The Combe Laval road is a ledge cut into a cliff, and it feels like it. The D76 leaves Saint-Jean-en-Royans and climbs into a deep, narrow valley on the western edge of the Vercors, a great gash in the limestone with walls hundreds of metres high, and then runs along the side of the cliff on a shelf blasted out of the rock. It was built over a long period, beginning in the late nineteenth century, to bring timber down from the forest of Lente on the plateau above, and the tunnels and rock overhangs are the marks of that labour.
The result is a road that grants views no engineer would call sensible. On one side is a wall of grey stone, sometimes overhanging; on the other, a drop of several hundred metres to the bed of the valley, with only a low parapet or, in places, a few stones at the edge. The curves are tight, the road is narrow, and in some places two vehicles cannot pass without one backing up. Take it slowly, and use the pull-ins to look, rather than looking while riding.
The surface is generally good, but the road can be wet and slippery in the shade, and rocks sometimes fall from the cliff above. In winter, the road is often closed because of snow and ice, and in busy periods there may be traffic restrictions, so check the local situation before you go.
Below, the villages of the Royans are a different world: Saint-Jean-en-Royans is a quiet market town of three thousand people, with stations and shops, and Pont-en-Royans, a few kilometres away, is famous for its houses that hang over the gorge of the Bourne on wooden beams. The local specialities are walnuts, ravioles, tiny cheese-filled pasta parcels, and Saint-Marcellin, the small, creamy cow's-milk cheese named for the town to the west.
Fuel is available in Saint-Jean-en-Royans, and there is none on the road itself, so fill up before you begin. The smell of wet rock and pine mingles with the cold air that rises from the valley, and the experience stays with you long after the ride.