5 July 09 - St Pierre de Chartreuse to Lans en Vercours

We had a most interesting discussion this morning with the hosts at the Chambre d'hote. They were the owners of a small hotel in St Pierre for many years and retired to the beautiful chalet they had built just 100m away from their hotel. In France, the age at which you receive the national pension is based on how many hours you've worked (in your whole life!) and madame had started work at 14! The amount you receive on retirement, however, is based on your working income. In the hotel business, this is much less than for bureaucrats or executives, so they are quite dependant on the income from their chambre d'hote for the little extras. When they quit the hotel, the sold the "fond du commerce" - the business of the hotel, not the "walls," so they also get rent from the new hoteliers. Alas, the hoteliers who have succeeded them have not been as skilful, so they've been through 3 sets and the hotel is not quite so beautiful as it used to be. Let us now praise the NZ system, where everybody gets the same pension at the same age!

Not a very long day today, but a hilly one. We stopped at the tourist office in St Pierre to update the blog and check the weather report, then climbed Col de Porte (1326m) before descending towards the dreaded Grenoble. We stopped at Sappey en Chartreuse to shop for lunch - the usual bread cheese fruit and yoghurt. It was late in the morning on Sunday, so the only small bread left was a pain de siegle (rye-bread) which would have made a German proud - heavy, fairly dry but flavourful. She picked it so she carried it ! The ride down into Grenoble was made as part of a procession of veteran cars - mostly Simcas with the odd Citroen or Matra thrown in. I couldn't help remembering how bad the brakes on those cars were, but we only suffered from the odd backfire and the squeal of ancient drums.

Finding our way through Grenoble was the usual circus but we did remarkably well by keeping the nose pointed south. Vast changes since last we were there, with tram tracks going every which way and lots of one-way streets. Glad we did it on a Sunday!

We climbed into the Vercours by a different route this year. Usually we go via Sassenage, which is a long straight climb with little shade. This year we rode via St Nizier which is twistier but still little shade and no water for the first 15 kms. Beautiful it was, but steeper than the other option. Every picnic area was crowded with Grenoblois on a day out in the mountains but they all had their own refreshments, not to mention badminton sets, beasts on braziers, and folding picnic tables. We filled our emergency bottles from a stream but finally reached a fountain before we had to resort to them. The last 5 kms we were accompanied by a very enthusiastic and talkative young man on a bike telling us all about his life and cycling adventures. Just kept smiling and nodding and pedalling!

We had thought about continuing on to Villard de Lans, which is a bit touristy and crowded, but the arrival of thunder convinced us that Lans en Vercours was far enough. Val Fleuri is a beautiful little hotel built in the 30s and well modernised. We opted, as usual, for the cheaper rooms on the highest floor with bath and bog down the hall - 38 euros. We'll make up for it with a choice of a simple plat du jour or a copious menu - the smells are enticing.

Tomorrow we think we might go just as far as Chapelle en Vercours which will be a perfect centre for a few loops in the Vercours - stunning gorges, challenging passes, and loads of museums especially about the Resistance.