Well, we did it. Both on our new bike we went for it. Over the Alps to the Mediterranean ! Wow, was that beautiful ! It is one thing going over the Alps with freshly fallen snow, but with autumn colours and hardly anyone on the road ............. Just DO IT !!!
I will briefly describe what route we took and how long it took us. As for the rest enjoy the pictures. Want to see them big ? Just click on them. Enjoy !
day 1 - 18-10 2002. We rode from Doesburg (NL) - Oberhausen(Germ) - Koeln(Cologn) - Trier - Luxembourg (Lux) - Metz (Fr) - Nancy to Dijon (where we had to search long for the first stop- which was our own fault by the way) = 723 km. Luckily, despite the forecast, the weather was very reasonable. This trip was very uneventful, because it was mostly motorway. (Try to manage the "peage" toll booths with gloves and multiple layers of clothing !)
day 2 - 19-10 2002. The next day we rode through
Lyon and Grenoble (by
motorway), then we took the N(ational) and D(epartemental) roads. So from
Grenoble we took the N91 to Vizille and from one point on the N91
the D526 to the "Col de la Croix de Fer", which was open, while
the next by "Col de Glandom"
was closed. Although the first mentioned was open, we
had to ride in the snow for some 200 - 300 mtrs !
Nice "col" by the way
. Following that road we came at St. Jean-de-Maurienne, where we took a right
turn towards the "Col de Galibier". Now, we had lost most part of an
hour sheepcounting 
, so it was already getting late (and cold) when we got
there , and the "col" was CLOSED ! Luckily the tunnel was
open, otherwise we would have had to go back a long way! Even though it was
getting late and cold, it was beautiful and adventurous, because we didn't know
what to expect, since we had snow on the first "col". Well, it
was do-able and we arrived at Briançon at about 18.45
hours. We did ride 484 km
that day ! And the weather was beautiful.
day 3
- 20-10 2002. We left Briançon at about 10.00 hours
and followed the signs "Col d' Izoard" (2360
mtrs) , which again was really nice.
That road ended near Guillestre
and from there we followed the route to the "Col de
Vars". Now that one, coming from the north was not really
spectacular, but downhill it was a bit better, although not as nice as the
former ones. (Bored already you think ). At Barcelonnette we
then sat on a nice terrace and had a light meal and a drink (not very cheap though !
(no thanks to the "euro"). Next on the list was
the "Col
de la Cayolle" , by the D902
and D2202, which lead us to Guillaumes.
There we took a turn to Peone and Valberg
(but Peone first, because that road is much more thrilling than straight to
Valberg !). Then through the "Gorges du
Cians" (with incredible red rocks ) to Touet-
sur- Var on the N202 and actually
"before we knew it", we were very near Nice.
We did have the address of a hotel in Villeneuve-Loubet
(on the N7), which we found at about 18.00 hours.
At first there was only room for one night, but we squeezed another night out of
the man in the office. So, actually not really intended, we ended up in "Nice"
already, after 267 km. O yes, we had beautiful weather and after the last
"Col" you really could feel the warmth of the Mediterranean climate !
day 4
- 21-10 2002. For this day we planned either a longer route or a shorter one,
which we were to make up while we were on our way. First we tried to find the
coastal road (N98), in which we succeeded after a
little while. We followed that road through Antibes,
Cannes, St. Rafael and
Fréjus. Nice again, the r
oad as well as the
weather. Then we had to find the way to Fayence (up north) and
from there the D563 to Mons. From there we decided to cut our tour short and to
go to Grasse. So we took a small road to Saint Cézaire, but misrode and found
ourselves riding a beautiful narrow and winding road to Callian instead.
From there back on track to
Saint Cézaire and Grasse. Here and now the sky started to change and just when
we arrived at Grasse, it started to rain. We did some
(smell) shopping ( Grasse is the capitol of the Provence !), drank a coffee (just to be out of the rain) and waited for the
weather to change. That didn't really happen, although the rain wasn't falling
as hard as it did before. So we jumped on our bikes and went for it. It didn't
work. After a couple of kilometers it poured again. That wasn't funny. My visor
couldn't handle it and I had to ride with the visor open, otherwise I couldn't
tell where I was. Now of course the rain came in my eyes and into my helmet.
Also big plashes formed on the road and riding wasn't fun anymore.
Luckily it wasn't that far and after a while we found our hotel again. But both
of us had some wet body parts (feet, hands etc.)
All together we rode some 181km.
day 5
- 22-10 2002. Today we headed for Menton and we
wanted to take the coastal way (N 98) again, but
this time the other direction. It wasn't hard to find and soon we were on our way.
And how lucky we were ! All along the coast the weather was beautiful, but
looking at the mountains inlands, there were clouds all over. Thus
we rode through Nice, Villefranche,
Beaulieu and of course Monte
Carlo. We made some nice pictures, but apart from some spectacular sights
the journey was
uneventful. 
Finding the
hotel wasn't difficult, but getting in was. Ilke tried to operate the check-in
machine and at the moment the vital opening-code for the room was given, Ilke
pushed the "next"-button. Together we managed to remember what had
appeared on the screen and thus access the hotel and the room. We left the bikes
at the entrance where they stood out of the way and headed into the old village
of Menton. We had a lovely afternoon (in the sun at the beach, where we could
use the beach-chairs, that stood there while the bars weren't open).
Back at the hotel later, we were allowed to park our bikes in the garage,
where normally you had to pay for. In the evening we went back to Menton, bought
us a nice bottle of wine, some plastic cups at the super-marché and a little to eat and found
ourselves a nice place on the beach (free again), where we sat all evening.
Every now and again the waves came as high as our chairs and we had to lift our
feet. So it turned out to be a very pleasant evening. 
We only rode 54 km today !
day 6 - 23-10 2002. Today we had prepared a tour from one of the books mentioned beneath. So we would go to Sospel first, then take the "Colde Turini" ,go to St. Martin-Vesuble, from there the D2565 to La Bolinette, then the D2205 towards Isola. Next the D97 to Isola 2000 and from there the "Col de la Lombarde" which would take us in to Italy. In Italy the N21 to Demonte and Borgo S. Dalmazzo and on the N20 to the "Col de Tende". The latter we would take by the gravelroad (Schotterpiste) and from there back to Sospel and Menton.
What can I say : beautiful, beautiful and beautiful. At first we had the sun
in our eyes, going towards Sospel, which wasn't very nice (we started at 09.00
hrs.) and the road was kind of slippery due to yesterday's wetness and the
fallen leaves. So we had to ride carefully. But later on it got better and we
had our first drink in the sun at the top of the "Col de Turini",
where we were joined by three race-mini's (the car). Then to Isola and Isola
2000 which was really nice. But after Isola 2000 things got ...... indescribable,
strange surroundings (green rocks), narrow road and hairpins.
And then, over the top in Italy ! Miles and miles, in what looked like alien
territory and no one there, all alone. I wished I had a camera mounted on my
helmet. 
(At that time we had an average speed of 20km/hour ! That's including the drink and of course off and on the bike, taking pictures). Coming on the N21 things speeded up a bit, all the way to the "Col de Tende". We had a bit of bad luck there, because we missed the road to the gravelroad, so we didn't do that. We rode through the tunnel and just after that, is the road up on the other side. But is was already getting late, so we decided to do that some other time. We rode straight on to Sospel, where we had a couple of coffees before we went back to the hotel. That night we went out for dinner and again had a very pleasant evening. Total distance today on the bike was 293km.
day 7 - 24-10 2002. Unfortunately I got a bit of a cold and we decided to go back up north today. Target was Barcelonette, where Ilke wanted to stay at a nice hotel she had seen on the way up. Planning was to go to Sospel first and from there try to find our way through the mountains to Nice (among which the "Col de Nice") and from there the N202 northbound. Then follow this road westbound to Entrevaux and from there de "gorges de Daluis" to Guillaumes. Next the D2202 to Colmars and from there the D908 to Barcelonette.
Well, in the end things turned out
different. We started our to Sospel
alright and followed the signs to "Col de Nice"
, which again took us over a beautiful road with a lot of hairpins (one of which
Ilke studied from up close - if you get my point). 
But
coming in the vicinity of Nice, things weren't
very well (road) signed anymore and we decided to take the motorway. That worked
out fine and soon we were on the N202. Following
that road, which is following the river Vars
and gives nice looks in the valley, we came to Entrevaux.
There we stopped and had something to drink. We also walked into the village,
which was very nice (very old and narrow streets - no motor vehicles
allowed).
Next through the "Gorges de Daluis",
where we had a delay, because rocks had fallen on the road. Again that amazing
red rock. 
Well after a while things were cleared and we moved on. Now, if you want to ride
through these gorges do it from south to north. This way you avoid the tunnels and
ride pass them, which is "curvier"
.
So, in Guillaumes we followed the D2202, but in St.
Martin-d'entraunes, we had a bit of a
disappointment, because the "Col de Champs"
was closed. Luckily the "Col de la Cayolle"
was open, but we already had done that one. No choice though. But then, when we
arrived at Entraunes, there was a sign
(highlighted), saying you had to have either snow tyres or snow chaines. Oooops.
We decided to take the chance, because there was not much of a choice this
time. Luckily enough, although it got colder and colder (a lot of wind
also) and there were
some snow patches and ,most of all, there was a lot of gravel on the road, things
were okay. Only thing you had to ride slowly and carefully, because of that
gravel. Going down on the other side, we again had some beautiful views ( orange
trees and snowy mountains). 
We arrived in Barcelonette at about 18.15 hrs.
Finding a room was not a
problem.
That night we strolled through Barcelonette and from every angle you had sight
at snow covered mountains, which give us the impression of being on a winter
holiday. It was bitterly cold. About 9 degrees Celsius and a cold wind blowing.
Imagine coming from 20 - 25 degrees C that morning ! We topped the evening of in
a nice bar and after that went to bed. We had done 224 km today
day 8 - 25-10 2002. That morning, as we woke up, we saw that it had rained during the night, but fortunately, as we were ready to go, the rain had stopped. Planned was to end our day at Chambery, but again things didn't go as planned. From Barcelonette we took the D900 to Gap, but just past Le Lauzet-Ubaye, we took the D954 to Savines, which again took us over a very beautiful road, with views over a big lake and with a lot of hairpins. At Savines we followed the N94 to Gap and from there the Route Napoleon (N85) to Grenoble. A nice road again, but, well we had seen so much at that point, that ..... From Grenoble we tried to locate the N90 to Chambery, but as we tried to do so, the rain set in and made things a lot more difficult. We then decided to head back for the motorway and go home straight. Nearing Lyon the rain got a bit less, but now we had a lot of wind, not to say we had a storm on our hands, which made riding the bike at times very difficult. We sometimes had the feeling, we were lifted up, bike and all. Not nice. We rode to Macon Nord, where we found a "formule-1 hotel" , on the motorway ( so we didn't have to leave the motorway, which was nice regarding the troubles with the peage). The attendant was very helpfull and we were allowed to place our bikes under a canopy, just outside the hotel entrance. So we showered, had a bit to eat at the restaurant and went to sleep, hoping the wind and rain would lay down during the night. In all we did some 428 km today.
day 9 - 26-10 2002. Well, it didn't. Even the forecast was bad. Wind gusts or just wind, our French could be better, up to 100km/h !! What to do ? We decided to go anyway and find out. So, after breakfast, we stepped on our bikes and rode of. It wasn't pleasant, but it was do-able and at least it was dry. But all the way back, through France, Luxembourg and Germany the storm kept making riding very unpleasant and difficult. At on point, at a péage (toll) - stop the wind was so strong that Ilke and her bike just fell to the ground. We, however, avoided most of the rainfall. After 811km we were back at our place. In all 3465 km !!!!
day 10 - 27-10 2002. You might wonder why day 10 ? You were home already ! That's true, but what happened at 27-10 2002 ? Well, the worst storm in 12 years and one of the worst in a century swept over the Netherlands ! So we counted ourselves lucky by having decided to go all the way yesterday !
All the way we followed (by chance) a route
laid out specially for the Transalp as you can see on the next picture. 
(Kidding ! It said Route des Grandes Alpes . But we did follow that route for a long stretch.)
What did we use in preparation of and during our trip:
maps :
Michelin 334 Local Alpes-de-Hte. Provence, Hautes-Alpes scale 1:150 000
Michelin 341 Local Alpes-Maritimes
Michelin 244 Rhône-Alpes scale 1:200 000
Michelin 245 Provence - Cote d' Azur scale 1:200 000
"Powerkarten Alpen" (recommendable) scale 1:300 000
Books :
"Lust auf Pässe" und "Lust auf Französische Alpen" (available at Louis or Polo motorshops)
Guide Fernagut 2002/2003 des hotels de formule é
Where did we stay:
Accor hotels Formule1 at Dijon Nord and Macon
"Étap" at Menton
"Villages Hotel" at Villeneuve-Loubet (Nice)
"Grand Hotel" at Barcelonnette
"Auberge de l' Impossible" at Briançon
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