Alpine Majesty at the Col du Lautaret
Zagan the motorhome’s surrounded by sheer rock and ice, a simply beautiful place, at the Col du Lautaret in the French Alps. We’re in a free, tolerated parking area set back from the main road with ten or fifteen other motorhomes (N45.03250, E6.40758). To the south of us stands the Parc National des Écrins, devoid of roads, a mass of rock and glaciers. A short walk (about 60 seconds) from the van we can see the glinting Glacier de la Meije, and to the north winds the almost-invisible Col du Galibier. This is a special place, very beautiful.
We’ve been here since Sunday and, given the facilities (of which there are none) and time, I’d stay a month. The natural beauty is a wonder. The sun’s shining, but the air’s cool. Marmots are squeaking on the hill along side us, mostly invisible but for a couple of hours when two of them pop up, staring down at us all, comically bounding up and down the slope. The patches of icy snow which had survived this long down at the parking level have melted since we’ve arrived, and it’s now a run up the Galibier if you want to grab some for your G&T!
Picking up from the last blog post down the valley, we had that raclette and it was delicious! Toasted cheese, meats, pickles, bread, potatoes and a bottle of ice-cold local white wine went down a treat. It was a bit of a blow-out in terms of both calories and Euros, but well worth it! Having not used the cheese-melter device for a few years, we got a bit of training before being let loose, and managed to return what was left of the half wheel with it in reasonable-ish shape!
Having dragged our full bellies back to the van and had a silent night’s kip, we decided to roll off the hill and head over here the next morning. I’d been a bit nervous about the 9 mile-long descent down to the main road in the valley, and cautiously headed back down in second gear, forced into first for a couple of miles to avoid long periods on the brakes. Thankfully the road was almost devoid of traffic, or we’d have a 20 car tail behind out 10mph rolling roadblock selves.
Onto the main road running along the valley, the scenery grew more and more dramatic as we headed east towards Briançon. Ju leaned out and grabbed some photos, as I cursed the TomTom for deciding the main road didn’t exist, or was closed, or for some other reason lost favour to a tiny twisting thing on the other side of a lake. Thankfully Ju was, as usual, well on the ball and over-rode the blasted thing to keep us on decent-width routes (with the exception of the tunnel below, where we narrowly avoided facing off to a motorhome coming the other way).
Finally rolling in here, we pulled up alongside what’s since been named first ‘Ju Hill’, after Ju scaled it to get some cracking views, and later on ‘Ju-Marmot Hill’, as it turned out the furry creatures had already staked a claim to it!
The view from part way up ‘Ju-Marmot’ Hill – video to follow from the top when we get wifi
But for getting onto the ramps, we’ve not since moved the van, but have managed a few bits and bobs:
- We had a fascinating evening with Robin and Ray, an Australian couple touring in a hired van from Germany. It turned out they’d come across this blog a while back and had used a few of the Norway spots we’ve blogged about – great to know someone’s using ’em. Having spent a year converting a bus into a home, they’ve spent more years touring and working in Australia, as well as long forays backpacking into China, North America, India and Nepal.
- I’ve had a training run up the Col du Galibier, which I wrote about here.
- We’ve renewed our motorhome insurance with Safeguard (this is why we use them).
- Peter, a friendly and helpful Dutch chap from an adjacent Hymer came over for a chat about a workshop near the Hymer factory in Germany where he’s had lots of modifications done. Peter’s well-travelled too, having wracked up 200,000 km on his touring motorbike, and prefers driving on the left!
- Watched England beat Tunisia 2-1 in their Russia World Cup 2018 opener, with the sat dish pointed over the top of the mountain in front of us!
- And we’ve sat in the sun and marmot-watched, trying not to get too roasted by the sun which bakes down in the day, before the whole valley fills with cold fog at night.
Charlie’s being treated to the cooler air up here too, although he’s having a few rough patches the poor chap, which is upsetting us all. He’s now on his Gabapentin medication which we have for when he is struggling, so in the next couple of days we’ll have to source some here in France with our UK prescription. He’s been pretty good the past couple of days, so we’re holding fire on taking him to a vets as, to be honest, we’re not 100% sure we’d come out the building with him still in tow (or he could be around for months yet, we don’t know). We’d also like to be back in the UK when the inevitable moment comes, but accept that might not be our decision. For the moment he’s still loving his meat and occasional treat, and we’re doing our best to be sure he’s comfy and happy, carrying him out for a sniff of the Alpine meadows and marmots around us.
Cheers, Jay
You should have issued a ‘drool’ warning with that description and pics of the raclette supper!
Great post again!
Ann
What do you do for water and chemical disposal when you are so far away from sites ?
Hi Paul. We use service points every few days. They’re everywhere in France, and much of the rest of Europe. Here we serviced the van 3 days ago (emptied waste) at the previous aire we stayed in. Tomorrow we’ll find another service point. We can do 4 or 5 nights at a stretch without emptying, but try to keep it to 3. Cheers, Jay
Amazing spot! What did you do about fresh water and loo emptying? Would love to head to that spot but I’m worried we’ll be cramming too much in. Also a bit nervous about the road there.
Lee
There’s no service point here Lee, so no possibility to empty. The on board tanks can last 3 to 5 nights, so we’ll carry the waste out of here and find a service point. The roads take some getting used to, but thousands of motorhomes safely use them. Engine braking is important to learn, apart from that know the van width and try and take your time, don’t get pushed along (all easier said than done!). Cheers, Jay
We’re currently in Bourg d’Oisins so it makes sense to see if we can get in at Lauteret for a night I think. I managed to get the camping bike up Alpe d’Huez this morning but it took 2 hours of constant climbing to do so. Galibier may be pushing my luck (and bike). Is it possible to get blasé about the scenery in these parts?.
Will blog the results at http://www.gohumberto.com
Lee Humberto
Great effort Lee!! Is it possible to get blasé? I’ve not managed it, I love these mountains, I can stare at the high monsters for hours. Galibier is fairly easy from the Lautaret side, only about 5 miles up, compared with maybe 2 or 3 times as far on the other side. Definitely worth a try, the scenery is epic. Cheers, Jay
Oh wow, that meal looked, the best!