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COL DES CHAMPS
The Col des Champs is another of those hills mainly known to cycling enthusiasts but less known by those motorists who usually prefer the wider and more scenic roads of the classic Alpine destinations. Nonetheless, the climb that starts from the beautiful village of Colmars soon reveals its multiple nature which concerns extremely varied aspects. In the first section you cross a road surrounded by vegetation, very narrow and always in the shade of the leaves of the trees that seem to completely cover what after a few minutes of uncertainty begins to outline a more mountainous landscape, with numerous curves and a better visibility than balances a road width not always exceptional.
Location: Colmars – Saint Martin d’Entraunes
Type: mountain road
Length: 16 km
Elevation: 2.087m
Once you reach the summit – at an altitude of 2,087 meters – of this hill that connects the Var valley with the Verdon valley, you can park your car in the clearing adjacent to numerous paths that penetrate the valley. Instead, continuing for Saint-Martin-d’Entraunes, the road and with it also the view show how unfair it is to have snubbed the Col des Champs for too long. The asphalt is pretty much in more than acceptable conditions, no traffic – especially in the late afternoon – and the curves seem to have been designed by an artist with a passion for soft hairpin bends that after a few kilometers begin to hide again in the surrounding vegetation.
Photos by Bruno Serra
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