We were already in Villars for the IFSC Lead World Cup, so we stayed a few hours longer to catch the Ninth Stage of the Tour de France pass through the area. We decided to go find a spot by Col de la Croix, so we could do a small hike and also see the riders on an ascent. We took the train up from Villars to Bretaye, and then continued on a walk to Col de la Croix.
I had previously been up around Bretaye once before on a hike from Villars, and there are quite a few options for continuing on with a hike from here. I definitely recommend spending more time around here!
It was about an hour and a half to Col de la Croix, on a relatively easy and open path with some really exceptional views of the surrounding area – you can also see Mont Blanc in the distance.
Up by Col de la Croix, there was a food area and boutique set up for the Tour de France around the Buvette de la Col de la Croix, but we walked further down the road to find something a little quieter and with a better view of the riders coming up.
A little while before the riders came, there was something that I had read as being “Passage de la caravane publicitaire” which I just thought was a publicity and media cars… and then one kid who was sitting next to us shouted “Werbung!!!” (advertising, in German) with a lot of excitement prior to the cars arriving, which I didn’t quite understand.. And then the publicity caravan started passing through which was a ton of different sponsors/cars with a lot of music and interesting promotional designs throwing free samples and whatever else into the crowd. Anyway it was a fun surprise, although I probably should have read up on this beforehand.
After all of the riders passed through, we took the walk back to Bretaye. All in, a super fun and unique experience, and I’m thankful to have been able to see the Tour de France in such a beautiful place in Switzerland.
