Mediterranean Alps Extreme 4SA2401

Our first day started in Vence with a wonderful breakfast in our hotel. Just after 5 minutes out from the hotel, the curvy and scenic roads started. This day was all about the canyons of the French Alps, so after 30 minutes we did our first stop to take some pictures of the "Georges de Loup" before we had our first coffee stop in "Andon". We continued in west direction and rode along the south side of the "Grand Canyon du Verdon", before arriving at the "Sainte Croix" lake, to take some pictures and continue eastwards on the north side of the Canyon. The weather was fine so far, but after our lunch stop in "Le Palud sur Verdon" some heavy rain started and we had to ride very slowly. Luckily the rain eased up quickly, but it stayed wet and a bit foggy, as we made our way to "Entrevaux" to take some pictures of the old fortress. After that we enjoyed the road through the red canyon of "Daluis" with its many small tunnels up to Valberg, the little ski resort, where we were the only guests at this time of the season. After a local dinner, we enjoyed a very silent night at 5000 feet.
We started the day with some very little roads, leading us through one of the many canyons in the area. After our first stop in "Touet sur Var" we continued on middle size mountain roads to the small town of "Gilette", where we parked the bikes right in front of the town hall and enjoyed the view into the valley and a great local lunch. In the afternoon we continued further eastwards and as the road became smaller and smaller we suddenly arrived at "La Madonne d'Utelle" which felt like the top of the world. From this peak we enjoyed the wonderfull 360 degree view which reached as far as the mediterranean sea. We skipped another coffee stop to fill up the bikes in the valley and arrive at the hotel in time to have some drinks at the bar.
This day was going to be absolutely unique, as our planned route over the "Col de Lombarde" was closed. So we had to take a detour and crossed into Italy early, but not before enjoying riding up the famous "Col de Turini" which everybody knows from the Rallye Monte Carlo. This road is absolutely amazing and a lot of fun to ride with a motorbike, because it combines the slow speeds of the switchbacks with longer stretches and higher velocities in between the turns. We all had a lot of fun going up and discovered some fog at the top. Just the right time for a coffee stop. We later continued on nice and curcy mountain roads and crossed the boarder into Italy. Here a very tiny road with steep turns awaited us, but everybody made it through and we found ourselves a nice Ristorante where we could get a taste of the first Italian food on the trip. A sleepy cat seemed to enjoy the place as much as we did. In the afternoon we continued on bigger roads to our destination "Vicoforte" where we stayed in a hotel right next to the famous basilica which owns the largest ellyptical dome in the world. In the adjacent monastery we had a great dinner at a round table.
Day four of our trip was all about the Italian countryside, so we enjoyed many sweepers on wider roads through fields and vineyards. We had to wait a little bit for lunch, but were rewarded with some very tasty pasta. In the afternoon we enjoyed the smaller roads of the "Marcarolo" national parc and hopped onto the highway to avoid the Genua city traffic before we arrived at Rapallo at the beach, where some of us took a quick jump into the Mediterranean.
On this day our group split up and some of us took a ride into the mountains between Rapallo and La Spezia, while the rest of the group took a boat ride to Portofino to visit a local yacht club. The "motorbike group" discovered some fog in the morning which disappeared as we rode down to one of the "Cinque Terre" vilages, with the beautiful name of "Corniglia". In the afternoon we enjoyed the sweepers and perfect road surface of the "Stada Statale 1", which led us back to Rapallo. The "boat group" took a swim on their way back and at the end of the day we all enjoyed a pizza at a restaurant at the beachfront.
On day six of our adventure we went up into the mountains again, unfortunately the clouds were very low this day, so the viewpoints did not provide a view at all. At our first stop, the "Nostra Signora della Guardia" sanctuary the fog was so dense, that we could hardly find the coffee bar. At lunch time the fog was still thick, but luckily in the afternoon it disappeared slowly, so we could enjoy some nice backcountry roads. One part of our route was a very tough road with a lot of potholes, however everybody made it through and some of us were happy to cool down in the hotel pool in "Finale Ligure". For our dinner we went out to the fortress close by to enjoy a four course menu.
Day seven was already the final day of our trip, so in the mornig after leaving "Finale Ligure", we headed back into the mountains again. Our first stop was the small town of "Zuccarello" where we had some difficulties parking the bikes, but luckily were finished with our drinks when the local policeman showed up. Fur lunch we chose a very tiny Ristorante and created some confusion about the reservation, but we got some drinks and snacks and the owner some business, so all was fine, as we left for the final stretch through the mountains around Monaco. After 1900 km we all arrived back in Vence at the hotel where it all started, and we were all very happy that our great group made it through the whole trip. At dinner it was time for some presents, when Philip and Charlie received their t-shirts for having ridden on five and thirty-five tours with Edelweiss. Our farewell evening was a lot of fun, as was the whole tour with this amazing group. I am sure we will stay in contact and meet again somewhere down the road. Thank you guys for a fantastic trip!