Holiday in France 18 - Col de Vars


Apologies to anyone who is following this blog, I have been away for a month and have had no internet access. I am taking up where I left off - in the southern Alps of France.
Alan left Guillestre early to ride up to the Col de Vars on his bike. I had a tidy up of the van and downloaded pictures from my camera onto the laptop then set out to meet him. He was coming back down into the town when I caught up with him and we turned immediately and drove up to the top of the col. There is a large Vauban fort just outside Guillestre, but we had visited this on a previous holiday and did not feel the need for a return.
Compared to other passes the Col de Vars is fairly low and stands next door to the Refuge Napoléon, by a small lake which was glittering in the morning sun. The refuge was built in 1858, after Emperor Napoléon's death, but in accordance with his wishes to thank the people of the area for their kindness after his return from Elba. We had a walk around the lake and up onto the hillside where we saw some sheep and their guardian dogs and also a small chapel.
I took a picture of Alan standing by the sign for the col, without his bike!
Descending on the far side of the col we drove to the small village of St Paul-sur-Ubaye, which stands on a narrow gorge of the Ubaye river. We had a look around the graveyard and the church and then drove on via the main road at Jousiers where we had our lunch next to a much bigger version of the Ubaye which was streaming over the rocks. The next ascent was the Col de Bonette, but I will leave this one for the next gripping episode.



























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