Motorcycle Tour Ireland to Croatia 2019 Ep 2 - WE FOUND HANNIBAL & HIS ELEPHANT WHEN OUR PATHS CROSS

Описание: Motorcycle Tour Ireland to Croatia 2019 Ep 2 - BRON, CHAMBERY, MAURIENNE, LE FRENEY, FORNEAUX, MODANE, PARC DE LA VANOISE, BRAMANS & HANNIBAL AND HIS ELEPHANT.

In this Episode, we travelled from BRON and joined the motorway immediately to continue to push towards ITALY asap. The Tolls add up pretty quickly but were worth it, as we got to Chambery, where we saw a brown Tourist Guide board on the roadside, showing a picture of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the French Philosopher who lived there. ( I just knew his name but nothing else about him ), who had written " I prefer liberty with danger than peace with Slavery " & "EQUALITY, LIBERTY & FRATERNITY ".
We could see the mountains in the distance, which encouraged us even more, but it was even better, when after many more miles and getting off the final Toll Road, near the TUNNEL DE FREJUS ( which I had never heard of, but obviously a direct route given the number of lorries that were taking that route), we had arrived at the mountains and the road and scenery got more majestic the closer we got to them.
We started seeing signs for places I had heard of, like Col De Galibier etc ( Fermé in Red ), that I started to see what might be ahead, but we stopped for coffee in Fourneaux and sat beside the ARC river, enjoying the sunshine and mountain views, before heading on through the adjacent town of MODANE and into the PARC NATIONALE DE LA VANOISE.
We travelled on the D1006 which was a joy after all the motorway miles, and it was when we got to BRAMANS, that I noticed a statue of HANNIBAL and an Elephant, that I realised this was the place where this Carthaginian general led his army, with 37 armoured elephants, across the Alps to attack Romans, in 218 BC.

In the next episode 2B, we continue this day and travel to Italy via Termignon, Lanslebourg, the stunning Val Cenis, Giaglione, Susa, Castelceriolo, Alessandria to our campsite at a countryside restaurant in Profumati. Approximately 260 miles travelled which was good going, but we were ready to rest up in the restaurant after getting the tents up and enjoy the food, beers and local wine. You have to don't you ?

BACKGROUND.
After watching umpteen videos of people riding the Croatian coastline, I thought it looked fantastic - sweeping bend after sweeping bend through stunning scenery and that set the wheels in motion - literally... A trip was born !
I was joined on the trip by John ( Triumph Tiger 1200 ) and we have been lucky to have travelled many trips together over the years and Oisin ( Suzuki 650 V Strom ), who at 21 was heading for his first European trip, where we would do a mix of camping and hotels, and try and get through France and Italy as quickly as safely possible ( bearing in mind that it was Oisin's first time riding abroad, so a bit of time was factored in, to let him acclimatise to riding on the right hand side etc, which we knew he'd be fine with ), and then ride through Slovenia and start riding down the Istrian Coast, where a friend had recommended visits to - Poreč, Rovinj and Pula - before continuing along the coast to Rijeka and heading south to Zadar ( where I had seen a harmonica had been built into the sea wall, so it played music sounds as the sea came in etc), and see the coastal towns of Spilt and on down the beautiful Dalmation coast to visit Dubrovnik and maybe see where some of the Game of Thrones series, had been filmed.
I had picked May to go thinking that June, July and August would be very busy......I soon learned that snow doesn't leave the Alps until after May, and that we ended up riding through some amazing scenery and although it wasn't cold, it was not what we expected at all. We saw places where Hannibal had come through the Alps with his elephant, saw stunning lakes surrounded by snow, camped in Italian farmhouse/restaurant sites - amazing local dished and wine, experienced the Bora winds, multiple local kindnesses, had the wits scared out of us, stopped by police and redirected, to the motorway as the road we were trying to return through, was now closed to motorcycles as it was now too dangerous with the winds, sent to a central motorway, where we had 3 degrees and a sleet storm, torrential rain as we tried to get through the French alps, turned back with roads closed by snow, - all character building stuff, but what a trip !!
I hope you enjoy coming along for the ride, and may be inspired to try this for yourself - (we are going back there in JUNE / JULY 2026 with the aim of getting to Albania if possible ...and seeing the places we missed out on.)
Cheers
T