Stroll along the Riverside

La Fouly 1610m to Champex 1466m

A brief jaunt for hardenned walkers?

With a 4.5 hr walk down 500m then up 500m it was written up as a pleasant stroll. Clearly everything is relative.

This was however a pleasant day, starting with a riverside path 2.5hrs. We followed the glacial runnoff river of Val Ferret climbing and falling to go around rock falls, cliffs and ravines. Always surrounded by pine forest, this was most relaxing indeed. We had a Cafe Olay (which became Cappuccino) at the last house in the village of Issert and then headed up. 

The 500m climb took about 90min and was quite strenuous. Again in pine forest and on easy dirt tracks the hardest thing was not tripping on tree roots.

Hot sweaty and undoubtedly smelly we arrived at Hotel Splendide.

This is the majestic building perched on the cliff edge that we had seen for miles up the valley floor. Look for what Clare is photographing in the attached photo. This hotel is like a relic of a lost empire.

Undoubtedly grand but in need of new vigor. Need to go now as it is time for dinner. We have half board, which means avset meal dinner and breakfast. We musn't be late - we are in Switzerland.