Discovery by mountain bike - « Esseillon(s) », les forts sans effort depuis La Norma

We'd like to tell you the false legend of the Esseillon Barrier...

A very long time ago, Marie-Christine, Marie-Thérèse, Charles-Albert, Victor-Emmanuel and Charles-Félix - the five Titans of the fair kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia - were having fortifications built across two hectares on the Esseillon Barrier. Charles-Albert, Marie-Christine and Charles-Félix in the North, Marie-Thérèse in the South, and the great Victor-Emmanuel at the centre, reigning from his throne of rock. Above all else, these "super-heroes" worshipped the Cross of the Kingdom of Savoy. One fine day, they heard that hordes of savages were gathering in the lower lands. Monstrous beings that lived in the darkness of Dauphineland and other dark counties of the Frankish kingdom were forming a frightening army on the threshold of Savoy and there was no doubt that they would soon arrive in Modane...
"Sister Marie-Thérèse, can you not see them coming?" asked the other four giants day after day for thirty long years. "No, I tell you, just like yesterday, I can see no hordes coming from below." And so it continued...
Worn down, tired of waiting in the scorching summer sun and the freezing blizzards of the dismal winter, the Titans eventually froze and turned into rock. Ever since, the Esseillon Barrier has featured in the landscape of Haute Maurienne Vanoise, perched like an enormous phantom vessel on the edge of the abyss, just above the River Arc.

You can discover the true history of this site on a two-hour tour of the apartments of the princes and princesses of Savoy. But don't expect any four-poster beds. The furnishings are rather Spartan in style!