Chamonix and above

This is a delightful town full of cafes designer shops and active sport shops.

It seems to buzz all year round as it is both a hiking and a skiing centre.

Clare and i have just gone up to the Aigule de Midi (cable car)

This was the most scary experience of my life. The car takes you about two thousand metres above Chamonix and above most of the mountains.

The final section of the lift seems to be almost vertical. At he top you are on a glacier and above a summit snowfield. You an look straight down on Chamonix and out and down on almost everything.

The photos show climbers on the ice below, the Chamonix Valley and Mt Blanc.

Friends along the way

We met many interesting people along the way. Hello to Karen and Doug hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip. Canadians are good travelling companions again.

There was a group of 25 Koreans who carried tents and food (hard work)

The bubbly Finnish girl travelling with her sisters and mother. The Danish family who we shared breakfast with at Rifugio Elizabett and then met at Col de Balme 5 days later. We had travelled in opposite directions. We really enjoyed our dinner at Tre le Champs with the German graduate in International Relations and her Swedish boyfriend. They met studying in Korea and used English as their common language. The two British grey campers added to the fun with their stories of the hardships of camping.

Thanks to the happy american who arrived at a tiny cafe on the side of a mountain and called down to his local guide who was a minute behind him "where is the toilet". As we were leaving we both passed  a drinking fountain fed from the glacier - guess what he asked us.

Is this water cold. I love americans abroard.

The British ultra marathon couple and the Kiwis from Queenstown kept popping up and everyone above along with many more made the trip even more rewarding

Thankyou all

Final days rest spot and trail

These are two typical scenes from our final days walk through pine forest and with magnificent views from rocky points and when crossing rock fall scree slopes.

Two views of our final refuge Tre le Champ. The sleeping platforms were three in a row together but there was hot water in the basins and the food was great.

A long interesting day

We planned to walk from Tre le Champ to Refuge La Flegere which was a four hour walk along the ridge line opposite the Mont Blanc range. The interest is this was the continuous panorama of Mont Blanc and the series of ladders built into the hillside that we had to navigate. If you didnt know, I am scared of heights. This route left us enough time to possibly visit Lac Blanc. A glacial runnoff lake 1000m above the valley floor.

The path was well signposted and took us an hour less than expected. It also stayed 500m lower that the map and also didnt have any ladders.

In short, we went the wrong way to get to the right place quicker.

Arriving at a nighttime camp before 12 is not good so new plans were made.

We left our packs at a chairlift station and did a 2 hr return to the lake.

I had a 30 second swim. In hindsight I wish I had stayed longer, but i was worried about my heart.

We then had a decision to make.

If we decided to catch a chairlift down to Chamonix then we could finish the walk today. The only problem was we had a two hour walk and only 1.45 left till the chairlift closed. Being Aussies (at least 75% anyway) we decided to do it. Clare set the pace and i did my best. We made it with two hours to spare (thanks to extended summers hours).

So we are in Chamonix and safely finished walking.

Flowers 4

A bit of food 2

The food continues to be a highlight.

You can get most things the same as homeif you look hard (though we have given up on skim milk and mostly drink black tea and coffee).

The breakfasts and dinners were mostly included in the "half board" rate at the rifugios and hotels along the route so it was lunches where we could "let loose" our desires.

Pictured are a tomatoe salad that was delicious, a fondou, a palenta (corn based and nice with the tomatoe and sausage centre) and vegetable soup (strong on lentils). Pasta is served with less sauce eg Fettucini Fungi. We also bought a lunch pack from a rifugio ( egg, apple, muffin, tomatoe, and of course ham and cheese roll ) magic on the top of a mountain though not light to carry.

Enjoy

Switzerland to France

Across the border we go again.

No guards - just a very cranky old lady.

Today we walked down into a Swiss valley near Trient (see photo) and then up up up etc etc etc over Col de Balme into France.

Yes you are right that is where we started. When we reached the Col we were greated by Mt Blanc again as well as the Chamonix Valley (our starting point).

We were also greated by a famously cranky old lady. I went into the Rifugio and asked for bread with jambon and fromage. This seemed to be understood but was answered with gesticulations and all my words repeated angrily. I indicated that i did not understand and so she shouted the same words even louder. At this point I called in support. Clares French is good in my books. Clare worked out that we could have ham or cheese but not both.

The lady is famous. There is a not so cryptic comment in the guide book and many amusing stories at the next rifugio. Wow what a position though!