Route des Grandes Alpes en Moto

I love these types of random abandoned buildings. It's near "Bonneval les Bains" and from what I can gather online it was a thermal spa and hotel abandoned since 1937. The thermal waters were discovered and used by the Romans and has been under a lot of tests and disputes over the past few decades. I'm not really sure why they abandoned a thermal spa in such a great location?





The concrete slide and diving board seem to be hidden in those trees now or maybe gone. The floor of the pool was made of asphalt



The shots on the bike were taken with a GoPro on time lapse. Most of them turned out blurry with all the changes in temperature and altitide the lens quickly fogs up. Thanks for looking

I had a waypoint saved likely from your thread for the Fort de Roche Lacroix. I followed a dirt road up a mountain towards the waypoint, but never found the bunkers. I was running out of daylight so I couldn't look too hard unforunately. It was a nice trail and a nice camp ground none the less

K-Town is where I bought the bike There's a lot of nice backcountry riding around there and the Eiffel region

The Col du Parpaillon is a gravel mountain pass in the Cottian Alps built by the French military in 1891. The pass is connected at the top with a tunnel at 8,650', one of the highest of its kind. The tunnel has been barricaded in the past and I believe at one time collapsed in the middle. As you enter the tunnel you can't see out the other end as it's curved and the floor is very wet and muddy. A lot of 4x4's and mountain bikers like this trail and the mountain sides are grazed by cows and sheep. This is the first real taste of dirt roads for my GS and I definitely need to seek out more of these!

Bag a slot at ramstein. Don't come back, stay as long as you can.

you make it easy

That campsite looks familiar to me

Head over to the Assietta, great dirt section, and on a clear day the best views in the Alps IMHO.

What a scenarios! Fantastic

Nic

:d

Nice! It was a nice spot with WiFi everywhere and the sound of the river all night. The guy let me stay in the TV room after he locked up so even had all the comforts of home haha

Hmm I was so close to that one when I crossed Italy but didn't have it marked. Added to my list for next time. Thanks!

Col de la Bonnete is one of the highest paved mountain passes in Europe, with an additional loop around the summit that makes it slightly higher than Col de l'Iseran. It's near the Italian border so you see many remnants of the Ligne Maginot defenses along the pass. On the Italian side there's an old forward observation post disguised as residential homes with a view of the border. Near the summit there are several bunker systems and infantry casemates with underground shelters and electric rail supply lines. On the France side are the old military barracks.

I spent the afternoon at Alpha Wolf Park where 3 packs live in large enclosures within the Mercantour National Park. It's not like a zoo because you have to be very patient to see the wolves and you can't see the entire enclosure. It's basically a large fence around their natural habitat. After awhile a few of them came close enough to quickly look me in the eye and that was it. At feeding time they all start to run around, come to grab some meat and run off out of sight. I tried to get some pictures but they wouldn't pose, so a video may have worked better













Golden Eagle

Great report!!! Keep it coming!!

Is that the inside of a bunker up there? I tried to enter some at the Col de la Bonette but they were al locked.

If you are interested in the Strada Dell'Assietta, you can watch a video I took of the entire gravel section https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQyPWA6mmds

Yea most were locked but I found that wasn't at the time. The tunnels were pretty vast with underground shelters, you can see the narrow gauge electric rail lines

Thanks for the video, I only saw a few other 800's on the whole trip!

Familiar scenery and talk of (once familiar) "Canada" license plates reminds me of my time in Europe as an airforce brat! I was too young to ride then, but fortunately have made it over a few times since.

Postings in Europe back in the "good ole days" of the Cold War allowed a lot of motorcycling service men to experience some incredible riding vacations! This is an old pic of my dad's, while attending the Chamois Rally at Val D'Isere, July 1, 1967. (Yes he was missing the big centennial celebration back home...but I don't think he minded!)

Great Ride report and photos here Squawk!
Enjoy your time there...a much less common privledge these days. I really want to go back now myself !

Here is a taste, more pics and write up in the link in my signature line. Although I said the best views, let me clarify, the most great views might be more appropriate, it is along a ridge for the most part, so for the entire 30 or so Km, you get great never ending panoramic views.

Fantastic, aweinspiring, just INSPIRING, on a Saturday night after a few bottles of Becks makes me just want to,,,,,,, ride there

Keep it up, great report

Wow!! I love seeing old pictures like this especially the old BMWs and on a memorable date as well! Thanks for posting it

If you were in Lahr, you might be interested in some recent photos I posted of it in another thread