Route de Napoleon

Route de Napoleon

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Chris944

Original Poster:

336 posts

229 months

Saturday 19th May 2018
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The Route de Napoleon has been lauded as a great driving road and having a work meeting In Monte Carlo, with my sponsor prepared to pay the driving costs, provided an excuse to drive there and enjoy the Route de Napoleon en-route.

We left our Croydon, UK, base at 4.30am on Monday, May 14, driving a 996 C4 loaded up with four days’ worth of two people’s luggage, and set off for the Channel tunnel. The plan was drive to Monte C through France, going east of Paris, and return by coming back west of Paris.

We’d stay at Tournus, south of Beaune on the way to Monte Carlo, driving the Route de Napoleon on day 2, going on to Monte Carlo, and then start the return drive on May 17, staying overnight at Chatellerault, north of Poitiers, before heading for the Channel Tunnel and home on May 18.

The autoroutes were taken to Tournus, with the weather being showery but the A16 - A26 - A5 - A31 - A6 route to and past Reims and Dijon being mercifully light on traffic, and the 996 an adequate GT car to say the least. We covered around 415 miles, with cruise control set at 135kpm-ish, not wanting any problems with French road cops.

Tournus is a nice old town in which to overnight and we started out on the second day around nine am. It was going to be a very long day, with another 400 miles to cover.

Autoroutes were taken again to get to and past Grenoble, with the A6 to Lyon, and the A43, A48 and A480 having light to middling heavy traffic and showery to very heavy rain; not pleasant. We took the N85, the original Route de Napoleon road classification is still in use, at junction 8 off the A480, and headed towards Gap.

It is a pretty and enjoyable drive, passing through lovely pre-alpine mountain scenery. The traffic was mostly light, with just a very small number of campervans. There were enough of these though to make it obvious the road would be hell in the summer months.

Le Mure and Corps were nice towns to pass through and then we came to Gap. Yes, well, necessary evil, with no bypass, many roundabouts and traffic lights, and a lot of traffic. Eventually we got through the dreadful place and took the A51 autoroute south to get through a boring part of the N85 quickly.

This was exited at junction 21, by Chateau-Arnoux, to rejoin the N85 and enjoy the main part of the Route de Napoleon after Digne-les-Bains. You drive up out of Digne, to and through Chateauredon and Barreme. From Barreme its 86 kilometres to Grasse and the end of the driving pleasure.

The terrain becomes more mountainous, with the valleys getting deeper and the sides steeper. The road is wide enough and the curves well-enough sited for overtakes, particularly if the traffic is light, which it was. The sun came out between the light showers often enough to show us magnificent views on the way up to the top of the Col des Leques.

The road features several hairpins, narrow sections past rocky walls, lovely climbing curves and a cafe-bar at the top.

Then there is a great descent to Castellane, with its church perched on a 100 metre high rocky prow above the town. We enjoyed the many hairpin bends on the way down to and through the town.

Now there are four more passes to cross on the way to Grasse; up and down the Col de Luens to Le Logis de Pin and on to Escragnolles. Next you go up and over the Col de Valferriere and the Pas de La Faye to reach St. Valier-de-Theiy. Then there is the Col du Pilon which gets you into the traffic hell that is Grasse.

For us on this multi-pass section the clouds came down and we had a few light showers before the skies lightened as we came to Grasse.

The rest of the route we took to Monte Carlo was interminable and clogged with traffic all the way. And this was in May. Basically the Riviera is a place of distilled petrolhead driving displeasure; a driving disaster zone; that’s my fervent opinion.

Back to the Route de Napoleon. It’s so long and, frankly, quite repetitive after Castellane, that it dims quickly in one’s memory. There’s nothing sensational about it, like, for example, the Grossglockner in Austria. I wouldn’t recommend doing the Route the way we did either, with a longish drive from Tournus to begin with.

My suggestion now, for coming from the north, would be stay overnight near Grenoble, drive the route to the Col du Pilon the next day, and then return up it to stay overnight at Castellane. That way you are fresh for the drive and don’t have to endure Grasse. You also get to drive the route twice. The roads around Castellane look interesting for a day or two’s motoring and touring as well.

May seems to be a good time to do the Route. We were met with unseasonable weather which was a pain. But the traffic was light, very light, and the summer would be different.

The nature of the road, with its many and tight curves, long ascents and descents, mean that campervan convoys in both directions, with bikers threading their way through, and cyclists adding to the pain, absolutely mean you would face traffic jam hell. Just don’t go there.

Here's a shot of the car and the road:
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The church on the rocky prow at Castellane:

|https://thumbsnap.com/1Yl7q5p4[/url][url]

The Cole des Leques:

|https://thumbsnap.com/1W2KfxQR[/url][url]


Looking from the Col des Leques towards Castellane

|https://thumbsnap.com/C0aYhC4q[/url]


silverthorn2151

6,298 posts

178 months

Wednesday 20th June 2018
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I am yet to have an enjoyable time on Route Napoleon. Had a total brainburp and tried that way on an August Saturday a couple of years ago trying to avoid a massive tailback on the motorway. Ended up back on the motorway having wasted 3 hours going not very far.

And the thought of ending up in Grasse is a disincentive to boot. Decided it's better to zoom to Antibes and a cold rose then watch people enjoying it via YouTube.

nickfrog

20,872 posts

216 months

Sunday 1st July 2018
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Nice pics OP thanks. Better done out of season, perhaps early April or October. BTW, not a big deal but I wonder where you came accross "Route de Napoleon" as it's actually called Route Napoleon.

Chris944

Original Poster:

336 posts

229 months

Tuesday 3rd July 2018
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Ah, yes, Route Napoleon and no "de" needed. Where on earth did that "de" come from? Beats me :-)

coppice

8,564 posts

143 months

Tuesday 3rd July 2018
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silverthorn2151 said:
I am yet to have an enjoyable time on Route Napoleon. Had a total brainburp and tried that way on an August Saturday a couple of years ago trying to avoid a massive tailback on the motorway. Ended up back on the motorway having wasted 3 hours going not very far.

And the thought of ending up in Grasse is a disincentive to boot. Decided it's better to zoom to Antibes and a cold rose then watch people enjoying it via YouTube.
I drove it first on a glorious May evening in 1987 , en route to Imola . The car was a little rocket Uno Turbo and we hardly saw a car between Digne Les Bains and Grasse . Bliss .