Cheese, wine, women and fast cars....

[MikeB]

Well maybe three out of four!
We eased onto the carriage at the Eurotunnel with great expectations - Audis, Porsches and a V12 Aston Martin convertible booming their way to the front at a crawl, trying to avoid the kerbs. It was a vision of tigers on a leash. Fortunately this was the last time these beasts were so restrained.
Colin and I had planned a classic route through the empty country roads of Burgundy, climbing up into the Rhone Alps, tearing up the highest bit of tarmac in Europe, and then cross-country through the Italian, Swiss and Austrian Alpine passes, with a sprinkling of the Dolomites in between, and finishing up at the adrenalin-fuelled Nurburgring.
After lunch in the medieval old town of Troyes, we embarked into the chateau-filled countryside of Burgundy. We were now able to open up the taps, and swept past signs to some of the finest fromages that France has to offer - Langres and Chaource, but the convoy were not for stopping, despite my protestations. We allegedly had a more important date with some vineyards. A great run down the banks of the Ouche, passing a sign for a slightly mis-placed Chateauneuf, skirting the great vineyards of Gevrey-Chambertin and Clos de Vougeot, and the lighter but very attractive reds of Savigny-les-Beaune, we arrived in the tiny village of Puligny-Montrachet nestling amongst hundreds of acres of slowly-ripening white grapes. Colin had different ideas for reaching the hotel, and the last we saw of him was of the blue roof of his Porsche flying directly through the vines at way over the speed limit for vineyard travel. How he squeezed through I'm not sure, but by the time we arrived via the conventional road route, he was reclining on the patio beer in hand!
The hotel was of the classic, genteel genre, with reserved but attentive service, and the longest wine list on the planet. Strangely, not a single bottle to be seen outwith France, but they did have some cracking wines. We had a lovely dinner with the wines that we could afford (and some cracking cheeses!), and settled down in anticipation of the routes that we had laid ahead in the Alps. A run first thing for me (on foot!) re-tracing Colin's tracks, I bumped into our Supercharged R8 owner, Mike L doing the same. It was the slowest, wheeziest form of travel we were to have in the next few days.
Once past the stunning limestone massifs around Grenoble, we gained altitude, resisting the temptation of the high roads to the left and right of us as we headed up the Col de Lautaret. Through the tunnels on this road we all got a first taste of the astonishing howl put out by the R8 with its Stasis exhaust. My own Milltek was a mouse compared to the thunder of this big cat. Mike L had also seen fit to put a huge fixed carbon-fibre wing on the back, which doubled up as a massive cheeseboard for those impromptu tasting sessions! The heavily modded R8 has featured in numerous articles world-wide, and with good reason - it is now a breathtakingly quick car, with a huge road presence.
One of my favourite roads on tour is the route up the Col d'Izoard, a winding but fast road up, and a contorted snake down. Steve and Trish in their Carrera 4S Convertible arrived at the top grinning from ear to ear! Coming down the way proved interesting as we started to fly past legions of old Lotuses and Renaults, some obviously not used to the change of carriageway on the continent. We were brought to a long halt at the junction to Guillestre by an impasse of lorries and coaches trying to negotiate a single track tunnel, but it gave us a chance to cheer on the only cars getting through as if by a rally circuit, loads more of the Lotuses and Renaults.
Settling in too late at the Villa Morelia that night, we planned to pop the Col de la Bonette cherry first thing the next morning. At 7, the road was deserted of cars, so we ratcheted up the tempo until halfway up, when we were halted in our tracks by thousands of sheep on the road, with their insouciant French shepherds, slowly ascending up to the higher summer meadows. At snail's pace we followed them, trying to avoid the inevitable excrement. I was concerned about the slippery nature of the road on descent. I shouldn't have been. Once we had circuited the stunning top of the col, my concerns changed to how the hell I was going to clear all the shinola off my car which was being spat at me by the massive rear tyres of the R8. One particular one-piece lump would have hit me smack between the eyes were it not for my windscreen! I only just resisted the impulse to turn on my windscreen wipers!
Thankfully the kind, car-obsessed owner of the Villa arranged for all of our cars to be washed and waxed by his staff. It would in future be well worth staying here for a couple of nights as there are some great roads around.
Onwards and upwards, we headed for the border and the Col de Montgenevre, but signs indicated it had had a landslide across it, so, knowing the roads well up here, we diverted up the lovely Vallee de la Claree and over the border via the Col de l'Echelle to Susa. From here we headed for the lakeside treat of the tour, Lake Maggiore and the charming GrandHotelMajestic. It has good reason to blow its own trumpet in its name - a stunning water's edge position, great staff, rooms and food. We dined on mouth-watering rib of beef carved at the table, and after a day's abstinence I was able to tuck into some delicious Italian cheeses accompanied by classic Chianti Riserva and Barbera.
The gorge road heading up the Val Dossola towards Brig has got to be one of the most beautiful roads in Europe and led up to the Simplonpass for a major photo opportunity. Climbers were spotted traversing a distant glacier which made me long for my crampons. But we had other pressing matters - the first of our switchback roads up to the Furka pass. The amazing rock formations on the west side could not sadly be captured well enough with my camera, but they were soon forgotten as we all had to concentrate hard on the tight series of hairpins on both sides - more so on the descent as usual. The passes of San Gottardo and San Bernardino were quickly swallowed up despite the lairy attentions of a local black Golf R which was determined to ruin the day.
Our next stop was in Davos at the newly renovated Grischa Hotel - smart, quirky and friendly. We dined extremely well, my only criticism being the lack of a cheese course, but then we were in fondue territory and I had had a bucket of Raclette for lunch.........Beers at a lively local bar that evening, we met an English pair who were heading up the Stelvio the next day in an RS4, as we were, and hoped to see them up there.
Last year we came over the Julier pass from St Moritz and we had decided to do it the other way round this time in order to hit the west side of the Stelvio. I think all the bankers from Zurich were on a day trip out, as we passed an unbelievable number of Ferraris, Astons, Maseratis, Lambos heading the other way. It was some display of wealth and firepower. Sadly there was much tarmacking going on up the top, as this is a lovely quick section, but hey, we had the fast Passo di Bernina and the Stelvio to come. The latter is a combination of intense, exhilarating driving and awesome mountain peaks, so much so that it was a struggle to stop and take it all in, but worth every penny when you do.

In stark contrast, you sort of breeze into the Val Gardena amongst the lush green meadows, quiet clean villages and chalets and cannot believe that this place also belongs to some of the most fractured mountains in Europe. The Dolomites, being made of hard heat-treated limestone, are all that remain, in a series of rock needles and huge split rock faces and scree avalanches, when all softer rocks around them have withered away. It is stunning, no doubt about it. We rested here in one of the best rural hotels in Europe, the Alpenroyal, and were treated to poolside suites with private patios, beers and billiards on tap, a great restaurant, and a sommelier who successfully met the challenge of matching excellent local wines with our excellent local food.
The next day was a rest day. We drove around the Sellaronda, chilled by the pool with the adjacent seafood barbecue for lunch, wandered into the village of Selva, or went hiking up the mountains. I had been given an interesting circular route up the Sellagruppa by Renata the receptionist which involved a couple of Via Ferratas. If you don't know about the steel hawser rope access on sheer rock faces, some are scary ways to go up or down the hill, some are not. I had both!
Suffice it say that the cheeseboard got a deserved hammering that night! I had survived!
We lingered a bit longer over our departure the next day, savouring the Alpenroyal and its environment, and then headed off on one of Mike L's favourite roads to Tolmezzo. It has everything - fast sweeping bends, switchbacks up cols, great local food stops en route, more Dolomitian peaks. It was sad to leave Italy, but we did in such a blaze of noise, I'm not sure it will forget us quickly. Sorry! Nor we it.
It was a cruise up to Kitzbuhel from here - that is until we met a posse of locals who wanted to play keepieuppie. This was an enjoyable sight in the rear view mirror for those devotees of two wheel driving, but they were supposed to be on four!
We were more than surprised to find the Aston at the hotel on our arrival. Roger and Alma were allegedly going for a gentle run into Kitzbuhel by a slightly less windy road than the rest of us. We had failed to reckon with the 'Sport' button on the V12, and Roger's sneaky sense of adventure! He hammered it there and arrived 45 minutes before the rest of us!
After dinner at the Schwarzer Adler we set off into the lovely-looking old town, but found ourselves in a decidedly strange and half-deserted bar for a swift beer, before sitting down at a slightly more conventional outside bar where the locals were intent on consuming the entire GDP of Jagermeisters. We contributed our best! One came away with the distinct feeling that there was only the bottom of the barrel left in Kitzbuhel outside the winter season.
A slight air of apprehension pervaded breakfast the next day, as we all had to consider the pitfall that lay ahead called the Nordschleife. Last year was a spectacle of fuel induced adrenalin junkies - and funnily enough this year was no different! We arrived early - a bad thing for the nerves. One of last year's tour-ists, Frank, in his R8 V10 Spyder, met us at the track. He's a veteran Ringer and put us all at ease again, and once the track had opened we cracked into action. Suffice it say that we all had brilliant laps, could definitely go faster, narrowly missed other fools on the track, never got overtaken, and were the next Ayrton Senna. And then I had my second lap! Rubbish! Oh well, next time eh?
To crown the tour we had our farewell meal at the Pistonklause with lots of beers, lots of very well-priced Italian wines, sumptious steaks and I can't remember if I had the cheese! It was another fantastic tour, full of fun and friends, great cars and roads to match. Many thanks to all who came and here's to next year!

[SFR8]

wow! what a trip! great write-up.

[CPBRI]

Great story and pics!

Great choice stopping in Burgundy.

[KfabR8]

Excellent write up! Thank you for sharing the trip and the pictures. Looks like a beautiful time.

I'd have enjoyed the cheese immensely, but would have to pass on the wine. I've never managed to learn that joy of living. (and it's hurt me a couple of times fairly severely)

[shazam]

Now that is living.

[M3R8]

Sounds like you guys (and gals?) had a lot of fun. Makes me sorry I didn't decide to go for it. Maybe next year.

The significant other can't live for so long with so little storage space in the R8... we'd have to have a support car

[spyder ned]

Beautiful pics. I live in Florida and dream of roads like that to drive on.

[the_buch]

Vividly described ... a little slice of heaven it seems ... thanks for sharing.

[MikeB]

The significant other can't live for so long with so little storage space in the R8... we'd have to have a support car

We did! The significant one will be well-catered for

[gazza1]

The places look gorgeous and I remember that road vividly that winds itself up through the Dolomites to the Alpenroyal which was Spectacular!!!.

So many nice bits of road and scenery through the alp regions of Austria,Swiss,Italy and France.

With the above,nice cars,company and good food..there is not much more you could desire.

Brings back lots of good memories for me from our own Euro Drives.