It sounds strange but I feel like we cycled right through the Alps today, even though we are only about halfway there. From our log cabin, with the beautiful view – which we have to get out of a day earlier than we thought – we drive with Daan, Vincent and Liesbeth, after packing everything, to our tree bike in Termignon this morning. Richard takes Yka to Alberville and Sanne stays in the log cabin for a while before heading to the new location. The first half of the bike route is downright beautiful. On this Sunday morning the road is fairly quiet and we climb at least two hundred meters in the first stretch. A route through many small villages. We find a handy app that shows the altitude. Termignon is about thirteen hundred meters. We climb to fifteen hundred meters altitude, and at the end of the day St. Jean de Maurienne, ten kilometers after St. Michel de Maurienne, is at just over five hundred meters altitude. That means we descended twelve hundred meters in total. The second part of the route, after our picnic lunch in the grass out of the wind, goes largely along the Route National and is quite boring, actually mostly mileage, even though the mountain scenery we pass through is incredibly beautiful and impressive. It feels like a great honor to cycle here in this Alpine landscape with our tree. Whether it is the same for the tree I don’t know. There is a lot of headwind today. And does a tree actually suffer from vertigo, I wonder? When I see all the trees on those steep slopes I can’t really imagine it. The backdrop of the robust green mountains dominant everywhere is great with the cultivated valleys with its picturesque villages, tourist ski huts, business, large-scale mining, smaller and larger roads, fast-flowing rivers and streams, railroads and small-scale agriculture. The ups and downs and winding roads make the landscape extra exciting, especially if you cycle through it on a still unusual tree bike. The play of light on the slopes is amazing, the looming dark areas in shadow interspersed with the spectacular patterns of rock outcroppings and trees bathed brightly in sunlight. Above that floats a blue sky with playfully drifting white clouds, and on the ground the swarming of all human activity. A “gesamtkunstwerk” carefully constructed over centuries. Here you feel the overwhelming power of nature very well, which you have less of in the flatter landscapes. In St. Jean de Maurienne we park the tree bike next to the ‘Hotel de Ville’, have a drink and drive to our new location, thirty minutes away. Again, a fine log cabin in a small hamlet high in the mountains where we stay for three days. While everything is being unpacked, Sanne cooks a delicious meal. We toast to the Alps and after dinner we talk about tomorrow. It will be another tough climb that’s for sure. First a good sleep.