Our August Holiday

Hello Europe! See you later, folks.

Aug 02, 2023

It’s finally happening. After years of wishful thinking, best laid plans, conservative financial planning and research, we’re taking a guided motorcycle tour of Europe for most of August. I’m choosing not to bring my laptop, so this will be the last blog post until at least August 30. There’ll be much to share once we return, with rich detail, photo galleries and details galore.

Read “The Brothers Bloom”

On August 8, Jean, myself and riding pal Brian board United flight 1411 departing SFO at 7 a.m., transferring planes in Newark before landing in Geneva at 7:30 a.m. CEST. We’ve been preparing for this since February, and the time has finally arrived to head east and hop on some bikes in a region of the world none of us has experienced before.

In the past, whenever the topic of taking a European motorcycle tour made the rounds around our dining room table, we always settled on exploring California instead. More affordable, less hassle and no language, currency or logistical barriers to overcome here.

But that all changed in 2023.

With a long runway to get ready, the decision was made to take the train 22 miles south from Geneva to Annecy, the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France on the northern tip of Lake Annecy. The city of 50,000 souls controls the northern entrance to the lake gorge. Due to a lack of available building land between the lake and the protected Semnoz mountain, its population has remained stable, around 50,000 inhabitants, since 1950.

Geographer Raoul Blanchard described its location between lake and mountains as the "Pearl of the French Alps," a region I visited when participating in L’Etape du Tour ten years ago. We’ll spend a few days adjusting to the nine-hour time and elevation change (1,299 - 3,783 feet), staying at an affordable Airbnb at 18 Rue Perrière just a 10-minute walk from the train station and near the mouth of the canal on Le Thou.

Our starting point with The French Ride Tours crew is Aix-les-Bains, France on August 12, where we’ll meet ride leader and owner Loïc Labalme and the other riders before prepping the bikes. Jean and I are riding two-up on a BMW R 1250 GS, while Brian is rolling solo on a Yamaha Tracer 900. We’ll leave our luggage at home base, and carry everything else in top and side cases for the 1,392-mile round-trip journey through France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy.

We’ve prepared as much as possible to tackle at least 10 major European mountain passes – including Switzerland’s Susten, Furka, Nufenen, Gothard, Flüela and Ofen – with the mighty Stelvio in northern Italy bordering Switzerland at an elevation of 9,045 feet above sea level. It’s the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps, and the second highest in the Alps, 23 feet below France's Col de l'Iseran at 9,068 feet.

Italy’s Stelvio Pass has 75 hairpin turns!

After two days climbing and descending Austria’s Timmelsjoch and Grossglockner passes, we’ll enjoy Italy’s Dolomites on our way to Lake Garda along the Strada della Forra. From there it’s a tour of the Moto Guzzi museum in Mandello del lario on Lake Como, where our moto posse will stay in Bellagio.

Our final push through Italy takes us to Aosta, the principal city of the Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, 68 miles north-northwest of Turin. Situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel – at the confluence of the Buthier and the Dora Baltea, and at the junction of the Great and Little St Bernard Pass routes – it will be our last day in the saddle, cresting at 7,178 feet above sea level on our return to home base in Aix-les-Bains on August 23.

By this time we’ll have made new friends, become experts at packing and unpacking, gained a few pounds, and witnessed glorious vistas and valleys. The next day we’ll take Rail Europe directly to Geneva for $24.50, then board United flight 975 at 11:40 a.m. bound for Washington, DC, touching down on American soil nine hours later. With a direct flight east to west, we’ll cross the threshold of SFO by 8:40 p.m. PST, greeted by one of our kids ready to whisk us home where we’ll dream of doing it all over again someday.