Detour #305: Rental Car Roulette on the Route des Crêtes, France
Nik Berg takes a gamble on the amazing route of Ridges in France’s Vosges region.
It’s always a lottery when you rent a car. You can specify the approximate size and price, but it’s not until the person behind the desk at the airport hands you the keys that you find out what you’ll actually be driving.
At Basel Airport, for example, I had expected to be driving an electric car. A Cadillac, no less, as stated on my booking with Sixt, via our friends at Discovercars.com, so the diesel BMW that actually materialised was initially a bit of a let down.
Why Basel? Well, it’s the closest airport to Mulhouse and the amazing Schlumpf Collection, and also within easy reach of the Route des Crêtes.
That translates as the Route of the Ridges and, well, it does exactly what it says on the tin on its 55 miles from Saint-Marie-aux-Mines to Uffholtz
Originally carved into the Vosges massif during World War I to supply logistics to the Vosges front, today it provides access for the winter sports crowd in the colder months and excellent entertainment for those on two or four wheels the rest of the time.
Saint-Marie-aux-Mines is remarkably pretty old town, nestled in a valley, its pastel-hued buildings a showcase for the mineral wealth the region discovered in the 11th century.
Heading out through forest and meadowland for the most part I have the Route des Crêtes to myself, with only the occasionally motorcyclist or gaggle of leg-cranking cyclists for company, but in peak holiday season the road is said to be packed with tourist traffic.
It would be hard work for those reliant on pedal power, but the turbo diesel motor in my rented wagon makes the climb to Col de Bagenelles at nearly 3,000 feet effortless, if unexciting. In better news the car comes with M badges and the suspension can be set to M Sport, to carve corners with confidence.
And there are certainly plenty of those. I progress on towards Gazon du Faing and its amazing views over the Black Forest and Rhine Valley and switchbacks galore as the Route des Crêtes continues to climb to its peak over more than 4,000 feet at the Col du Grand Ballon. Here I pass under ski lifts swaying in the breeze, awaiting the winter season, although it’s cross-country trails that are the most popular given the relatively low altitude. That doesn’t deter mountain bikers, who have many trails to choose from.
Descending again there some faster sections, but still no shortage of hairpins, some of which are cambered to aid cornering. Although parts of the route have a speed limit reduced to 70 km/h to deter over-enthusiasm, I notice that several of the speed cameras in the region had been vandalized, so the move appears not to have been very popular with locals.
Nonetheless the Route des Crêtes is generally so sinewy that very high speeds are unlikely unless you’re in a supercar. I’d need to win the National Lottery, not just the rental car lottery, for that to happen.
ROADBOOK
CLASS: Mountain Pass
NAME: Route des Crêtes
ROUTE: Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines to Uffholtz
COUNTRY: France
Distance: 55 Miles
Nik Berg takes a gamble on the amazing route of Ridges in France’s Vosges region.