Col de l’Iseran France

We enjoyed our morning coffee in the beautiful sunshine overlooking the lake. 

We decided not to linger too long so set off back down the Col, through Lanslebourg to Bessans. 

We stopped for a walk around this traditional village of the Haute Maurienne. 

We bought our baguette from the boulangerie and then continued along the pretty valley. We could not pass Bonneval-sur- Arc,  classified as one of the most beautiful villages of France (also visited in 2014). It is a typical Savoie village with a charming group of stone houses with huge slate roofs and wooden balconies. 

From here the only way was up to the Col de l’Iseran (2770m alt. The highest road pass in the French alps). The drive offered some amazing views as we dodged cyclists, motorbikes, cars and motorhomes.

We managed to get a parking spot in the chaos of the Col. Mark listened to the first half of the bombers game. We then had a walk around. 

We could have stayed here but the altitude is not comfortable and the weather seemed to be changing for the worst. So we descended down towards Val d’Isere but stopped before we reached the bottom near Lac de l’Ouillette. 

Mark managed to watch the 2nd half of the last bombers game of the season against Sydney with another frustrating loss. But the views over Val d’Isere were amazing. 

We did contemplate whether to stay here but at 2500m alt and being early afternoon, we continued down the mountain. The village is very touristy and difficult to find parking. Also we had visited here in 2014. So we used the free service point and continued further down the valley. We eventually ended up in a parking area in Tignes- Les - Brevieres, below the dam wall of Lac du Chevril. It’s a small and pleasant village with a lovely view.

80km journey today..