A thread on the Paris forum about driving from Nice to Chamonix led me to wonder about something. I love driving more or less difficult mountain roads and have driven the full Route des Grandes Alpes once from Nice to Chamonix. It was June and though it took two full days I would do it again in a heartbeat. Incredibly, awe-inspiringly beautiful, and wonderfully challenging roads! The weather was near perfect all the way, though I recall the night we spent near Briancon in a tent as being numbingly cold, but still lovely.
Since then I have tried three times to drive the same route, once in late June and twice in September, in reverse, and each time have been forced to abandon the attempt due to heavy rain and/or thick fog - and once by a freak early snowstorm!
Has anyone else any experience of this route? Have I just been incredibly unlucky or was I just very lucky the one time I did make it all the way driving south to north?
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Maybe it was just luck your first time. We%26#39;ve driven over some mountain passes in the summer and at the top found fog and snow but were able to make it through. It really is a great area. Have you explored the area around Annecy? We found breathtaking views there and wonderful villages to explore.
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Thanks for the response! Yes, I know Annecy and the area round it quite well, and it is lovely.
I do want to do the whole Route des Grandes Alpes from north to south. I guess I%26#39;ll just have to keep trying.
I have a tendency to get myself into dodgy situationss in the Alps. On another occasion I thought it would be a good plan to take the Splugen Pass from Switzerland to Lake Como. Got almost to the top in passable weather when suddenly the thickest fog I have ever driven in descended. No sense going back. It was without doubt the scariest drive I have ever had.
And there is a perfectly good autoroute that would have taken us there with no problem.
But I%26#39;d probably do it again...
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