Day 54 – to Gravelines

I put a route together for this morning, in the Varoin valley, starting at Vierves and climbing up through forest tracks to a high point at just over 350 metres, then descending to the village of Olloy, returning on the riverbank.

After lunch I drove the 250 kilometres to the Channel coast. I had a tip on a good place to stopover, at Gravelines. There is a water sports centre there, based around a purpose built lake. It was busy when I arrived in the late afternoon, mainly with rowers packing up to go home.

There were quite a few other vans and motorhomes there, but plenty of space, and very quiet.

That pretty much brings this course to a close. I’ll get away from here just after 6 am tomorrow morning and get an early Eurotunnel crossing, and take on the most dreaded part of the journey, the trek back up north.

Amongst the highlights have been the extremes of weather. This week it was early 30s in the Vosges, and didn’t drop below 20 at night. Up at the Falzarego pass it went to 6 below, and I had a decent 10 centimetres of snow on the solar panels; I was in effect stuck until the snow plough got through, not that it mattered – it was one of the more memorable nights in the van.

The Julian Alps were a highlight, despite there being too much snow to do any Alpine hiking. I’m keen to get back here though, I think it would suit an autumn visit.

Also the Vosges, in particular the central and southern parts. It would be possible to put together a really good bikepacking route here, perhaps two weeks, 750 km, and it would all be away from roads. I think March – April, or October would be best.

I’m getting to use the van to its full capacity, though I’ve made some notes on things I want to improve before heading up to Scandinavia. So I’m back home to sort that out, and try and get the body working more efficiently..