Cycling Loop: Tour du Bargy

Direction: clockwise. Landmarks and connections: the bridge over the Étroits de St-Jean-de-Sixt and St-Pierre-en-Faucigny (junction and split with the Tour des Glières No. 45); Le Grand-Bornand. TER train stations: La Roche-sur-Foron; Bonneville; Cluses. Description: The Chartreuse du Reposoir, founded in 1151, is a listed historic monument open to visitors, although it currently serves as the headquarters of a Carmelite monastery. In 1978, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing celebrated his fourth year as president there, inviting all the town’s residents. Located at an altitude of 1,000 m, it can serve as a halfway stop on your ascent of the Col de la Colombière (1,613 m), which you’ll tackle via its northern slope, regardless of your starting point.Starting from Annecy, you’ll be following the same route as the Tour des Glières No. 45 all the way to St-Pierre-en-Faucigny. While the route from Cluses to this point is straightforward, you should remain vigilant from there onward in any case. You’ll first need to follow the markers along a safe but relatively winding route between Ponchy and Thuet. Then you’ll inevitably have to ride for 2 km along the edge of the treacherous Departmental Road 1205, though fortunately traffic is slowed by a roundabout and a left-hand curve where you’ll head straight on toward Marnaz and Scionzier. This relatively quiet section will take you back to Cluses or up to La Colombière, depending on your route.Note that by taking a TER train between Annecy and La Roche-sur-Foron, you can limit your route to the climb up La Colombière and the Bargy loop itself.