French Alps--Four passes

This was a full day of riding, though we only covered 142 miles.  Rob had mapped out a loop from our base in Beuil that included four passes, so most of the ride consisted of hairpin turns.  But the views were fantastic, the weather warm below and cool above, and the traffic was minimal.  This posting will mainly include the names of the passes and the photos are all of mountain scenery and cows.  Not much variation today.

cows stuck on the hillside

We rode the loop counterclockwise, starting with a repeat of yesterday's Col de la Couillole (1878m).  Heading north on Route D2205 through the Vallee de la Tinee, we next took a diversion toward the Col de la Lombarde. This pass continues into Italy, but we turned around at the ski resort of Isola 2000--empty of visitors today, and descended, finding an appealing river walk to break up the ride.  Cow bells signaled a herd advancing along the river, only to get stuck trying to climb the hillside.  Perhaps their usual route was blocked?  Some tried to turn, others started to slip towards the river--clearly the head cow had made an error.  No human accompanied the animals.  We continued on our walk and soon heard the cow bells behind us--they had successfully navigated the hillside.  Please excuse the many cow photos. 

view from the Col de la Bonette

We rode down to the town of Isola for a pizza lunch.  It was a bit after 2PM (often a cut-off for lunch service) so the owner said we had to eat indoors(?) and that the salad was not available.  We tried to order one pizza and one fish-and-chips, but apparently didn't make ourselves clear so we ended up with two large pizzas.  We ate one and saved the other for tomorrow's lunch (maybe).

Pass number two was the highest--Col de la Bonette (2715m) with spectacular scenery.  Then on to Barcelonnette for a brief Carrefour Market stop.  Dark clouds were forming and thunderstorms were predicted, but we continued up our third pass, Col de la Cayolle (2326m).  We negotiated the fourth pass at Valberg and successfully reached Beuil without rain at 7PM.  A trout and beef stew dinner in our hotel restaurant completed the day.