Automotive

And while some of the classics, like the Stelvio or the Furka pass are nowhere near as good fun in real life as in pictures or in common lore, the Route Napoleon is certainly all it’s made out to be - one of the coolest stretches of road for vehicular enjoyment. 

The route follows Napoleon’s six day journey from the Mediterranean coast to Grenoble (on foot rather than in a powered vehicle) and offers a selection of lower mountain passes, flowing sections, nature and some historical / cultural highlights. 

While Napoleon did the route from South to North, for driving fun starting in Grenoble is at least as good a choice. 

Grenoble, the start of the route from the North is definitely a place I would like to explore in more detail at some point, alas there was no time during this particular trip. 

A small dinner at a still decent hour, and light enough to allow for a couple of hours driving ahead. 

After dinner darkness slowly descended, meaning the first stretch of the road to Sisteron happened undocumented 😉 While you will have to take my word for it (or look at pictures in evo, Car and the like), the road soon picks up and any digestive duties to be done failed at dampening the concentration or the adrenaline of the first stretch of the journey. 

You get a nice combination of curvy sections (both ascending and descending in addition, for a three dimensional roller coaster feel) and sufficient straights to dispatch slower traffic on. 

The road takes a lot of willpower to ensure you do not stray too far from the posted speed limits, as it draws you in in a sort of flow, closing off everything that’s not driving. 

While the hour was getting late and the Sport+ mode made the exhaust a tad boisterous, in my Defence a sporting event was ongoing at the time, so most of the locals would have been stuck to the TV screens and hopefully not woken up. This also ensured the traffic was light, and as mentioned by Bim in another post, the darkness aided the few overtaking maneuvers necessary. 

While the stretch of road to Sisteron, the overnight stop, was not long (can see the 136km on the traffic sign above), the full focus on the driving extended the felt time by quite a bit. There’s also quite some towns and villages on this first stretch, so the overall speed is moderate, even if sections are absolutely electrifying. 

The next morning - early start - saw us pass Sisteron, another place to return to for a more thorough exploration. 

I n this area you can follow the main Route Napoleon or do small detours, which offer narrower, curvier roads and less traffic. We took a small detour, partially as a result of the satnav trying to aid efficiency, rather than blindly follow the route. It was a short but certainly exhilarating detour, as the main Route looked relatively uneventful on this stretch according to the map 🗺️ 

Back on the main route and trying to capture some of the surrounding nature (and failing) 🤷🏻‍♂️ Some nice flat sections along rivers before getting into the more mountainous section again. 

Lots of nice little towns on the way, but no time for a spa or a swim - I recon Napoleon didn’t stop either - and I guess pressing on in at least one direction kind of seems historically appropriate 😁🏁

In addition to the villages, there are also places that feel completely uninhabited - and apart from the petrochemical conveniences probably have not changed all that much landscape wise since he passed. 

Speaking of petrochemicals, you might need some on the way, as the elevation changes, overtaking and the general fun of the lower gear driving are likely to empty the tank faster than on the motorways. A little price to pay for the enjoyment had, and in the grand scheme of things a relatively insignificant additional burden. 

As promised earlier, the hilly sections do return for a glorious topsy turvy ride towards the coast. There’s even the odd tunnel thrown in for an open window low gear pass through 🎼

Oh, yeah - N85 is the easier to find (on a satnav) name for this section of the Route Napoleon. 

One of the reasons that the road is so popular with motoring journalists is that it will be fun in a wide range of vehicles - super cars as much as lowlier hot hatches can both be hustled along (and found satisfactory or wanting) and fun can be had over a wide range of cars here. Sure, if you want to maintain the flow during summer daylight hours, a certain overtaking potential helps but many of the locals will either aid you in passing, or show a Bim like determination, driving the wheels off what they have 😁

There’s even a descending switchback section but it’s fluid and wide enough to enjoy, rather than have to cautiously navigate through with short bursts of acceleration followed by almost standstill corners. 

The places enroute definitely add a charm to the drive and allow the passenger to enjoy some man made, as opposed to only natural, scenery as well. 

The places on the route also get signposts with the royal eagle, as a sign of the historical significance, and a marker to ensure you’re still on the right way 😉

A final stretch remained, between us and Grasse, where the interesting bit of the road ends and the more mundane again takes over. 

And just like that it’s finished. Must have been quite a feat to do on foot in the short time back in the day and while not unduly difficult to drive nowadays, it draws you in like the best of roads do but does so over quite a significant distance, which is part of its allure. 

It will offer places allowing the engine to stretch to the red line, those really testing the suspension setup and it will mercilessly expose flaws in the handling. The surface is generally good but the three dimensionality of the road, the frequent direction and speed changes will tell quite well what the car is made off. And might take some life out of the tires, in addition to draining the fuel tank faster than usually. 

Maybe a tad anachronistic nowadays but still as much fun as it ever has been, if you are a car enthusiast and usually not that heavily trafficked that the enjoyment is taken out of it. 

If you enjoy driving and find yourself in the area, certainly not to be missed - it is as good and fun as its reputation. At the same time there are plenty of smaller side roads to be explored in the area, which based on the limited sampling done offer similar amounts of visceral thrills, so if the beach does not call to you, there’s hours of fun to be had here instead 🏁

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