Verdon and Ardèche. Climbing ropes stretch across the bare walls, jackdaws and falcons sail in front of the rocks, and the roar of the four-cylinder engine mixes sonically with the seething from the depths.
Over a last needle-thin, now really hardly youth-free mountain road, we shimmy through the still rain-free Gorges du Nan down into the Isère valley and to Grenoble. Then it’s time to pull up the jacket collar and get to the mountain. The Romanche comes shooting in unbridled waves only half a meter below the D 1091, the floods black with stone and rubble, tree trunks swirling like toys on the foam combs. Not exactly trustworthy. Meanwhile, the rain has set in here too. We step on the gas, just want to get away, 2058 meters in altitude on the Col du Lautaret and a maximum of five degrees in the valley are a clear announcement. Alpe d’Huez, Les Deux Alpes: prominent winter sports resorts and the first four thousand meter peaks. A few meters further and the Lautaret is reached. Snow plows come down from the Galibier, the barriers close behind them, the mountain slopes glow white all around. We are at the highest point of the journey, Briançon is deep below us in the valley. Now just over a couple of half-life saddles, then we’re already in Italy, we encourage ourselves. Last warm-up on steaming coffee cups, the weather report again. It will snow soon. Our brave little fair-weather window seems pretty much gone. We don’t have much time before it starts in Italy. So gas and down. Courage for the last gap. We’ll be at the Gotthard in five hours.
Information about the tour – Jura, Vercors and Western Alps
The first mountain tours in spring can turn into true obstacle races. Good preparation is therefore important in order to be able to reschedule quickly when the weather changes
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From 1100 meters: clouds – and we are right in the middle.
Arrival / travel time: The route is very easy to get to. Simply follow the A 5 to the last German exit just before Basel and then head west through France via the D 473 towards Delemont and Ferrette. It is more difficult to recommend an optimal travel time. The Jura is wonderfully green almost continuously from April to October. In the higher altitudes and the foothills of the Alps, the travel season begins in May, in the high Alps from June. The problem with the entire western alpine route is the clouds flowing in from the west with correspondingly frequent, spontaneous downpours. So be sure to keep an eye on the weather forecast and not compromise on clothing.
The distance: In the northern part, the route follows the direction of the Doubs and the French-Swiss border over long stretches. Later you feel your way to Chambery along the mountain ridges and valleys of the Jura Mountains, which also run in a north-south direction. In the entire Jura, you are always spoiled for choice when it comes to finding the most beautiful passage. Both neighboring states offer opportunities for weeks. Enduro riders can also find opportunities here for gentle cross-country rides on unpaved connecting paths. But many of the tiny streets make demands for real experts even without a gravel surface. Beyond Chambery, the route leads through an extensive system of gorges to Grenoble, from where it penetrates into a real highlight – the Vercors gorges. The exit over the western ridge of the Alps at the Col du Lautaret is always feasible, but if you want to cross the 2556 meter high Col du Galibier and then possibly over the Col de lIseran back north, you have to wait until June. They are among the highest alpine passes and are only cleared in early summer.
Stay There are various types of quarters everywhere along the route. Accommodation in a rustic, medieval atmosphere is offered by St. Ursanne in Switzerland at the start of the tour, and more modern in nearby St. Hippolyte in France. In the southern part of the route there are many quarters in the Vercors. For example in the very touristy Villard-de-Lans or in Pont-en-Royans. At the entrance to the Col du Lau-taret there are several beautiful hotels belonging to the Association of Rural Accommodation “Logis de France” (yellow-green logo), which are usually a good choice in France. Pay attention to the signs.
activities: The Jura offers great opportunities for canoe trips. The Swiss operator Trango, for example, offers various tours on the Doubs near St. Ursanne, prices from CHF 220 (approx. 150 euros), www.trango.ch Telephone 0041/712444523.
Maps On this route you need several maps due to the unfavorable cut of the leaves. If you want the recommended Michelin papers, choose the regional papers 523 and 520 in 1: 200,000 as basic equipment and add the Local series in 1: 150,000 to 175,000 (No. 321, 328, 333).
Travel time: four days
Route driven: 1500 kilometers
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