Tour de l’Authion, Alpes maritimes

Belle balade d’une à deux heures en VTT électrique au coeur du parc national de Mercantour.
Il s’agit d’une route à sens unique autorisée aux véhicules.
Depuis le col du Turini il faut compter 500 m de dénivelé pour effectuer ce tour
Située autour de 2000 m d’altitude elle offre de très belles vues aussi bien sur les hautes montagnes que sur la mer (par temps dégagé)
Elle est aussi un lieu de mémoire car remplie de vestiges de bâtiments militaires, l’Authion fut au coeur de tragiques batailles courant avril 1945.
Je fais une escapade à pied pour monter au fort de La Redoute situé à 2080m. Appelé également “pointe des 3 communes” il se situe entre la vallée de la Roya et de la Vésubie.

Hello, I’m at Turini Camp d’Argent and I’m off to tour the Authion by electric mountain bike. From the Turini Pass, this route isn’t very long. I expect about an hour by electric bike. That’s still 500 m of additional elevation gain. We’re entering the heart of the Mercantour National Park and we’re going to start the one-way route with a nice little descent. We have a magnificent view of the sea today and it’s very clear. Here, we’re just above the Bevera Valley. We’ve lost about 200 m of elevation gain and we’re arriving at the first stage of this route. At the first stage of this route, there are the remains of the 1945 tanks. It’s currently under renovation. April 10, 1945, one of the last places to be liberated in France. Ah well, we can’t go up. Oh, that’s stupid. The construction will last 2 months and then we’ll be able to access it again. The second place on this stage is the Cabane Vieille cowshed. I’m going to continue the tour. Here we go again. We arrive at the lowest point of this tour , which is characterized by a stream and then this little bridge there before the climb. We must be at about 1750 m and we’re going to climb to about 1950 m. We arrive at a fork. So, we have two tracks. So, this one must go down towards Breil sur Roya. It seems that it’s a track, it remains a track all the way . And there’s a second track. So, this one, it would go down to about the level of Fontan from what I’ve been told. And it seems that it’s not difficult anymore. Come on, let’s go up. On the right, we start to see… …the whole chain of peaks that demarcate the border between France and Italy. It climbs well but it’s not extraordinary either. It’s 9% 9-10%. The road is beautiful all around. There, we arrive at the fork towards the second cowshed on the route. We’ll see it a little higher up. And there’s the second cowshed. And above, is the Fort de la Redoute which marks the highest point of the Authion at 2000 m altitude. Well, the cows, they haven’t arrived there yet. They won’t be long, I think. The landscape is hidden by this small embankment. Okay, I’m going to stop and then… …I’m going to go see above. So, we arrive, we’re facing the sea there. Over there, it’s the sea that we can clearly see in the background there. We’re facing Mount Toraggio and Mount Pietravecchia. There, we can see the track that goes down towards between Fontan and Breil sur Roya, according to what I was told. It’s impressive. There are military structures everywhere. So, I’m going to make a short stop here too to see the surrounding peaks. On the left, it’s one of the Capelets. I think it’s the upper Capelet, but I’m not sure. To its right, it’s a ferrous peak. It’s the Devil’s Peak. To the right of the Devil’s Peak, there’s the long-distance hiking trail… …which goes towards the Valley of Wonders. We arrive at the L’Authion car park to climb to the Fort de la Redoute and have views of the mountain trails. There, a commemorative monument. I’m going to take a walk to the Fort de la Redoute. A view of the climb and at the same time the Torrage / Pietravecchia and the sea in the distance. And there, we’re approaching the Ford de la Redoute. This is the start of the long-distance hiking trail towards the Valley of Wonders and the Fort de la Redoute just above. And the place is also called “the tip of the three communes”. There, everything is explained on the plaque. We are at 2080 m. I won’t climb any higher today! Let’s go back down. It was an interesting site with beautiful panoramas. The view here is truly magnificent. We can even see the runway of Nice airport, it’s so clear today. We can see all the way to Cannes. We can even see the Lérins Islands behind. It’s rarely this clear. Below, we see the road we came down earlier… …the road we’re going to join because the tour is one-way. We arrive at the junction…also under construction. There you go, I hope you enjoyed this little bike ride and I’ll see you on another tour, I don’t know when… See you soon!