These are some pictures of our first couple days in La Grave, France. We had a hectic two-day train journey with missed connections because of late buses, dumb tourists, and short layovers.
This section has pictures from La Grave, climbing La Meije, a towering mountain above town, and spectating the final three stages of Tour de France with my family.
Upon getting to La Grave in the late afternoon, we still managed to drive 30 minutes up to the top of the Galibier and ride our bikes down it, and then back up to the car. The Galibier has been one of my favorite stages to watch in previous Tours and a bucket-list place for me to bike.
Eye spy a yellow shirt (Kimmy)
Campers beginning the week-long campout to spectate the Galibier
The south side of the Galibier
North side of the Galibier
Kimmy cresting to the summit
View from our hotel room
La Meije and alpine pastures we biked through
La Grave and La Meije
My family would arrive on Wednesday, so naturally with two days to spare, we would climb La Meije. We hired Xavier, a guide from La Grave Guides to help us climb the peak since we had saved up for a guide before our trip knowing that we were bringing bikes and not climbing gear.
Pics below are the glaciated peak. Xavier and us talked a lot about how we see glaciers receding every year in our backyards, and how it causes more and more rockfall and shorter climbing seasons. Glaciers and permafrost in the Alps act like glue to hold it all together. So on top of being the water source for the region, the glaciers also keep rocks from tumbling down.
Hut arrival
Glacier de l'Homme and our ridge to the summit
La Meije, about to travel the left flank of Glacier du Tabuchet
Broken glaciers - typical of September conditions (but in June/July)
Placeholder
First party of the hut
Wildfire smoke from the valley to the southeast
Pic Picard
Summit
Another climbable peak - Doight de Dieux
Summit views to the south
Summit views to the east
Our hut stay on our descent
Gaper - could fit our house in there. Note the hut in the background
Summit pic!
Descending back into the valley
Summit from La Grave
And then my family arrived! Two days to spare before we watch the Tour de France. We took the cable car to the foot of the glaciers on La Meije so they could go inside the ice cave.
No smiling picture to honor our Swiss relatives
Cable car
We tagged a Donner sticker
Enter the glacier
Friday - Stage 19 - Alpe d'Huez
Took another set of ski chairlifts to the top of Huez, where we could then walk down a bit to spectate the mountainside finish. Crowds were wild, the caravan was a party, and then the racers came flying up the hill. We were excited to see American Sepp Kuss charging up the climb with a breakaway. The last pictures of him is looking back to get caught by Tadej Pogacar, the Slovenian superstar who wins everything.
Strawberry and chives L'eclerc grocery store parade floats
Crowds lining the road for 10 miles
SEPP, CARAPAZ, MARTINEZ
SEPP KUSS from DURANGO COLORADO
Saturday - Stage 20 - The Galibier
We had ridden this earlier in the week, and now we rode up it a second time, but this time with 10,000 friends on bikes as they close it to cars. Hanging out on a nice mountain pass all day enjoying the scenery.
Again, Sepp was in the breakaway group and looked posed to win the Queen stage of the 2026 Tour de France. We watched them crest the Galibier with wild cheers. The Pogacar and Isaac Del Toro chase group following a few minutes behind them.
We descended the mountain pass after the rest of the peloton passed with the 10,000 others shortly after. We returned to the AirBnB to find outselves locked out but able to use Wifi to stream the finish. Sepp was winning! But then he crashed once coming out of a tunnel. Then he crashed again, clearly rattled from riding the limit, almost over a barrier and steep ravine that they had protected with a net. End of the day, he got 3rd place. Sad. But what a cool day.
Riding up with the party!
Sheepies
Sepp group coming by!
Pogacar in chase
Pogacar chasing down the pass
Sunday - Final Stage - Montemartre
We finished the trip by taking a train to Paris to watch the final stage of the race on the Montemarte, a kicker of a hill in Paris. Big crowds turned out to watch the final stage be both a race for the sprinters (and Pogacar to challenge), as well as celebrate the end.
Crepes alongside the course!
Montemartre
Mads Pederson, Mathieu van der Poel, and Tadej Pogacar ripping through lap 1
MVDP and Pogi on the attack, last lap!
Crowd goes wild
