We spent another quiet night in our small accommodation. Today was “only” a transit route so that we could tackle the next highlight in the morning. Our morning coffee stop with cappuccino and croissants was a good start: The cappuccino got 4 out of 5 points, the croissants looked fluffy and we were looking forward to enjoying them on our first break. But first we took to the streets.

Even the highways led in long curves always along the mountain through fascinating panoramas and offered a lot of riding fun. As Marco had planned the route almost entirely with a motorcycle app, we hardly drove on the highway and only a few other major roads. We were off the beaten track almost all the time on unexpectedly beautiful routes. We mainly met bikers and cyclists there. Time and again, we discovered passes that we hadn’t had on our radar. We wound our way up and down, through and over the tree lines, bend by bend, closer to our destination.

I often didn’t have the words to describe how impressive the Alps looked. Most of the time you felt quite small in the face of the power demonstrated by these centuries-old rocks. We saw several places of past landslides or avalanches, the mountain rivers were full of debris and rocks, but currently carried little water. The colors of the lakes were a clear blue-green and contrasted beautifully with the rocks and villages. If we had just taken the direct route or the quickest route – what we would have missed!

We were in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region – and later continued our journey again in Piedmont, Italy. Today’s surprise passes in (hopefully correct) order:

• Col de la Cayolle – 2,326 m
  A very popular pass, especially for cyclists, who we overtook a lot – at least from this side. There was a large parking lot with lots of vehicles at the summit. I would almost describe the route as romantic: narrow road, rocky overhangs, small tunnels, a river next to or below us, small and large waterfalls, the tree line – it had it all.
  Incidentally, the Cayolle is also part of the legendary Route des Grandes Alpes, one of the most famous Alpine roads in France, which runs from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean. Even though we had only crossed it, it felt a bit like a must-do for Alpine fans.

• Col de Valberg – 1,672 m
  A photographer was on hand here to take spectacular pictures. They were also to be found on many other passes – certainly good business. Valberg itself is a well-known winter sports resort that was founded back in the 1930s and still relies heavily on tourism today. Despite the generally quiet route and many lonely sections, we again encountered a few two-wheelers here, with and without engines.

• Col de la Couillole – 1,678 m
  Around 16.1 km long, with an average gradient of 7% – a winding route that dragged on, but offered plenty of scenery. The Couillole is also part of the winter sports area around Valberg, which was clearly evident from the well-developed access roads and the signs for ski slopes.

• Col de la Lombarde – 2,350 m
  The pass marks the border between France and Italy. As is so often the case, the signs were covered in stickers, so we almost didn’t recognize this point as a border.
  At the summit there is also a memorial plaque to Don Giovanni Bon Giovanni and Cavaliere Jean Gaïssa, who were instrumental in building the road over the Lombarde as a “bridge of friendship” between the French Tinée Valley and the Italian Stura Valley in the 1960s and 1970s. The structure is regarded as a symbol of peace and international understanding – and thus perfectly suited our feeling of crossing the border in the middle of the mountains as a matter of course.

After a hot dog refreshment, the route went almost dead straight down the mountain into the valley – only to turn up again at another point. We finally reached our accommodation. And we had to realize: Even if it was “only” from A to B, without any great planned highlights, every bend in the Alps was worth seeing and riding. The change from the French side to the Italian Piedmont made the day even more special: the landscape, road layout and atmosphere changed noticeably.

Conclusion: It was actually just a transit day – and yet it was full of surprises. Every unexpected pass, every panorama and the stories that the roads whispered to us made it clear: there is no boring route in the Alps. The next big adventure awaits tomorrow.