Death Road

We left Monaco early, but not before enjoying some delicious croissants again. David had found a website that listed the best drives in the world, low and behold there was one in France that happened to be on the way to Switzerland. The perilous drive up a mountain was called Col de Turini, which is also used for a rally car race. Unknowingly, we all were very excited about this road, Chris and David for the drive, and Jami and I for the views. The start of the road is at the end of a town, and the base of a mountain.  As we got closer to the mountain, we noticed that the road narrowed, but thought it was one of the many one-ways in Europe. We quickly learned that it wasn’t a one-way as a charter bus came barreling down the mountain at us, forcing Chris to immediately back up, and Jami and I to scream hysterically for Chris to stop before he drove off the mountain. Thinking that GPS had screwed up and sent us the wrong way down a one way, we back tracked into town to find the right road. After driving around for awhile we realized that we were on the correct road, and that it was a one way up the mountain with two way traffic! I was not thrilled with this.

We started up the road with trepidation. Chris and David started discussing the tire marks from the rally car drivers, and how some might have been when the drivers drove off the mountain! This did not comfort me whatsoever. With each switch back, Chris had to slow to almost a stop and have David peer around the bend and give the all clear. The boys did a great job of getting us safely up the mountain, while I had a silent panic attack in the back seat. Jami later said that if David had been driving there would have been much more advice from the back seat. However, Jami held her tongue, and I was too petrified to speak. We did stop at one point to take in the magnificent views and snap a few pictures. Luckily we didn’t have any more close calls and were able to make it to the top without incident.

View back down the Death Road

As we started down, I was ecstatic to see it was a two lane road! The further we got down the mountain the more I relaxed. About halfway down we came across a church on a bluff. We immediately pulled over and hiked up the stairs to the church. We were awed by the views, and puzzled at why a church would be placed in such a remote location. After reading a sign, we learned that the church was open twice a year for Christmas and Easter, and had also been used as a church/fort/lookout centuries ago. We eventually made it to the bottom, and we’re now on our way to Switzerland.

Mountain Church