Story and photos by Richard Soult
Using my 2005 Range Rover, nick named, by my mates, the “Drive-By”, I wanted to explore the French and Italian Alps.
I was living in Burgundy, about 200 kilometers west of Chamonix-Mont Blanc. At 4808m, Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe and on a good day, visible from my house. Chamonix is France’s Queenstown. A mecca for skiers in the winter and mountain climbers in the summer.
Nice is located on the Cote d’Azur. France’s Mediterranean coast and playground for the rich and famous. Between the two, are the French and Italian Alps. Hundreds of kilometers of impressive mountains bisected with old military roads at high altitude, linking disused forts from times gone by.
I bought and studied maps, searched the Internet and had a general idea of where I wanted to go so out a post on Facebook with a photo of me sitting on the bonnet.
“Chamonix to Nice off road. I’ve got a truck, a route and a week. Who wants to come?”
The response that I got was totally unexpected. Alex, an old mate of mine from school, whom I hadn’t seen or spoken to since our last day of school in 1987, contacted me and said he was keen.
Our first day took us from St Gervais to Bourg St Maurice via Les Contamines and Beaufort. And the campsite we found for the first night was amazing. A flat piece of land perched on the side of a hill overlooking Bourg St Maurice and looking straight across the valley to the Les Arcs ski resort. The flat ground and steep drop off down the valley created an effect akin to an infinity pool and we sat and watched the streetlights slowly become brighter in the valley below.
Day two would see us travelling through Val d’Isere, deserted in summer, over the Col d’Iseran, 2764m, and down to the beautiful village of Bonneval before heading into Italy.
Travelling through the Alps, it’s amazing how the architecture changes within a relatively short distance and from one valley to the next. Having crossed the Col d’Isere, we left behind the typical wooden chalets and found houses made of stone with huge stone roof tiles. Bonneval is definitely worth a stop, although the locals rightly discourage people driving through the village.
Our first difficulty arrived just before the Italian border. Driving around a lake , we came around a bend to find a huge pile of rocks blocking the track, which was only wide enough for one vehicle. I wasn’t relishing ten kilometers in reverse to get back to the road…….We all descended and Alex decided that the Rangy would easily get over it with a bit of co-pilot guidance. I selected high suspension mode, the truck lifted up and over we went with Alex giving me hand signals on which way to turn the wheels.
A couple of kilometres later, we came across our first military fortifications, then continued and a simple road sign told us that we were now in Italy, such as it is in Europe.
In Part 2, in the October issue of NZ4WD we continue our journey into Italy before crossing back into France and towards the Mediterranean.
To read the full story in the September 2018 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (August 17) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.
