Le Tour du Mont Blanc 3

DAY 9: CHAMPEX-LAC TO TRIENT

Rest day over, it was onwards to Trient.  I had really wanted to hike the harder alternative route because it passes by the top of a glacier.  We decided against it because the descent seemed to be very steep and rocky and it looked like it could be a very very long day.  However, the regular route was not all beer and skittles.  It involved a steep climb that took several hours. 

This image is similar to the one above it, but check out the steepness of the path in the foreground of this photo

For Dominie



Birds eye views on houses below

At the top there was the welcoming Bovine Buvette where we ate our lunch and had a coffee and hot chocolate.  Helen and John also arrived while we were there so we were able to have a chat and do a bit of lunch swapping – their ham for our mustard.  Yes mustard is essential hiking food.  Unfortunately the clouds had rolled over and the view of the Rhone Valley was obscured but after we started walking again it wasn’t long before the clouds passed and we got magnificent views of this wide and beautiful valley in Switzerland.  Subsequent google research has revealed that the source of the Rhone River is the Rhone Glacier in Switzerland (and I thought you only used google for legal research).  

Bovine Buvette

Rather respresentationalist

Rhone Valley

Whilst on the TMB it is customary to greet people and French seems to be the lingua franca even though it passes through Italy for 3 days.  Therefore a cheerful ‘bonjour’ is generally appropriate.  However on one stage in Italy I was saying bonjour to everyone because no one had said ‘bongiorno’ to me but this understandably upset one older Italian gentleman who growled back ‘bongiorno’ and I quickly responded with a ‘bongiorno’.  On the way up to the Bovine buvette we passed a horde of guided walkers (not that unusual) who seemed to be British and Australian.  Everyone made an effort to say ‘bonjour’ but the last 3 said it with such broad Australian accents that Dale couldn’t resist responding with a loud ‘g’day’ as he passed.  This was met with some surprise and a lot of mirth.   We wish that we’d had a bonjour o’meter because we would love to know how many times we said it.  We found that when we were on stages that were also popular day hikes, people were less friendly and less likely to say bonjour.

While we were having lunch at the Bovine Buvette two horses were being packed up with luggage.  There is a company that offers hikers the opportunity to have their luggage carried by a horse (aka lazy sods).  There was also a lady filming the horses and the luggage being packed on to their backs.  We left ahead of the horses and their accompanying hikers but John and Helen followed them.  They told us later that after only 10 minutes the ‘horse group’ came to a sudden halt and they initially couldn’t get past them.  They then discovered that one of the poor horses had lost its footing on the side of the very narrow track and had fallen 10 metres down a steep slope.  The handler was down with the horse helping it up and checking that its legs were all ok.  Many of the packs that it had been carrying were strewn down the slope and the ones that were still on the horse looked crushed.  The hikers had to go down the hill to recover their packs.  Helen and John were then able to pass through the group.  We don’t know what happened to the horse but we did see this group arrive in Trient with a horse.  Helen and John told the story to a group of Australian women, including 2 vets, who went over to have a look at the horse and they said it had a swollen ankle but wasn’t lame.

Looking back at the track that day, it was very narrow and it left me feeling poorly disposed towards these guided hikes that use a horse to transport luggage.  If people want their luggage moved each day there are any number of companies that offer this service by car.

Co-incidentally I had taken this photo of the horse from the pedalo on Champex-Lac the preceding day

At Trient we stayed at the Relais du Mont Blanc.  At dinner we sat next to two young British guys who had hiked over the more arduous Fenetre d’Arpette and they said that we’d made the right decision not to do it.  They said that it required a lot of climbing over large boulders at the end and that the descent was incredibly steep and rocky.  This was confirmed by an Israeli couple who we met the following night.  The Israeli couple said that it had taken them 13 hours as opposed to the 6-7 hours suggested in the guide book!! They had the same guide book as us and pointed out that it doesn’t give you any idea how difficult it is to get over the boulders or to descend. 

There are many more Anglophones on the TMB when compared to Tour du Queyras that we did 4 years ago.  This meant that there were fewer opportunities to really practice speaking French.  The refuge owners seem to arrange the dinner seating so that all the English speakers sit together.  This was a little bit of a shame but on the other hand we were able to meet some very nice English speaking Italians and Israelis as well as Australians, Canadians and Brits.

Trient

At the Relais du Mont Blanc we were in a large dormitory but only sharing it with one other couple.  We were able to leave the window open and had a great night’s sleep.  This was in spite of the other couple – a young French man and woman – being very amorous and as we were trying to go to sleep - there was lots of loud French schmoopying and kissing.  Either they stopped or the old married couple just fell asleep thanks to their ear plugs.

DAY 10: TRIENT TO TRE-LE-CHAMP

On the second last day of the TMB we crossed back into France at the Col de Balme.  Once again the day started with a long climb from the valley up to the col.  During the climb we heard a loud whooshing sound in the sky and looked up to see what looked like a kite or huge bat flying above us at extraordinary speed.  We quickly realised in amazement that it was a base jumper in their flying suit, which looks like a giant winged sleeping bag. The Israeli couple we met later that evening said that they had seen 4 base jumpers go overhead and that a helicopter was flying them from Trient up to a mountain top that they were leaping from.  Apparently they land by deploying a parachute.  I cannot convey in words just how fast they were moving or the resulting noise.  It seems incredibly dangerous but you can begin to imagine the adrenaline rush that they must be getting. 

Is it a bird, is it a plane,  no it's a flying death wish

Once we crossed the Col de Balme the Mont Blanc range came back into view.  It was augmented by the populous Chamonix valley also coming into view. 

First view of Mont Blanc from the French side for 11 days

Chamonix at the far end of the valley

From this point on many of the slopes were covered with ski lifts and we saw summer maintenance being carried out in a number of places.

We still had further to climb and once we had reached our high point we found a picturesque place for lunch which looked down into 2 valleys.

It looks like I am having a profound thought, or indigestion

This lovely steep path was the alternate route for the following day if you wanted to avoid the ladders (see below)

We then descended for a long time to find our refuge which was below Tre-Le-Champ in Les Frasserands.  It was quite difficult to find but 4 French hikers were also looking for it and between the 6 of us we managed to find the clues that lead us there.  The refuge was small and cheap so we liked it a lot.  It had showers that had pressure and were really hot (and untimed except for the signs adding moral pressure to share the hot water).  The shower cubicles were decorated in such a way as to make you feel like you were in a hacienda in Santa Fe (think terracotta pink).

The little town of Les Frasserands was very pretty and we took the opportunity to wander around and also to stop for a beer and coffee.

Don't ask me

Teddy bear birds nest; who thinks up these things?

Oh those French

The refuge has a dining room where many of us congregated before dinner.  We did start to have a conversation with a French guy about hiking and French wines although he was quite difficult to understand.  We hoped that we might be able to sit with him and his partner over dinner but as usual we were seated with the other English speakers, this time the Israeli couple, that I’ve previously mentioned, who were both delightful and entertaining.  We talked about how disappointing it was that everyone else seemed to be faster than us.  The guy had us in peels of laughter as he described how a 7 year girl had raced past him up a steep mountain climb and didn’t have the decency to even acknowledge him much less give him a word or two of encouragement.  We also had a wide ranging discussion about the Israeli economy and cinema.  They had both seen and liked ‘Yossi and Jagger’ and generally liked Eytan Fox movies (they scored very big brownie points for this).

When the beautiful pork sausages arrived for dinner we immediately started commiserating with them (hoping to eat their portions) but the woman explained that her husband doesn’t care about this sort of thing as he was indeed reaching for the sausages.  The sausages were great and were covered in a leek, cream and white wine sauce.  YUM!!   

We had another good night’s sleep even though the dormitory of 8 people was full.  I was so tired I didn’t even hear the last couple of people come to bed.  I also went straight back to sleep after the two guys we’d been talking to before dinner, decided that they would get up and leave at 5.30am.

DAYS 11 &12: TRE-LE-CHAMP TO CHAMONIX AND RECOVERY DAY IN CHAMONIX

Our last day of hiking was pretty spectacular. 

Note this rock climber, as he appears as a spec in a photo a few more down

We had to climb for 2 hours, the last half hour of which was climbing up ladders and using hand rails to get up some high cliff sides.  I had researched this stage quite extensively to make as sure as possible that I would be ok with the heights.  Fortunately there weren’t any sheer drops below and there was only really one section of ladder that seemed at the time to go on and on up a rock face but even that may not have been more than 15 metres high.  We really enjoyed this section because it was exciting to be experiencing a different aspect of hiking and it goes without saying that the views were great.

The start of the ladders

Nauseating view to the valley far below

As mentioned above, note the rock climber now, to the right of my hat

In the climb up to the ladders the path had been very busy.  It gets quite annoying when you have to stop every 5 minutes to let a group of day hikers through (who are not carrying heavy backpacks) just as you are getting into a rhythm.  Fortunately the ladders pretty much require that everyone goes up at the same speed so we only had to let one guy through.

When we reached the top of the ladders I was amazed by the number of young hikers coming the other way, and so would be descending via the ladders.  The youngest was probably 7 or 8 and was carrying a backpack that would have been pretty heavy given his size.  There were also a couple of 12-13 year olds carrying decent backpacks.

This glacier has retreated enormously

Relief beyond the ladders

We had a lovely stroll down to the cable car station at La Flegere.  We stopped to buy a baguette and watched as all the day hikers came up from Chamonix in the cable cars.

After lunch we hiked on for another 2 hours to the next cable car station at Plan Pratz.  It was a very hot day and although we didn’t gain any net height during this time the path was steeply undulating.  We were very happy to hop into the cable car at Plan Praz and descend to Chamonix.  Our Tour de Mont Blanc complete!!

Thank goodness they have improved cable cars a bit since this one left service

Nice but fuzzy reflection brought to you by this new dam for the ski fields, blighting the landscape.  There is even an apologetic (and unconvincing) project board trying to justify to hikers why they needed to build it.

Para-gliding was extremely popular above Chamonix

The cable car station in Chamonix was very close to our hotel so we were installed and having showers in no time.  The very helpful staff had put us in a very small room on the second story.  They very kindly carried our very heavy bags (which they had been storing for us for 11 days) up to the room and then even more kindly said that they had a bigger room available in the basement if we wanted it.  We ran down to see the room, which we liked, and then they lugged our bags back down 3 flights of stairs without a word of complaint or hint of annoyance.  They got a very favourable review on Trip Advisor.

Charming view from our basement room window

We went out for a beer before dinner and then to an Italian restaurant for my hiking recovery dinner of pasta.  During dinner the whole troupe of Tom, Jeanette, Helen, John and Rod walked past our outdoor table.  We didn’t think that we would see them again so there were greetings and congratulations all around (it was like we’d hiked Mt Everest).  Tom and Jeanette – the Quebecois couple – very amusingly farewelled us by saying that we could come to Canada when we perfected our French.

Our recovery day in Chamonix involved quite a lot of shopping.  We found a shop that specialised in local wool products and bought a couple of cushion covers. We also discovered some interesting novelty watches and bought one each.  I’ve decided that I need a watch collection as well as a cuff link collection.

Oh shopping is so tiring

Finally we enjoyed a sensational dinner at a restaurant called Le moustache et filles (The moustache and daughters).  Dale had spotted this restaurant down a small street near our hotel the previous night.  The moustache refers to the owner’s substantial moustache and his daughters run the restaurant with him.  Everything had a moustache motif including the wine glasses and the salt and pepper shakers.  We sat outside in a courtyard under a canopy.  It was a balmy night and the food was magnificent.  Dale started with a terrine of some sort of fowl (not foul) liver, served with blueberry jam, then duck which just fell off the bone and he finished with chocolat fondant.  I started with French onion soup served in a jar and to which you add your own cheese and bread.  I followed up with a local dish called Savoyarde escalope, which was chicken and ham smothered in cream, cheese and potatoes (no one tell my doctor).  I finished with a dessert of cream cheese covered in a honey and almond mixture.  It was a perfect ending to our adventure in the Haute-Savoie (in France), Italy and Switzerland.

Au revoir Mt Blanc

Next Time:  The End of School Holidays