Hello from Japan!

Day 5: Torres del Paine

Updated: July 3, 2019

Today’s adventure started with a short walk to the hotel dock and a 30-minute voyage aboard a catamaran to the north shore of Lake PehoÃƒÂ© “€ a welcome change from the slightly carsick-inducing roads. We were joined once again by Dan and Tara as well as our guide Nacho from the Condor Lookout hike we did on Sunday. The boat docked at the Paine Grande Refuge (a summer campground and hostel inside the park), Nacho briefed us on our route, and we were on our way toward the French Valley (the middle part of the “W” circuit).

Whose boat is this boat?

Only you can prevent INCENDIOS FORESTALES

The Paine Grande massif

Nacho led the way and made a few stops to explain the flora and fauna. One fun trick he showed us involved freaking out a couple of small birds with an owl call he played from his phone. This probably wasn’t as much fun for the birds, so he only played the call twice so as to not stress them out for the rest of the day.

We also stopped to try some chaura berries. Pronounced like someone from Boston would say “chowder” (so, easy for Dan), these berries are small and red, and accordingly to Nacho, taste like cotton candy. They bloom twice a year, but not in winter. The bush we found had been preserved since the last season (flash-frozen, essentially), but alas, they did not taste sweet.

Cotton Candy Berries with serious freezer burn

As we neared our lookout point in the French Valley, we crossed a suspension bridge with a maximum capacity of… one. That’s always comforting. As each of us passed over the bridge, we noticed many of the planks could use some attention. We later met the ranger (who was LITERALLY the only other person we saw all day) and he mentioned he’s been meaning to replace some of the planks. Um, good idea.

This seems totally safe and fine

Italian Camp directions very clear on use of tent

Rounding the last corner, the hanging glacier atop the Paine Grande massif came into perfect view. The clouds dispersed, and we enjoyed an unobstructed view. While we were eating lunch, we heard a loud rumble, similar to thunder, and spotted an avalanche. Usually, cold temperatures diminish the chances of avalanches, but the recent snowfall apparently bumped the odds back in our favor and we were lucky to see a couple of them.

Our view from lunch

AVALANCHE! (in the lower left)

After lunch, we hiked back down the same path, including parts of the forest that had been destroyed by fire in 2011. Thanks to the rapidly-shifting winds in this area, you can see pockets of the forest that were spared from the flames in and amongst the charred white husks of the dead forest trees where the fire spread. Although the fire was almost 10 years ago, the trees are remarkably well preserved due to the dry environment.

This is how high the sun gets at 1:55PM

Which is great if you like the early-bird golden hour!

The dark strip of trees somehow avoided the fire

The morning clouds that were blocking our view of the Los Cuernos across Lago SkÃƒÂ¶tttsberg on our way to the French Valley were no longer present. We saw two jet trails pass overhead in the clear blue sky, which were likely our flights “€ both into and out of Punta Arenas “€ and by 4PM, we made it back to the dock with our catamaran.

The horns at sunset

Overlooking Lake PehoÃƒÂ© near the end of the hike

Almost there!

We arrived back at the boat a bit earlier than planned, so the captain sailed us around the lake for some great views before we returned to the hotel. To ease our well worked muscles, we ventured over to the hotel spa and throughly enjoyed the outdoor jacuzzi.

Just your average afternoon commute

Getting some fresh air in the room

Say goodbye to sore muscles

Finally, we headed back indoors to pick tomorrow’s adventure(s), eat dinner (turns out Jo likes guanaco too), and relax on the comfy couches. There are a couple new guests in the hotel each day, but we still have the fireplace to ourselves in the evening!

Day 4: Torres del Paine

by Joanna

Updated: July 3, 2019

3 Comments

Dear millions of loyal blog readers, it appears our comment section is currently broken, and it is not something we can easily fix on the road (thanks, old WordPress theme). But we do like comments and if you have any, please email or send us a hangouts message! We will work some website magic later to add those comments to the site retroactively. Sorry for the technical difficulties and thank you for your patience.

As noted previously, they get about eight hours of daylight in these parts during early July, so today we woke up well before sunrise to embark on our Torres del Paine base towers hike (given the hike itself was going to be ~8.5 hours). We ate a quick breakfast, grabbed our packs and headed to the lobby to gather with our trusty hiking friends Tara and Dan, as well our guide Roberto (who also led our horseback trip). We loaded the van and drove an hour northeast to the trailhead.

Two at a time!

The hike begins at the Cerro Paine Ranch, which is closed for the season, but they allow Explora to use their parking lot and walk through their property. In the winter, the trail is closed to the public, and only those with guides are allowed through. Because the Torres (towers) are an iconic and popular destination, the trail during the summer can be incredibly crowded. There are two suspension bridges at the very beginning of the hike where only two people are allowed across at a time. Roberto said in the summer, he’s had to wait 30 minutes to cross. Uh, we did not.

Windy Pass. Wasn’t very windy. But that’s ok.

Snow-covered park map (our route is basically the yellow line in shaded box, plus some extra)

Heading toward higher elevations, the trail was soon covered in snow (some fresh from yesterday, we suspect). We donned our YakTrax and continued on our way. We eventually saw one other group, but no one else. After our initial ascent, the journey continued down into a forest region with trees covered in fresh snow.

I think we took a wrong turn into Narnia

After traversing the forested winter wonderland, we headed back up to the last, and hardest part of the hike, the moraines. The towers were carved by a glacier, which deposited rocks as it retreated. Now these snow-covered boulders were all that lay between us and our view of the towers.

Snow-covered moraine

When we finally reached the base of the Torres del Paine, we took a break for lunch and enjoyed the view. The towers are creatively named the North Tower, the Central Tower, and the South Tower. Fun fact… Although the typical view from the lookout makes the South Tower looks the smallest, it is actually the largest.

We made it!

Ask south tower about after-hours events

The Torres del Paine

Lunch time!

After a tasty canister lunch and watching misty clouds begin to form and swirl above the lake, we dusted the snow from our pants and began the trek back. An epic battle between sunshine and snow clouds followed us all the way down back to the forest and windy pass.

That’s how high the sun gets at 2PM

That’s a big rock

Glacial stream

On our way back, we fortuitously ended up with a semi-clear view of the sun just minutes before the solar eclipse (amazing considering the weather and being in a valley and all). North of Santiago, viewers would see a total solar eclipse, but in Patagonia, Roberto’s app informed us that 46 percent totality could be seen. Can’t say we saw anything near that percentage, but with the use of some Chile-themed eclipse glasses, we definitely saw a small amount of coverage before the snow clouds returned. It was cool and an unexpected bonus!

BTW, our guide is Jon Snow (credit to Tara)

Eclipse viewing in the snow

Matt sees (roughly 90 percent of) the light!

Returning below the snow line

The new Patagonia OS wallpaper looks great

When we finally made it back to the van “€ after 8 hours, 12 miles, and 3,783 feet in elevation “€ we were treated to a cheese and fruit plate, along with cooler of Chilean beer. We drove the hour back to the hotel, and signed up for tomorrow’s exploration. Since the weather is forecasted to be nice again, we are going for another full day hike, though it won’t be quite as intense.

Drinking a Patagonian Eclipse while learning about glaciers

We made it to the educational talk tonight about glaciers. A good lecture pairs nicely with the drink of the day, the “Patagonia Eclipse.” At dinner, we ventured into authentic Patagonian food and tried the Guanaco. Turns out the pumas are right… they are pretty tasty! We also had a desert very similar to a Pot du Chocolate, but with raspberries in the center. Upon recommendation from Chef Claus, we also tried a popular Chilean dessert called cremoso de huesillo (basically ice cream made from sun-dried, sugar-intused, and refrozen peaches). We are pretty sure they have a pacojet back in the kitchen. I think these Chileans are on to something.

Day 3: Torres del Paine

by Joanna

Updated: July 1, 2019

2 Comments

It feels strange to sleep until 8AM and wake up with the sky still completely dark. Having said that, it does allow us to enjoy the sunrise after breakfast.

Guess what Jo needs…

…Cappuccino!

View from our room at 9:24AM

We layered up for our morning horseback ride, met our guide Roberto, and drove about 20 minutes south through the park to the stables. Upon arrival, we were welcomed by Andres and several other gauchos, who showed us the proper Chilean riding technique (both reins in one hand) and paired us up with our horses. Andres then led us onto the trails with new views from the transition region of the park (south of the hotel).

You’re next!

On the trail

Looking north

Horse photo op

On the way back

Just horsing around

When we were done with the ride, we gathered in the stables for a traditional mate tea ceremony. Served in a dried gourd mug and consumed through a steel straw, mate is made from a heap of Yerba tea leaves and mixed with hot water, then shared with the gaucho and the guests. Etiquette dictates that when you’ve had enough, you return the cup with the straw facing the gaucho and say “gracias,” or else you will be served indefinitely. Eventually we all gracias’d our way back to the van.

Haute cow-ture; the gauchos used this unborn cow skin to store the mate (drunk in the gourd mug)

We returned to Explora for a leisurely lunch, changed into our hiking gear, and headed back out for our afternoon hike. All SIX guests who are currently staying at the hotel (yep, six) went on the hike with our guide, Danny. We drove about 20 minutes northeast and started walking to Lago Sarmiento. Along the way, we saw some guanacos along the road. Danny pointed out the condors (as one does) and we finally realized that Condors might get extra attention here because they are featured in the Chilean Coat of Arms (akin to bald eagles in America).

Relaxing in Explora common area before lunch

Drop-off point for our afternoon hike

Lake Sarmiento has a pH of 9, making it extremely alkaline, so only bacteria can survive. When the bacteria interacted with calcium carbonate from the last ice age, it formed white porous rocks called thrombolites. The thrombolites often have open, cave-like areas that make a good shelter for pumas. We saw some bones strewn about and a guanaco carcass, but alas, we did not get to pet any pumas.

Cool oxidized rocks above Lake Sarmiento

Fun new gameshow! Wood or bone?!?

Thrombolites

The hiking group!

With daylight fading and snow clouds enshrouding the peaks of the Paine range beyond, we hiked out to the van and drove back to Explora. We have determined the Explora van drivers are some seasoned pros, given the winding and narrow roads, as well as their amazing manual shifting prowess on the uphills.

The new nightly routine is hard to beat. Change of clothes, relax at the bar, and plan tomorrow’s exploration “€ which will be a full-day trek to the base of the Torres del Paine towers. Then delicious dinner, some quality couch time to type this up, and we’ll see ya tomorrow night!

Day 2: P. Arenas/Torres del Paine

by Joanna

Updated: July 29, 2019

1 Comment

After a much needed night of extended sleep, we enjoyed breakfast at the Rey Don Felipe Hotel and were ready for our pick up by Explora. The van arrived right on time and we drove back to the airport to pick up our fellow American (Boston by way of New York) travelers Dan and Tara. Their flight was a few minutes late, but once they arrived, we were ready to go.

Breakfast with historic photos of Punta Arenas

Airport sunrise. It looks like it’s 6AM, but it’s 9:30AM

It is winter in Chile and Punta Arenas checks in at about 53 degrees latitude south, so the eastern sky starts to lighten around 8:30AM and the sun finally rises at about 9:30AM. About two hours into the drive we stopped for lunch at the Hotel Rio Rubens, which seemed to appear out of nowhere. We ate lunch by the wood fire stove for extra warmth and fueled up for the rest of the drive.

Along the way, we were treated to beautiful views, and a glimpse of the gaucho life. There are few trees here due to the harsh conditions in the area, which made for an interesting landscape. We saw a sea lion feeding in the water, along with a lot of sheep, cows, and horses. We also noticed a unique signaling technique that the drivers use to say hello to oncoming traffic… they turn on their driver-side blinker as they approach each other. Really?!

Gaucho and his sheep dogs herding sheep

Winter roads

As we neared the park, the views continued to amaze. Explora is one of the few hotels located inside Torres del Paine National Park and open during the low season. The tourism significantly decreases in the Winter, so we’ll practically have the place to ourselves the next few days. We received a lovely welcome and tour of the hotel, then quickly prepared for our first exploration, a hike to Condor lookout.

Not too shabby, Chile

Heading to Mirador Condor

Our guide, Nacho, stopped along the way to tell us about the flora, fauna, and geology. One thing we did notice, is that all the guides here REALLY like their birds. Our driver this morning spoke very little English, but would point out every time he saw a condor. Nacho also stopped mid-sentence while explaining the parasitic mistletoe plant to draw our attention to the “condor!”

Nacho describes the flora

This mistletoe is fake!

On the way to the top

We made it to the top of the conglomerate for a 360 degree view. Only 40 percent of the people on the hike got engaged along the way… Congrats Tara and Dan! Winter is the “non-windy” season, but it was still plenty windy for us. Nacho produced some (celebratory) coffee from his pack and we warmed up while we enjoyed the view before heading back down.

This rock looks cool…

…sort of like a fish head

Windy coffee

Rio Pehoe (between Lago Pehoe and Lago Nordenskjold)

Heading back through the burned out forest

We arrived back at the hotel with time to relax with a Calafate Sour before our Welcome Presentation where we learned about Explora and the explorations they offer. We spoke with one of the guides who explained tomorrow’s weather forecast and suggested which explorations we should do. We decided a horseback ride to Laguna Negra in the morning and a hike around Lago Sarmiento in the afternoon is the best choice. The guides also offer a short talk every night on various topics. Tonight, we learned about the history of Patagonia before going to a fantastic dinner and hanging out near one of the fireplaces in the lounge.

Day 1: Punta Arenas

by Joanna

Updated: July 29, 2019

Leave a Comment

We are off to Chile! From Chicago, it takes at least three flights to get to Punta Arenas, which is the southernmost city in the Americas. Since we are still scarred from the “Amsterdam incident”, we booked our tickets with plenty of time for layovers and jumped through all the hoops necessary to get confirmed seats on the “partner” airlines. Hooray!

Therefore, of course, the first thing we see on Friday afternoon is a text from American to notify us that our flight from Chicago to Miami is delayed by an hour and a half due to the previous flight coming in late. Nooo!!! Well… they ended up switching the plane and we didn’t have to wait for the late flight after all, so we were only delayed by an hour. Ok then.

Bye for now, Chicago

We made it to Miami with plenty of time to catch our next flight. The extra time turned out to come in handy when we discovered that we had to exit the domestic terminals, walk across the airport, print our new boarding passes, go back through security, and make our way to the LATAM gates in the far end of Terminal J… as in “Terminal Jeez, that was far!” But no worries, we still had time to grab a sandwich before the flight.

How are you not entirely under water, Florida?

Next leg!

The overnight flight to Santiago was pretty uneventful. We drank a couple Argentinian beers with dinner, fell asleep, and successfully woke up for breakfast. We ended up landing in Santiago a bit earlier than planned, which gave us about four hours until our next flight. We found our bags and went through customs without any problems.

From this point onward, we were no longer joined by the throngs of travelers headed to Santiago to see the total solar eclipse on July 2nd. We checked our bags again, and made our way to the domestic terminal for our final flight to Punta Arenas. We passed the time taking quick naps (when not being poked at by gruff old Chilean guy and his apologetic wife) and trying the local fare, i.e. the Marraqueta from McDonald’s. (Pro Tip: The Santiago McDonald’s airport coffee is terrible, but the KitKat blizzard is great!)

I’ll have the avocado toast

Finally, the time for our flight arrived and we boarded the bus to our plane on the tarmac. We settled in, quickly fell asleep, and after 24 hours of total travel, we were in Punta Arenas! The airport is very small with about six gates and two baggage carousels, so once we picked up our bags, we were swept up by a taxi driver offering us a ride to the city center.

Lovely weather for the flight.

Punta Arenas is not the Southernmost city in the Americas… if you are a penguin.

After arriving at the hotel and quickly settling in, we made our way to the bar for our Calafate Sour welcome drink, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

New drink approved

Calafate is a blueberry-like fruit, common to this region of Punta Arenas. It gets turned into a syrup, mixed with Pisco and lime, and makes a delicious drink. In search of some dinner, we walked a few blocks out of the hotel towards the restaurant area. We ventured through a park with a statute of Ferdinand Magellan, the local Cathedral, and a bonus Pride rally.

The Pride rally was small but mighty.

He’s sooo gellin’

After checking out a few of the open restaurants (and by Ã¢â‚¬Ëœopen’ we mean Ã¢â‚¬Ëœtotally empty during the early bird special’), we decided to try a place called Restaurant Beagle, presumably named after the boat sailed by Charles Darwin and Captain Robert FitzRoy on expeditions thru and to Tierra del Fuego. Either that, or a showcase for a very eclectic interior designer.

Dinner…

…was delicious!

We ended up back at the hotel fairly early in the night to catch up on some sleep and get ready for our first full day of adventures tomorrow.

Getting Ready for Chile

by Joanna

Updated: July 15, 2019

Leave a Comment

It finally feels like summer here in Chicago, so obviously, we are getting ready to flee the heat and head to the mountains of chilly Patagonia!

Alphabetical order… New Zealand, Norway, Paris, Patagonia

After two days and three flights, we plan on arriving in Punta Arenas, Chile, the most populous Southernmost city in the Americas, for a quick night. On Sunday morning we will be picked up by Hotel Explora for six nights in the Torres del Paine region of Patagonia for hiking, horseback riding, and site seeing. They even have a spa.

Our future home for a week.

From there, we spend a day in Chile’s Capital, Santiago, recovering, warming up, and exploring. Next stop is Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, for three nights. Their statues have long been a wonder, but there have been some problems with tourism destroying the statues. We will be sure not to get fined for touching the Moai. While a part of Chile, Rapa Nui is a volcanic island, similar to Hawaii, so this is the closest we will get to the relaxing beach vacation some of you loyal readers long for.

Moai statues on the beach

Flying back to Santiago, we get another two days to explore the city before making our way back to Chicago.

Santiago Skyline

Adventures start Friday. Stay tuned.

Day 18: Airports

by Matt

Updated: September 14, 2018

1 Comment

Time for the always-exciting final blog entry of the trip, wherein I try to find entertaining ways to include some of our least-exciting photos — the ones we took as we make our way thru various airports en route back to the U.S. But first, here’s a good one…

Century 21 finally emailed our photo booth shot from Lorient

We rolled out of bed and showed up bright and early for the Ibis breakfast at 6AM. After consulting the bus timetables, we grabbed our bags, checked out, and caught the No. 5 line from the Palexpo (some kind of convention center) to the Geneva AÃƒÂ©roport.

Bus stops, bus goes

After waiting in a patience-testing slow line (gasp) to check our bags and get seats for our Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, we easily found our gate and determined it would be better to exchange our euros back to dollars in Germany, rather than in the land of Swiss francs.

The short flight from Geneva to Frankfurt was quite pleasant because Lufthansa apparently hasn’t gotten the memo that airlines are supposed to cram as many people as possible in coach. Thumbs up to leg room on Lufthansa!

Seems mean to just discard your pet plastic bottles

Take-off over Lake Geneva (presumably)

Upon arriving in Frankfurt, we eventually navigated our way to both a currency exchange and our connecting flight to Chicago. Not sure if it’s just me, but the Frankfurt airport is pretty darn confusing. From the map, it looks like the terminals are stacked on top of each other (?!), but the signage in the airport doesn’t really help convey such a layout. Anyhow, that probably explains all of the “bus” gates, where you get a shuttle ride to board your plane on the tarmac.

Great idea! What if we stack all of our terminals???

Boarding on the tarmac

Somebody likes Trans-Atlantic flights a bit too much

Eight hours later — after a few decent airplane meals, a couple free beers, and plenty of sleeping (or watching 20-year old movies like Saving Private Ryan!) — we landed in Chicago and breezed thru customs thanks to Global Entry. To repeat, Global Entry is the best. Jo’s parents picked us up and we celebrated by going out for Mexican food. Trip officially complete!

Considering we didn’t know exactly how the second week of our trip would play out with the Alpine Chaingang biking tour, it’s now safe to say our France trip was a huge success. The biking trip was incredible. The weather was amazing. We saw five stages of the Tour de France (stages 4, 5, 10, 11 & 12). We caught up with old friends and made some new ones. We biked crazy mountains in the French Alps, and (technically) visited or traveled through four countries. Heck, we even got the GoPro to (sort of) work.

The only downside is my daily Divvy Bike commute is now permanently ruined.

Might as well pedal a Sherman tank to work

And last but not least, for the next week, we watched the remaining stages of the 2018 Tour de France each morning on NBCSN. Hard to beat the soothing sounds of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin providing commentary on the race and describing gorgeous French countryside over breakfast. Well, unless you are there in person. 🙂

Geraint Thomas wins the 2018 Tour de France

Til next time!

Day 17: Courchevel/Geneva

by Joanna

Updated: August 4, 2018

Leave a Comment

Alas, our fantastic biking adventure has come to a close. Last night, we packed up our bags and cleared out all of our gear from the Chalet room closet so all we needed to do this morning was wake up (unless you stayed up all night packing), enjoy breakfast (another round of dippy eggs!), and be ready for our ride back to the Geneva Airport (in the posh white van with the Swiss vehicle tax sticker).

Where’s Martha? 🙂

Ready to roll

The clouds tried to make up for lost time — being AWOL the last week — as we drove down from Courchevel, but eventually blue sky made an appearance. For our return trip to Geneva, Dave opted to take us on the scenic route north from Albertville and we were able to see Lake Annecy along with some final views of the Alps. Also… Dave’s driving playlist… top notch.

Leaving the clouds in Courchevel

The comfy Alpine Chaingang transfer van

Looking south-ish near Albertville-ish

The view east over Lake Annecy

Arriving at Geneva Airport, we said our goodbyes and *poof* it was all over. Standing outside the departures concourse with our bags, we consulted Google Maps (Lycamobile actually worked in Switzerland this time!) and found walking directions to the nearby Ibis airport hotel. We made it, although our route was a bit unorthodox (sans sidewalk). We checked in and got our free transportation passes again, so we’ll gladly take the bus for the return trip in the morning.

Ibis Styles are pretty hip

We both fell asleep almost immediately after making it to our room. Apparently, biking up the Alps for six days in a row is tiring. After our satisfying naps, we found the UK sports channel on the TV and watched Stage 14 of the Tour de France. The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent relaxing with complementary Ibis beverages, catching up on the blog, and watching a Top 40 music video countdown.

Watching Stage 14 of the Tour

Sunset over Geneva Airport

Tomorrow we hop a bus back to the Geneva airport, connect through Frankfurt, and head back to Chicago.

Day 16: Col de la Madeleine

by Joanna

Updated: September 14, 2018

Leave a Comment

It is our last day of biking with Alpine Chaingang. While the Tour de France has moved south out of the Alps, today we will ride up the northern approach of the Col de la Madeleine — a portion of the route the Tour covered yesterday (before getting to Alpe d’Huez).

On the bright side, it looks like we saved the best for last, as the Col de la Madeleine might be our most scenic route yet. The road is usually buried in snow from November to June. It is a very popular with the Tour, having been featured nearly thirty times since 1969.

Feeling great on day six!

Setting off 21km from the top

The varsity team was a man down today, as Phil and Eileen visited some local friends for lunch. That left Paul, Jason, Martha and Dave, all of whom started from the Chalet driveway and biked down from Courchevel through Moutiers to reach the base of the climb. Matt is getting pretty good at this — but he’s not that crazy — so he hitched a ride in the support van and started his ride near the base of the climb.

Great weather, once again

For all you blog/waterfall fans

Meanwhile, I joined Ben (Dave’s son filling in for Amy) in the support van and had a great time. Ben is an avid skier recovering from an ACL injury (which he incurred playing soccer, of all things), so my helpful duties included taking pictures and offering snacks/water to our riders.

Traditional French Alps KwikTrip

Scenery leveling up

Scenery leveling up some more

The north approach of Col de la Madeleine is considered an “HC” climb by the Tour mainly due to its 26 kilometer (16 mile) length. The gradient averages 7%, but there are several 9-10% sections to make it a challenge. There is roughly a 1500 meter elevation gain along the way, topping out at 2000 meters.

Turns out the French street and sanitation crews do a pretty good job of cleaning up after the Tour. The only remnants from yesterday’s race were chalk/paint messages on the road. Only one or two unclaimed sponsor caravan freebies were seen lying on the embankments.

Paparazzi getting shots of Matt on Col de la Madeleine

Scenery reaching critically scenic levels

Scenery meter busted

Matt reached the summit feeling good and we enjoyed a celebratory smoothie/espresso from a patio bistro while taking in the view. The weather on the other side of the Col looked a little bit threatening (but cool!), so we opted to eat lunch inside one of the friendly alpine restaurants at the summit.

2000 meters above the sea

Dramatic-looking weather to the south

Alpine patio furniture

Best support van wing-woman

Salads in the French Alps are legit

By the time lunch was over, the weather cleared a bit and we started our descent on a nice, dry road. Everybody made it down in one piece, which means it’s official… Matt (and I) have survived the biking portion of our bike trip!

Dave, what if I want to go 70 mph down the mountain???

Ok, how about ~20-30 mph

After loading up all the bikes and riders at the bottom of the mountain, we drove back to the chalet in Courchevel and had plenty of time to finish our last bottle of cider while watching stage 13 of the Tour de France on TV. As a special treat for our final night of the trip, Dave arranged a celebratory dinner with the group at a local restaurant called Refuge du Bois in Champagny Le Haut.

Garden behind the chalet

On our way to dinner, the rain started coming down as soon as we got in the car. Knowing our biking was finished, this was oddly satisfying! To reach the restaurant, we drove down the mountain, passed thru Bozel, and followed switchbacks on a small road up into the mountains on the other side of the valley.

The Refuge was aptly named and very cozy. Dave’s menu selections were amazing, with lots of local cheese and house wine. The delicious main course featured turkey breast, wrapped in ham, doused with melty cheese along side a generous portion of hearty Savoie region specialty pasta called Crozets. Afterwards, we ended up with a bottle of Genepi on the table and everybody downed some celebratory shots.

Arriving in Champagny Le Haut

Traditional herbal liqueur in the Alps

After our best dinner in France, we made our way back to Courchevel in the foggy rain and enjoyed our last night hanging out in the chalet listening to the storm. Tomorrow we all head back to Geneva and most of the group flies home.

Day 15: Alpe d’Huez

by Joanna

Updated: September 14, 2018

3 Comments

It’s our fifth and final Tour de France day! Today, the 12th stage of the tour starts in the familiar location of Bourg Saint-Maurice and concludes atop the legendary climb of Alpe d’Huez. The Alpe d’Huez is a staple of the Tour de France with an elevation of 1850 meters (6070 ft), a length of 13.8 km (8.6 mi), and an average gradient of 8.1% (with maximums of 13%) over 21 hairpin turns. So — obviously — that’s why Matt and the boys will attempt to bike it before watching the stage finish on the same roads later in the afternoon.

2018 Tour de France Stage 12 map

First order of business was getting to the town of town of Borg d’Oisans, which lies at the base of Alpe d’Huez — about a two hour drive from the Chalet. We set our alarms for an earlier wake up call and breakfast and got on the road by 7:30am. Most of us nodded off a bit in the van ride for a little extra sleep. When we arrived, we parked a few km outside of town to help avoid getting caught in traffic on the way out.

Learned my lesson yesterday, so attaching a second water bottle bracket today

Another beautiful day in the French Alps (heading into Bourg d’Oisans)

After biking into town and finding the base of the climb, it was immediately clear why people say Tour de France day on Alpe d’Huez is something to behold. It was 10:30am, the race was not scheduled to come thru until roughly 4:30pm, but the place was already bustling with thousands of fans and other bikers starting their trek up the climb. Crazy costumes, music blaring from speakers, you name it.

The well-known Devil dude is a Tour de France fixture

Going up, up, up…

Friendly support from these chaps

The first six turns (counting down from 21) are the steepest part of the climb. If you can power your way thru those, the gradients get a little easier. But — as Dave suggested — don’t look up yet, because you’ll see a massive wall with the rest of the 15 turns winding back and forth as high as you can see.

Looking down is more encouraging than looking up

Another turn in the books

Eventually, in the final turns, the ski village of Huez comes into view. The village center was packed with fans and cyclists milling about, buying souvenirs and eating lunches at the bars. Matt biked to the point where security has closed the area for the finish line, and then immediately looked for a place to buy a giant bottle of water.

Approaching the ski village of Huez

Only finish line security or dehyrdration can stop me now!

Meanwhile, as the guys biked up the mountain, Eileen and I walked from the car to Bourg d’Oisans and stocked up on supplies including waters and sandwiches. We continued walking through town and headed up the base of Alpe d’Huez to just beyond the first turn (Turn 21), where we found a good spot in the shade (for the moment) to camp out and watch the race go by — plus the always-exciting sponsor caravan.

Phil reached the top and came back down the mountain first. He descended so fast that neither of us saw him pass our location, but after a few calls, he made his way back up to turn 21 and joined Eileen and myself. Next down the line was Paul and Jason, who proceeded into town and found a bar to spend the rest of the afternoon.

Finally, I spotted Matt on his way down and successfully got his attention to join us as well. It probably helped that I was not trying to flag him down in any of the crazy party zones he biked thru higher on the mountain, including the well-known “Dutch Corner” on Turn 7 of the climb. Here’s a video Matt shot at Dutch Corner — about 4 hours until the race arrives: Video

Approaching Dutch Corner

It’s a full-on party up here

Wave anything in the air like you just don’t care!

Those Brits at Turn 20 are not as crazy, but still going strong

It wasn’t long after Matt arrived, that race officials shut down all bike and car traffic on the road. Dave warned us about “getting stuck” up the mountain, but from our location, we would be able walk down from Turn 21 if needed.

As the afternoon sun crawled across the sky, our shady race-viewing spot slowly became quite sunny (thanks astronomy). The four of us braved the heat and drank every last drop of water in our supplies. Then… like a miracle, the trusty Vittel water truck appeared! Unfortunately, they weren’t handing out water this time. But… they were handing out really nice race shirts. Score!

The rest of the usual sponsor caravan came through shortly thereafter and we got even more free crap that, alas, was not water.

Our — now very sunny — viewing spot just beyond Turn 21

Thanks for spotting me, Jo! And bringing sandwiches!

Best race swag yet! Vittel water is our new favorite water company

After the sponsor parade, the arrival of the Tour cyclists gave us a jolt of energy. A Dutch rider named Steven Kruijswijk passed first with a ~4 minute lead, attempting to revive the storied history of Dutch riders winning Tour stages on Alpe d’Huez. See: Video

Steven Kruijswijk is the first to reach the climb

The next group of cyclists that passed included Team Sky, who were working together for Geraint Thomas (current yellow jersey wearer) and Chris Froome (defending Tour champion). Despite a nearly 4-minute gap as they passed us near Turn 21, the importance of teamwork during climbs was made obvious when these guys later caught the Dutch rider and Geraint Thomas won the stage. See: Video

But Team Sky will eventually catch him

After several more groups of riders passed, we started walking down the course along the fencing. We were able to stop and watch the other groups of bikers as they climbed up the mountain. Because we were on a mountain, the riders were actually riding slow enough to really see what was going on. 🙂 Here’s is a video I took of Peter Sagan as he passed by: Video

Once we made it to Bourg d’Oisans at the base of the climb, we IMMEDIATELY bought water and coke popsicles (or “ice lollies” as Eileen says). Refueled, we continued our walk back to the car, loaded up the bikes, and waited for the rest of the group to return.

Walking back to the van

Bike loaded… mountains in view… and more snacks!

We managed to hit the road just before 7pm and we arrived back to the Chalet around 9pm. After dinner, we relaxed a bit with the group before going to sleep. Tomorrow we have a bit later start (yay!) and the plan is to ride the Col de la Madeleine, while I’ll cheer/help out from the support van.