Embark on a thrilling 10-day motorcycle adventure through some of France’s most iconic riding routes. From the sweeping, cambered curves of the legendary Route Napoléon to the breathtaking balcony roads of Combe Laval, and the awe-inspiring natural beauty of the Verdon Gorge in the heart of Provence—this tour offers an unforgettable experience for every rider.
DAY ONE.
Glorious weather this morning as we waited to board our train at Folkestone on the first day of our tour. Successfully into France and onto the motorway to get us out of Calais and down to the better roads. Sat Nav changed to avoid motorways at our 1st coffee stop and we head across country on the quiet French D roads. Following our lunch stop we hit some fantastic sweeping and curving roads as we travel eastwards to our final destination for the day of Verdun. A great 1st day with excellent weather, great roads and steak and beer to finish the evening off. Tomorrow’s route takes us through the Vosges and down towards the Swiss border.
DAY TWO
A beautiful morning greeted us as we headed off in day 2. Perfect riding weather at around 20 degrees as we headed south through the Lorraine National Park and onto our 1st coffee stop. It really started to warm up as we enter the Vosges region and continued to get hotter as the day progressed upto 31 at one point. A few road closures late in the day that weren’t picked up by our sat navs added a challenge, especially as it was still very warm. However, we pushed through and reached our hotel on the edge of the Jura mountains ready for a well-earned beer. Off to the Vercours region tomorrow, with excellent weather forecast again.
DAY THREE
We start our day in the Jura mountains leaving our lakeside hotel behind, with beautiful weather promised all day this is going to be a good one. A quick team photo overlooking Lake Geneva with the Alps as the distant backdrop. Then on past Geneva and into the Massif des Bauges with Mont Blanc as the stunning backdrop for our lunch stop, where the traditional Tartiflette was the order of the day. Our next set of twisty roads were to be found in The Chartreuse Mountains. This really is a day of twisty roads and different mountain ranges in this stunning area of France. Past Grenoble and then on to our final run into the northern Vercours region, up a fabulously flowing road and onto our hotel for the next 2 nights. A great day again, with wonderful weather, yet more stunning scenery and tired but smiling riders. What more could you ask for on a tour. Col da la Machine tomorrow!
DAY FOUR
Vercours ride out day today, again the weather was glorious all day. We were greeted with another road closure as we set off towards Comb Laval, seems to be a bit of a recurring theme on this tour! Diversion followed and we were quickly back on track and onto our 1st photo stop at Comb Laval for the classic photo shot across the valley. A couple of more photo stops before we tackled the Col de Rousset, which is a fantastic road that snakes down the valley towards Die. Onwards to our last stop of the day in a small picturesque village for ice cream and waffles.
A great time was had by all and with all the twisty roads our evening refreshments were very welcome.
DAY FIVE.
Today our ride takes us to the most southerly point on our tour, the lovely town of Castellane. Unfortunately to reach Castellane we have to ride yet more awesome roads including the famed Route Napoleon. The weather yet again is fantastic and at a perfect temperature for riding. We pass the Parc national des Écrins and head through Gap onto our lake side lunch stop. Everyone refreshed we hit more sweeping bends as we travel further south towards our final destination where we will stay for 2 nights. Another great day of riding and yet more tomorrow with our ride out around the Gorge du Verdon.
DAY SIX
Ride out day today around the absolutely stunning Gorge du Verdon, the scenery is amazing and the roads aren’t bad either. A great days riding with lots of photos to add to the memories. We then had an excellent evening meal in a local restaurant with Creme Brulee and Chocolate Tort to finish. A couple of the crew wanted to watch the rugby so a bar was found to watch England convincingly beat Argentina, so a good end to an excellent day. Off to Italy tomorrow.
DAY SEVEN
We start our day on a fabulous sweeping road out of Castellane as we start heading north. We travel via the Maritime Alps and the Mercantour National Park and it’s a day of passes today with Col du Bonette, Col du Vars and Col d’Izoard and on the menu, certainly no square tyres on this trip. Some fantastic roads, breathtaking scenery, what more could you want? Perhaps an excellent pizza in Italy to end a brilliant day. Back into France tomorrow and yes you guessed it some more passes.
DAY EIGHT
Heading away from Italy this morning and back across the border into France via Col de Mont Cenis and then onto the highest paved road in the Alps, Col de L’Iseran which at 2770 meters seems very high. Obligatory team photo by the sign at the summit and onto our coffee stop. Cormet de Roselend is next on the list and is our last pass in the Alps. We stop for lunch by a lake and then head away from the Alps to our overnight stop in the Bresse region. Onwards north again tomorrow as our tour travels towards its final couple of days.
DAY NINE
Our penultimate day on tour takes us across two national parks. Parc national de forêts and Parc naturel régional de la Forêt d’Orient, which both offer wonderfully quiet roads with lots of sweeping bends to keep us entertained. A drop of rain for the last 30 minutes of the day, which is the first we have seen all tour as the weather has been glorious since we left Calais over a week ago. Snails and Ham Hock with Munster cheese was the order of the day for our last meal together on tour. Off to Calais tomorrow and our train back to the UK.
DAY 10
Our last ride today as we head upto the Eurotunnel. A slight threat of rain as we set off but in the end it stayed dry and warmed up as travelled north. Photo stop in the Champagne region near the aptly named village of Bouzy , around Reims and a stop at the Reims-Gueux circuit for some more photos. Onwards to our last stop and up to the train. We managed to get a earlier train which certainly helped Jon with his long journey back to North Yorkshire and the that was waiting for him. Another brilliant tour comes to a close, a great bunch of people who were a pleasure to travel with. Great weather, amazing food, superb roads and breathtaking scenery all go together to make a fantastic tour.
