Route des Grandes Alpes – Episode 3 – motorcycle trip to France. EN version
This is next episode of a trip dedicated to the Alps, although there have already been a few shots from the Italian Dolomites and the Brenta Dolomites. For various reasons, I will not assemble this series based on travel days, I’ll just combine some days into a larger whole, but not long enough
To bore you and at the same time long enough to show you the beauty of the French Alps. I will continue to add a few words about nature and mountains in subsequent episodes
And if I come across any “regional dictators” before recording this text, then I will allow myself to include them in the film. Since the plan to cross the Great Alps was quite well prepared, We only ran away from the highway due to boredom and heat. The thermometer in the GS showed 36C and we drinked as much water as we poured it on ourselves, under our motorcycle jackets, not to overheat in the full mediterranean sun.
Nn France, right by Monaco passing, we left the A8 called the “Provençal Autostrada” and headed north. The route we took did not correspond 100% to the route of the Great Alps but thanks to our detours, we have increased the number of turns and scenic aesthetic experiences
And the surprises of my friends Piotr and Kamil, who have Garmin GPS units. I planned the route and prepared it for TomTom navigation, and surprises happened after importing my routes in Garmin. Why? There will be more about this later,
Along with an explanation of how to make it fully compatible between the above-mentioned devices, maps. Meanwhile, our first day in the French Maritime Alps has passed. By mid-afternoon we had climbed high enough that we could no longer hear the roaming cicadas. We found a roadside campsite, pitched our tents,
We paid for the stay and then bought a few wines for tasting and after dinner, Already a bit “relaxed”, we went to bed. And now a few words about the Route des Grandes Alpes, or the Route of the Great Alps, or RdGA for short, is located in its entirety
In the French Alps and runs from south to north or vice versa, depending on which side of the route you start from. And now a bit of description of this road taken from Marek Berkan’s website “aktywnie.mberkan.pl”.
This route is about 720 km of beautiful serpentines and passes from Menton (near Nice on the Mediterranean Sea) to Thenon-les-Bains on Lake Geneva. The route leads through 17 Alpine passes, 6 of them are located above 2000 m above sea level. Most sections of the Grand Alps Road are open from May,
While the highest passes only from mid-June. Depending on the amount of snowfall in winter. The construction of the road began in 1909 and was opened in 1913. It had an asphalt surface along its entire length in 1937. The current name “Route des Grandes Alpes” was given to this route in 1950.
RdGA is described as the best mountain road in the world and I am completely inclined to this opinion. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that three, or four days, it travels almost exclusively through the mountains, passing only small towns, away from civilization (unlike e.g. the Dolomites or the Swiss part of the Alps,
Where you often have to pass through crowded transit roads and towns). Beautiful views, steep, countless serpentines, bridges, tunnels, rushing rivers, waterfalls… Just Ride! The next day, driving not entirely as originally planned through the French route, we left the paved road…
Maybe I’ll tell it differently. We missed bread for breakfast, so instead of continuing on the route, We went back to the town and… everything was still closed and we didn’t find a bakery. Well… We’re going hungry. I quickly selected the path
To the nearest point of the previously planned route and we set off. The street led us out of the town to the nearby slopes and the asphalt got a bit worse. After another two kilometers it got even worse until finally
After 6 or 8 kilometers it disappeared completely, and only a gravel road remained under our wheels, leading us subsequent traverses of the mountains. We were very happy, because, as we know, both Honda NC are typically off-road motorcycles and the GS… and GS will handle it somehow. Of course it was sarcasm.
Gravel road made us feel less disgusted and more concerned about where it would lead us. The packed pebbles were eventually replaced by quite large stones, and the road turned into a road good only for tractors. It worked! We returned to the paved road.
We kissed it individually and collectively and pushed on, adding one off the main RdGA trail to our passes namely Col de Braus (1003 m above sea level). Unfortunately, we missed the Col de Turini due to this “detour”. On the way we bought a baguette, local dried sausage and yellow cheese in a quiet place and the small town of Lucéram, where we only met one young person and also from the Levant countries and a few older people.
The town of Lucéram experienced mass emigration in the 1980s and 1990s, when most people at working age she left this town without seeing anything for herself and their future children in this place. Sad but so true at the same time.
We looked around a bit while drinking delicious morning coffee and eating a croassant but no young person appeared in the restaurant or the neighboring shop. The same thing will probably happen to Polish towns, because the centralization of production and services has already reached Poland and it is expected that cities such as Iława…
Działdowo, Sanok and Piła will become, in just a few, or rather a dozen or so years, the same cities of old people as Lucéram in France. Passes in the order in which they occur on the route of the Great Alps, going from south to north: While driving on the previously mentioned gravel roads, we saw smoke in the distance and heard the smell of burning. The forest was burning, somewhere in the direction of our drive. The only thing we could do about it is to look carefully before descending into subsequent valleys,
So as not to be surprised by the spreading fire. Actually, it wouldn’t be fire that would be a problem in the valley, because the forest on the slope burns up the slope, but poisonous smoke that could be blown into these valleys. This was quite a justified fear due to the slight breeze,
Which accompanied us from the morning, giving respite from the summer French heat prevailing in the lower parts of the terrain. Finally in the town at the top, Rimplas we left the fire behind us and we didn’t have to worry about this situation anymore.
On the way further, this happened to us for another hour you can feel the burn carried by the wind. If any of you have had a similar experience, or knows how to behave in such situations, please let me know in the comments below this video. And now about Rimplas. It’s a charming little town at the foot of the De La Madeleine fortress designed by André Maginot, yes, yes. The same from the fortifications located in the famous, although covered with inglorious history, the Maginot Line. The fortress was built from 1928 to 1930 and expanded in 1935,
As one of the elements of the fortifications protecting the territory of France from the Italian side. 84 people live permanently in the town, and the other number are tourists admiring the works of Serge Doglio in the town located on each of the 22 streets and a beautiful view of the neighboring mountains. We have now entered Mercantour National Park for good, in the Alps-Maritimes region. The area of this national park is characterized by: various microclimates due to its Alpine and Mediterranean location and has a diverse topography. Thanks to this location, there is a variety of natural vegetation here
And native trees are primarily pine and European larch. There is also a park in the park Marcel Kroenlein Arboretum (kroenla), also known as Arboretum de Roure. The arboretum is located at quite a high altitude it starts from 1270 m above sea level and reaches up to 1700 m above sea level.
The mission of the arboretum is to collect various species of deciduous and coniferous trees from all the mountains in the world and protection of the natural flora of the Maritime Alps. So far, over 300 additional non-invasive species from around the world have been introduced there. The first trees were planted in 1988.
Interestingly, artists since 1989 they started exhibiting their works in the arboretum. The featured artists included: Arman, Folon, Ben, César. Every year, a special exhibition is organized in the arboretum sponsored by contemporary artist: Andy Goldsworthy, British artist-sculptor.
Col de la Couillole and Col de Valberg are our next passes and unfortunately I gave up terribly… er… bodies. I did not include the Col de la Bonette pass in my navigation, because although it is not situated,
According to the French, on the RdGA route, it is located high enough (2715 m above sea level) that it is worth visiting, mainly because of its great views and opportunities riding a short loop around the peak, the highest in Europe
An asphalt road that climbs to an altitude of 2,802 m above sea level.
My equipment you can see below:
Join channel @HondaDCT 😜🏍👇
https://youtube.com/@HONDADCT?sub_confirmation=1
Music:
🎵 https://share.epidemicsound.com/xfw5q3 🎵
AI voice-over:
🎤 http://www.elevenlabs.io/?from=partnerclark9485 🎧
My other playlists:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_9bo3aLcNYz_7JbHcxWSCQf6qYK_Ooj7&si=-ANecQ2_2vidGfz2 https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_9bo3aLcNYzHC6tox8xE_zIAV8jULv1u&si=OYvNAMGZusBYjpOg https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_9bo3aLcNYwAP0JnoHMzIW5t_WrF1eGg&si=4azim5TQgcBHJhYo https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_9bo3aLcNYyUTXkZ4ryxfLz4xdAyBSa2&si=HHWLyESV2UW1Zs-n https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_9bo3aLcNYwU6JzsWnvxeCTNSIFsAtGn&si=p8-y5dx9yiF_tFl1 https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_9bo3aLcNYxq5nEoXEB_KGvLnb80h7FB&si=7zV8EiAsCkBpku-V
… i jeszcze drugie hobby – łażenie po górach oraz wspinaczka (w tym Via Ferraty)
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_9bo3aLcNYzm8k13Q8eTqkdkoxPdOSDo&si=Hg5Z1A84R_QiKa0q https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5104F9B0162139F8&si=uEOn6OVwujxqFMVs https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_9bo3aLcNYzVEl69vYjGrDW-s0o9iaXY&si=Ks2ISA4bbEV8pmjt
My motorcycle gear and video stuff:
Kurtki / jackets:
👌 RST ADVENTURE https://dobresklepymotocyklowe.pl/kurtka-tekstylna-rst-pro-series-adventure-x-ce-silver-black-t00015822
👍RST VENTILATOR https://dobresklepymotocyklowe.pl/kurtka-tekstylna-rst-ventilator-xt-srebrno-czarna-t00019723
Buty / shoes:
👌 SIDI ADVENTURE MID https://moto-tour.com.pl/pl/products/buty-motocyklowe-sidi-adventure-2-gore-mid-127293.html
Spodnie / trousers:
👌 RST VENTIILATOR ➡ https://dobresklepymotocyklowe.pl/spodnie-tekstylne-rst-ventilator-x-ce-czarne-t00012638
Kaski / helmets:
👍AIROH REV19 ➡ https://moto-tour.com.pl/pl/search.html?text=airoh+rev19
👍AIROH COMMANDER ➡ https://moto-tour.com.pl/pl/products/kask-integralny-airoh-commander-bialy-polysk-116580.html
Rękawice / gloves:
👌 REBELHORN PATROL ➡ https://moto-tour.com.pl/pl/products/rekawice-motocyklowe-rebelhorn-patrol-short-czarne-117175.html
👍 SHIMA RS-2 ➡ https://shima-sklep.pl/product-pol-140253-Rekawice-motocyklowe-Shima-XRS-2-biale.html
Odzież termiczna, kominiarki / underwear:
👍 BRUBECK ➡ https://brubeck.pl
Kamera i oporządzenie do niej / Camera and some stuff:
GoproMAX (360), kij Telesin 3m, uchwyty RAM, baterie, ładowarki, różne kabelki i kilka szybkich kart microSD po 64GB.
Mikrofon od 2024 roku / Mic:
👍 RØDE Wireless ME ➡ https://rode.com/en/microphones/wireless/wireless-me
Obróbka i montaż / video preparation:
👍 Davinci Resolve STUDIO ➡ https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
Efekty specjalne / Fx:
👌 Korzystam z elementów wbudowanych w oprogramowanie Davinci Resolve oraz spędzam godziny na budowaniu własnych, najczęsciej “odtwarzanych” z tutoriali u ich Twórców na YT.
Najlepsza grupa motocyklowa NC750 na FB:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/720720864942765 👉 Honda NC700/750 Klub Polska
Grupa NT 1100 na FB:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/147646590857663 👉 Honda NT 1100 Polska
#HondaDCT #HondaZDCT #GMPST2000 #motopodroze
0:00 Intro
0:05 Film
1:38 Outro