Col Agnel and Italy

 Friday 5/9/26

Close to the Col, looking back over France

We had a massive thunderstorm last night so everything was soaked and chilly this morning.  This, coupled with the fact that my knee has been playing up a bit meant we opted for a drive today as opposed to our planned hike.

Looking out over the Italian Alps
Can you tell we were too chicken to walk to the end of the path - and a sheer drop.

The closest entry point into Italy is only 32km from here but the drive takes around an hour, through the narrowest of villages and winding up through the valley.  Again, we tipped our hats at the cyclists battling up the never-ending uphill stretch.  

There was a lot of road works at the summit as they are building new parking areas so it was very tight and congested.  We turned around after stopping briefly in Italy, because we decided that getting to the first Italian village would entail an accumulation of too many hairpin bends for us for a day.

We stopped on the way back for a lovely Plat de Jour et café.  

The scenery around here is just amazing, it's fantastic to have such a beautiful area so close to where we live.  Lots to explore!

Tomorrow we'll see if we can tackle our planned hike.

Briançon, the Col d'izoard and Abriès

 Friday 5/9/26

Anyone not wanting to look at loads of mountains - look away now!

As much as we love our new home in Mallefougasse, we were both determined to do a late summer exploratory trip into the Alps before winter sets in.  

Neither of us ski and we wanted to see what hiking facilities are like relatively close to us.  We'd booked into an apartment in Abriès based on a personal recommendation by our landlady.  Luckily we were warned the main access road into the town was blocked for repairs on the day we arrived so we planned a longer route via Briançon, to the north and then down over the Izoard pass.  We did want to see the mountains, after all.

The old walled town in Briançon. 

We were blown away by the sheer number of cyclists slogging their way (mostly successfully) up this extreme route but between them, the narrow roads and millions of motorcycles thundering up and down, it made for a rather tense but worthwhile drive.  The views along the way and from the top of the pass were absolutely amazing!

Mountains, as far as the eye can see.

Even though we are still in France, the road resembles a piece of spaghetti.

Our apartment is in the middle of the village, and overlooks the local supermarket / boulangerie aptly named the Sherpa.  From there we can watch all the hikers departing in the morning and new ones arriving in the afternoon, desperate for sustenance.  Although very much geared for winter sports with numerous ski slopes around us, the summer season is definitely hiking season.  The village is along the GR58, a 100km hiking route winding it's way through the Queyras region.

We're not sure if she's looking after the lamb or the post.

Abriès village.  We're staying in the apartments in the lower right of picture

The interior of the church is exquisitely decorated

We still need to build up some mileage and buy some more serious kit but we are definitely planning on tackling the 100km trail next spring; it's contagious being here.  We've done a few shorter hikes from the town and, although very, very hilly, it is really beautiful. We're sleeping well at night with tired legs!