Greetings my fellow motorcyclists. Today I have a very nice trip through some lovely mountains where at the end you can visit abandoned military aircrafts.
It seems like the climate change is indeed here because normally I wouldn’t be able to ride on these roads this soon !
Contents table:
The start
I have started this trip where you can see the sea, in Cagnes sur Mer city. The whole part where you have to get through the city can be annoying as sometimes you have to get through traffic but I promise you, it will be well worth it !
If you have time, definitely visit Haut de Cagnes, where you can grab a coffee and see the Castle.
Trip overview
Start: Cagnes sur mer
End: Gréolières les neiges
Then the way back:
Can be done in about 3h.
Cagnes sur mer to Vence
Just outside Cagnes sur mer you will start climbing to Vence, a nice little city. Here already the roads will be much nicer with less traffic. If you need to make a stop for any kind of motorcycle repairs, there is a good bike mechanic: Garo moto, here is their website.
Before entering Vence on your left you will see Saint-Paul-de-Vence, an old charming village:
And here is Vence:
Col de Vence
Once outside Vence, the real fun begins with the first twisties as you start to climb col de Vence.
Just before starting the climb through Col de Vence, I saw this curious place:
Anyways, back to the Col de Vence.
When you will start your climb, you will notice almost no trees on this road, definitely It has a desert vibe to it and panoramic views with not much going on. Very calm and relaxing.
A picture is worth a thousand words:
Okay that was more than one photo but that’s the kind of a road where you stop for a minute to take pictures, then when you think that you are done and you start going again, you stop again after the next corner for more !
Col de Vence to Gréolières
When you are done climbing then there is this boring part… just kiding, no boring parts here !
You are in for a treat with some more lovely landscapes, check this out:
Just be careful as the road seems wet where there is no sun.
Gréolières to Gréolières les neiges
If you like medieval ruins then you will like this part of the road.
Further ahead route de Thorenc is awaiting which is indeed a stunning balcony road.
What’s more ? There were some scenes from a James Bond movie (Goldeneye) filmed on this very same road.
Still not convinced ? Let me grab some photos for you.
The final stretch – arriving in Gréolières les neiges
Gréolières les neiges is a small Ski station that will probably soon close due to less and less snow every year.
The climate change is real.
Fortunately there are other things to see there like these abandoned military aircrafts:
I was very surprised to see these abandoned military aircrafts here.
Marines ? What were they doing here ?
So I researched a little bit about these planes and I didn’t find much information.
All I found is the owner, which seems to be a furniture creator.
Indeed he uses parts of these aircrafts to create his art and these two seem to be stuck here forever because of some law problems.
I found some law texts excerpts where it’s stated that the owner cannot disassemble these 2 airplanes since 2019 anymore because of not respecting some criteria like putting a fence around or something.
If you have any information about it and would like to share, leave a comment.
The road back to the coast
Instead of taking the same road, there is a little alternative where you can go thourgh Gorges du loup.
That’s a lot of twisties and a beatiful waterfall but be aware it’s easy to miss !
But before all of that, there is an interesting stop to make just after quitting Gréolières les neiges otherwise you would miss a superb panoramic view:
Free GPX files for a round trip
Here you can download my GPX files for this trip, enjoy !
In red from Cagnes sur Mer to Gréolières les neiges and in blue the way back.
Conclusion
Summing up, this is a lovely road trip which took me about 3 hours to complete. You can plan more time if you want to eat somewhere on the road or take your time and ride slowly.
Let me know in the comments what do you think of this one ?