Date of visit: May 16, 2013, around 12:00 a.m.
This village is arguably the most difficult to get to of the most beautiful French villages in mainland Europe.
Initially, I had no plans to visit.
However, at the end of the trip, I had a little more time on my hands, and I was hoping that if I stuck it out here, I might be able to conquer all the beautiful villages in mainland Europe before the end of the trip, so I decided to make the three-and-a-half-hour drive each way to this village.
Nevertheless, summer in the Alps is short. This village in the Rhone-Alpes and Savoie regions of France is closed to snow for seven months of the year. it was mid-May, but maybe the roads were blocked. Moreover, it was raining heavily…
I was full of anxiety, but I still drove the car to the east.
The direction is towards Turin and Milan in Italy, and also towards Geneva in Switzerland.
It’s a tight drive, so we take a break in places. On the way, you will pass near Albertville, where the 1992 Winter Olympics were held.
and while taking a bathroom break at a service area around here, I was unlucky enough to be caught for questioning by the local police.
In fact, for the second time that day, I was stopped at a toll booth on the highway in the morning.
I was frustrated because I was in a hurry, but I couldn’t not cooperate, so I appealed that I was just a tourist from Japan with my poor English.
At the first interrogation, they checked all the luggage I had in the car. There was nothing suspicious, and since it was basically a trip through the countryside, there was little risk of having anything like that with us because no strange people would come.
Naturally, it was opened without any blame at all.
The second interrogation, on the other hand, was limited to simple questions and was quickly released.
Two police interrogations cost us some unexpected time, but fortunately the weather was getting a bit better as we headed east, which was very distracting.
We will then exit the motorway near the Italian border and take the D1006 public road to our destination of Bonneval-sur-Arc.
From here, it’s a straight road to the village. There is no more getting lost. The pavement of the road was rough in places, but the width of the road was wide and the gradient and corners were not so tight, so it was easy to drive.
The road leading to the village seems to be unblocked. Thank goodness…
As we approached the village, we could see the snow on the shoulder of the road. The altitude here is about 1,500 meters.
As you can see in front of the village. It reminds me of Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route.
Four hours after departure, we finally arrived at Bonneval-sur-Arc, a beautiful snow-covered village at an altitude of 1,800m!
Good job, Golftan!
I don’t care about sightseeing anymore, I’m just impressed that we made it this far!
Through the narrow streets leading to the village church.
I parked in a small space in front of the church. The building in front is probably a cheese shop. But it’s not open now.
Is it a slope map? It must be crowded with tourists in the ski season. The village surrounded by snow must be beautiful.
I didn’t even pass a car to get here, so naturally, there were no tourists. Just me.
There is almost nothing to see. Just walk around and admire the scenery and alleys of the village.
The temperature was in the single digits even though it was May, but I didn’t feel so cold.
Is it an accommodation or an apartment complex?
I think this is definitely a hotel. It looks like you can stay here even in this season.
There was a lovely cat. I wonder if it’s because it’s cold, but he’s very fluffy.
We took a quick walk around the village and came back to the car again.
It was just noon when we arrived, so we had lunch here. But there is no shop at all, so I bought this sandwich at a nearby stand before departure.
As you can see, the pack was puffed up due to the air pressure.
This sandwich was quite tasty.
We bid farewell to the spectacular alpine scenery and rustic village views and return the way we came.
We had initially given up on visiting this beautiful Alpine village. It was worth the effort to be brave enough to come.
And once again, I had the confidence that I could do all the beautiful villages in mainland Europe during this trip.
公式サイト：Bonneval-sur-Arc
