Albertville, site of the 1994 Winter Olympics, is approximately an hour drive south east of Annecy. Like most of the drives around this part of the world, the drive was spectacular. Cute and small, Albertville has a great walking downtown with lots of shops for a town of its size. Sites to see include the Stadium Olympic and the hockey rink, as well as an old medieval city.
We then headed up the Col de la Madeleine, one of the famous Tour de France mountains, with a height of 1984 meters. The stunning alpine terrain and huge mountains take your breath away. Our drive took us to the very top, above the snow line (even in May), and our road actually climbed above the tops of the ski hills. It was very interesting. After posing for photos at the top to commemorate our summit, we headed down the other side of the mountain, through the local ski village. At the base we had a snack at St. Jean de Maurienne, and dropped 2 of our travel mates off so they could ride their bikes up Cole de Glandon, another famous Tour de France ride. The roads are narrow, steep and very impressive for cycling on.
On our way back we stopped in Grenoble for some very nice Indian food, before heading back to base camp at Annecy, via Chambry.
The Travel Bum.