By Bike

Day 46 (18th September) – Thonon-les-Bains to Le Grand-Bornand.

We set off in darkness heading south on the 720 km Route des Grandes Alpes from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean coast.

La Route des Grandes Alpes was conceived in 1909 by the French Touring Club to attract automobile and motorcycle tourists and showcase the beautiful French mountain scenery. It has also become a popular randonnée with cyclists, inspiring my desire and imagination of an Alps Odyssey.

Fully completed and officially opened in 1937, the route connects remote areas of the French Alps via multiple alpine passes, all of which feature in the Tour de France (TDF).

We followed the Dranse River, which flows through stunning limestone formations of the Gorges du Pont du Diable to Morzine, a ghostly ski resort at this time of year, before making our big first climb of the day, the Col de Joux Plane.

The morning ride was coolish beneath a thick cover of cloud. As we started to climb, the blanket began to fray and by the Col, the sky was an ocean of deep blue.

Now hovering below us, the cloud became a soft downy pillow. To the south, we were treated to spectacular views of Mont Blanc the highest peak in the European Alps.

After a screeching descent through the cloud, two major river crossings and a short steep climb in between, it was onto the Col de la Colombiere.

Both Cadel Evans and Simon Gerrans have won stages of the TDF featuring this climb (note that it gets steeper the higher you climb). And the Tour de France Femme finished just the other side of the Col only a month ago.

The last few kilometres to the Col above the cloud were surprisingly hot. Fortunately, there was an excellent pub on hand that sold Australian ginger beer!

A ripper of a descent into the ski resort town of Le Grand-Bornand, our stopover for the evening – a wide, smooth tarmac, commanding views, long straights and tight switchbacks!

Despite its popularity as a ski resort, the town has managed to maintain its Savoyard character of century-old wooden chalets and a 17th century church with a distinctive bulbous bell tower.

Le Grand-Bornand is also the birthplace of Reblochon cheese, dating back to the 13th century, and they love their cows – there’s a year-round Cow Art Trail featuring artworks celebrating the town’s bovine heritage. This one made of straw.

According to Garmin