2003 - MTB in Nice backcountry

Bike trip in the backcountry of Nice
Jim and Jacques
October 2003.




Saturday 11 October

Jim and I left Torraccia at 13:30 arrived 19:00 in Nice where Jim bought a seat cover. Auberge des gorges du Loup (tel 04 93593801. ½ pension at 63.50 euros, elevation 250 m.) was waiting for us with a nice dinner and rooms. Room 112 better than 110. Could see way above us some lights of a building but we did not know what it was though!

Views from our hotel in gorges du Loup


 Sunday 12

That building way above us was Gourdon (elev. 739 m) where we are going. Packed, left car at auberge and left at 10:00 up the route des gorges du loup which was closed to traffic. It made for few cars and beautiful landscape, narrow canyon in limestone rocks with river at the bottom, impressive!

Views from vallée du Loup
Road was going up up and up to Gourdon, good warming up exercise and impressive village full of tourists but with stupendous views, could even see where we had left the Yaris. Could see Antibes, presqu’ile du cap d’Antibes and Cannes. 






 


View from Gourdon




Grabbed among all the tourists a sandwich and a beer and left to continue our climb on plateau de Caussols.  Same limestone rocks but without the canyons and poor vegetation, climb was regular at 5% under cloudy skies.  Saw many parapentes taking off from a site close to the road, went there to investigate but no one was taking off at that time, views were fantastic though.  There is a parapente centre just at the summit.

Took chemin des claps undulating on the plateau, no cars, great biking place and arrived through chemin des pins beranger at Caussols where there is only a restaurant., in fact we stopped there with bets and kids when we hiked on GR 4 many years ago. Restaurant was full of lunchers (it was 15:00) very much Italian style.

We inquired about a place to sleep, nobody had any real suggestion until finally someone mentioned a chambre d’hote in the village, it was open and they had a room for us to share.  Mas des chardons  (04 93 09 2993- 43 euros for two with breakfast).  People in room next to ours were hikers we had met on chemin des claps. They told me that there is a guide des chambres d’hotes, which I took from the gite. Very convenient for the future.

Took a walk to reserve a table for dinner, but Auberge de Caussols was closing for dinner, they offered to prepare assiettes de crudites et de charcuterie with a bottle of wine if we ate before 18:30 which was quite acceptable to us.  Real British pub atmosphere where all people were locals, knew each other, and just spend time together waiting for dinner.  Then at 19:00 everyone left in a few minutes. 

Auberge de Caussols




 

 


Went to sleep too early but had a good rest. I got up during night and saw that sky was full of stars, observatoire du CERGA was sited there for the clear skies and low pollution (at night cars are asked to turn off their long beam headlights).


Monday 13




Beautiful skies. Climbed to CERGA observatoire at 1269 meters and then followed GR 4 across the plateau and down to Cipieres. Terrible path not intended for VTT. In fact I walked most of the downhill part. Broke my bag which ripped completely (poor quality but in fact they are 10 year old or so and had a rough life, I need to get some good ones like the ones of the German fellow I saw with Birnie in the Cevennes last year).


CERGA observatory and GR 4 towards Cipières






Managed to get basic ingredients for a picnic in Cipières though everything was supposedly closed. Cipières has a superb position with a castle that dominates the village, quite exposed to winds but what a view! 

Views past Cipières
 
 Continued uphill to Coursegoules, great views opening at every curve. Courseguoules nothing open for sleeping, hotel closed, gites already full. Courseguoules was fun, the main plaza was used by the school as cour de recreation, ambience quite like l’instit but nice feeling, The mairie suggested a gite in Bezaudun but no answers to my phone calls. Skies looked greyer and greyer, with big dark threatening clouds. Some concern about where to sleep tonight.




We reached Bouyon where we were glad to see a hotel that could provide us with separate rooms. (Hotel la Catouniere 35 euros w/o bath-  04 9359 0715).  Old building with young couple and children. Stone sink comfortable shower to share but no problem since we are the only guests. Walked in the village and had dinner consisting of assiette provencale, light and pleasant with a glass of wine. 






Hotel in Bouyon: a welcome sight after a long day!




 
Good rest, we were very glad to find this hotel since there is not much in the region it seems, we are too late in the season and most hotels are already closed.  My room had a definite nautical theme, seashells glued to desk, little sailors on towel rack etc. Bed was comfortable and hard though.


Tuesday 14.

Another beautiful day.  Took D1, asphalt road but no traffic at all, which was as well since the road had great precipices on the side and Jim being afraid of heights had to ride on the inside which was on the left.  I just loved these immense landscapes with far away mountains, deep canyons showing rocks formation and rivers at the bottom.  We passed Les Ferres and Consegude two nice places sitting on a small crest between valleys and always facing south and protected from the northern winds.  Very peaceful villages.  More traffic on that road, but still very few cars and we had a long downhill ride to Roquesteron where we had coffee (Jim) and pastis (Jacques).  Road was a lot easier after that, or so it felt (may-be the effects of the pastis!), which was fortunate since we were climbing. Passed Sigale and continued our ride.  Passed through Clue de Riolans a massive cliff in the limestone, with at least 300 meter drop between top of plateau and the river which we could not see at the bottom, impressive landscape, may-be not so much fun for Jim unfortunately.  Heard about a restaurant at moulin de Pali and decided to stop for a bite.  Though the first impression was a bit marginal, dogs eating leftovers, logs and old trucks, etc, the food turned out to be quite good.  Place was the last flour mill operating until 1979 with the wife of the miller and his son running the restaurant.  They invited us to visit the old mill where we could see all the transmission gears, the grinders, the cyclone separators and the final screening before packaging.  The son, when asked if he remembered much of the place, did mention coups de pied au cul du pater (kicks in the butt from my father)!!!!  Quite nice place overall and a welcome stopover. Continued on flat road with little traffic to La Penne with a beautiful castle and up to Col de St Raphael (elev. 759 m).  


Views of Puget-Theniers




 Then a hairpin descent to Puget-Theniers (elev. 200 m) over 12 kms, nice.  Puget-Theniers a bit of a disappointment, no character, an industrial city somewhat dilapidated.  Hotel in the centre of town with hanging shutters all broken down, when I asked a lady where to sleep she made it clear this was not, repeat not, the hotel to go to, but rather to the “logis de France” Elyse hotel near the train station.  Hotel was OK no more but provided a bathtub, hot water and a comfortable if caracterless room.  Went for a beer and a walk through the city but could not find any interesting place to eat.  Chose to go to the restaurant by the station which was unmemorable, their pasta were quite lousy actually!



Wednesday 15

Another beautiful day after the threatening look of the skies last nite, in fact there was a few drops during the night.  However it was cold.  My original idea was to go through Entrevaux and up cols de Felines and de Trebuchet to reach Collongues.  Jim was not too keen on that plan because he was worried about the possibility of sharp precipices on the side of the road.  So we decided to go back up col de St Raphael that we rode down yesterday and through St Pierre etc. to Collongues.  Ride up was in the shade and cool.  After a while I decided that I really would like to follow my original itinerary and we agreed to ride different roads and meet in la Rochette.  Back down to Puget and the route nationale with a lot of traffic to Entrevaux (about 7-8 kms). 

Entrevaux was a nice fortified city with a strong castle between the valleys in a very strategic location, with a zigzag stairway going up from the village to the castle.  Much more cheerful than Puget, and also more touristy, worth seeing again.  From then on it was climb climb climb until first the col de Felines (elev.  939 m) through great forest and no traffic.  As we had mentioned jokingly with Jim in fact the road was quite reassuring looking without any major drops. 

Passed through the village, or the hamau to be more precise, of Le Castellet where masons where restoring a castle with majestic views over two valleys.  I got in and noticed the stairway ceiling which was completely sculpted over.  Sky was crystal blue, leaves turning yellow with spots of red, absolutely beautiful and still no cars (in fact I had chosen that route because it was indicated as unfit for cars on the Michelin map).  Kept going up to Col de Trebuchet (elev. 1136m) and stopped for a bite of saucisson and bread with a shot of water.  Then the bad road, which was absolutely empty of cars and not too bad a surface, going down, down, and joining a redone road.  

Reached La Rochette where Jim was waiting for me.  He had had a nice time but some difficult climb just before la Rochette.  He had a bite and we planned the continuation of the day.  Road to Collongues was going back where he had just come from, and we noticed a trail shown on our map. We asked in the village and were told that the trail was quite good and would shorten considerably the distance and time.  Off we went and took a very acceptable trail down through la Fontagne where the road was asphalt again and quickly reached Collongues.  A city on a rock promontory with a chateau in the highest place which was transformed in the Mairie. In fact the mayor is a descendant of the original owners of the castle.
La Rochette


Collongues








Found a bar for a beer and a Mars bar and asked if it was open tonite for dinner.  They say they would even bring dinner to les Mujouls where we were planning to stay.  Agreed to that and reached les Mujouls where we had reserved chambre d’hote (04-9305 8062).  It was a complete house with great view of the valley, dining room with fireplace etc. quite nice.  Walked around the highest point of les Mujouls and polished off a bottle of rosé before dinner which came at 20:00 but was well prepared, individual boxes for each course duly labelled and extra abundant.  Good night rest.  I would say the best day so far with best weather and excellent combination of climb, small roads and trails to end on very good accommodations (21.5 euros including breakfast!).



 

Views from our rooms in Les Mujouls





Thursday 16

Very cold during the nite, I needed two blankets with windows open and had to turn on heating after closing windows around 06:30.   Great to see sunrise and the valley lightening up. Had breakfast in guardian house with her many many dogs and were told to take a trail that would lead us all the way to Brianconnet through Gars.  Started around 09:45 by going down the river and literally froze our ears and fingers, in fact there was frost on the ground in the shady places (my meter read 7 degree Celsius then, minimum had been 3!).  Uphill track warmed us quickly enough and we were soon back in short sleeves. Instead of taking the asphalt road to Brianconnet we followed GR 510 track to Gars.  Beginning was unridable for us and improved to a pleasant ride.  However the descent on Gars was “pedestrian only” and we had to carry bikes down a quite precipitous drop. 






On the way to Gars


Reached Gars a sleepy southern village with a nice fresh fountain.  Followed a tough track uphill going to Brianconnet that got better and better to end in asphalt for the last 3 kms.


Out of Gars to Brianconnet


Had a good lunch in Brianconnet, though the pasta alla carbonara ordered by Jim turned out to be strabondante, a bowl full of pasta, with cut ham on top and an uncooked egg in the half shell to tower above it all.  It turns out that this is the classic way to serve pasta alla carbonara in the region. 

Passed through Clue de St Auban which is in fact a deep cut in the limestone caused by river erosion, very impressive, and arrived in St Auban facing south and warm in the sunshine.  Thought of continuing to Thorenc but could not call any hotel or chambre d’hotes and Jim insisted correctly that we slept in St Auban to be fresh the next day for the climb ahead of us.  Found 2 rooms in hotel le Tracastel (04 9360 4306 - 39 euros ½ pension), old style but with a warm ambience in the restaurant and old rooms with uneven floor but otherwise quite adequate.  Had a walk in the village and climbed the hill to see the valley we had taken until the Clue. Impressive vistas.  



Views of St Auban



A pleasant hotel in St Auban



 Really the landscape would incite one to learn geology, strata are so clearly visible, anticline etc.  etc…  diner was quite good with a homemade paté which was the best of the trip.  Too bad that a friend of the hotel owners came with his dogs and his cigarettes during our meal. Another perfect day, we have been quite lucky with the weather and that made the landscapes that much more enjoyable not to mention the ride in the sunshine.  Only problem is the difficulty in finding accommodations since the season is over.


Friday 17





Cool night but not quite as bad as the previous one.  Skies are all cloudy and it looks like rain is coming our way.  Put warm and rain-proof gear on just to be ready.  Last night the owner suggested a dirt track to join the main road to Col de Bleine that he said was fine for bike.  Went down from hotel, again froze hands and ears and followed asphalt road to Les Plaines took the dirt track, I followed the wrong track for a while and realised it could not be that bad, went back down and followed a very pleasant track uphill for about 2 hours.  Only saw 3 people together looking for non-existent mushrooms and reached the road to Col de Bleyne. 


Col de Bleyne (elev. 1440 m)



 

Long regular climb to the Col (elev., 1440 m) with again great views on the north.  So far no rain, but we are keeping raincoats on, if only to fight the wind-chill factor.  Down towards Thorenc where we had to stop for hot meal to warm up. Restaurant was fine with a fire in wood oven and warm food and wine. It was my turn to have pasta alla carbonara and sure enough it was exactly the same as Jim, not bad though on a cold stomach, especially as we warmed up with marc de raisin.  Temperature stayed cold and was only 11 at 13:00.  Road was then down down down to Gréolieres across plateaux with cross-country tracks in winter. Gréolieres a sleepy town, though with a view of Cipières, that we crossed on our first day and of the valley all around, another defensive position.  Road kept going down through forests and we reached the place where it was closed to traffic. Went right through without problems, only in case of blasting would they have prevented us from crossing, and reached the car at 15:30 after going down gorges du Loup.  We had come down over 1100 m. in less than 3 hours. 


The end! 


Decided to go to Grasse for the night to have a chance to see the city and have a better choice of restaurants and hotels.  Chose (by luck) hotel Ste Therese at information bureau that turned out to be fine with a garage and magnificent views from the rooms.  Walk in the city, drinks and dinner offered by Jim (thank you) and closed with marc again.







Saturday 18

Cloudy skies with rain, windy, a bad day for cycling but no problems since we are driving back to Italy.  In fact wind was so strong between XXmiglia and Genoa that it was quite tricky to drive the Yaris as it was too light and offered too much wind surface.  We were literally blown off our lane a few times, quite scary.  Had pizza at Maurizio in Acquasparta.


Concluding words


A beautiful region, all the better because of the weather and the few people.  Main problem was to find open accommodations.  Should have been done a month earlier.  Jim a good companion, only problem was his fear of heights which ruined somewhat his enjoyment.  Aside from my bags our equipment performed quite well in spite of the hard terrain (especially GR4 down to Cipières, remember to avoid GR in the future).  I also need to find good bags: waterproof and with positive latches to the bike luggage rack.

I should return to see these places with the Alfa and hopefully Betsy!!!.
 

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