"The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees
what he come to see."
Gilbert K. Chesterton
France
We (Melanie Mason, Brian MacPhee and Paul Delaney) arrived in Geneva, Switzerland on Saturday (September 7th, 2013) and immediately hopped on a bus for the alpine French town of......
Chamonix
Unless you're a serious trekker or downhill skier, chances are you've not heard of Chamonix. No worries, neither did I until about a year ago when I started researching. For instance, did you know that Chamonix is the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924! WOW....I know, I know, already you are saying "Well that's just FANTASTIC!"
 |
| With the pearly white peaks of the Mont Blanc massif as its sensational backdrop, this town has the look and feel of Partyville. |
 |
| We rented an apartment while in Chamonix, real handy and cheaper when there are three of you because it gives you living space….somewhere to sit and recharge! Have a cold beer or wine or both! |
 |
| Melanie exploring the town. |
 |
| Chamonix far far below. Notice the glacier to the left! |
 |
| The final destination....'me tinks it's a radio antenna', regardless we get right up there! An elevator is actually carved in the mountain that takes us the final way up. |
 |
| A series of open and closed walkways test your fear of heights! |
 |
| A different view of the second cable car base! |
 |
| ....and from a different angle! |
Tour Mont Blanc Trek (Sept. 9 - Sept 17)
The start of the trek and I've come down with a vicious head cold...how is that possible? Here one day and already feeling like shite.....guess I'll have to down more of that cheap (but ooooh so yummy French vino)!!!
The starting point is a little French village called Les Houches. To get there we have to catch a train, which is simple enough, but when we get off the train, we fail to find any indication of where to go next. OK, not a big deal, we'll just start walking around until we see something, someone or someplace that resembles the beginning of the Tour Mont Blanc.
I should point out that this trek is self contained. No guides, no support team, no porters carrying our stuff.....10 days and whatever we can carry on our backs. We plan on staying in mountain huts when required......small mountain village hotels when available. These mountain huts are called Refugio's and are strategically placed around the mountain. They usually consist of 60 - 70 bed dormitories (some have 6 bed dortoirs), supper and breakfast.....all of varying quality....none five star. Actually the only star associated with them is the ones you see in the sky. Everyone is in bed by 9:00 and up by 7:00. It's communal living at it's best....unisex bathrooms are common (this is liberal Europe afterall).
The trek will take us around the base of Mont Blanc. 10 days of up...then down...then up...then down....repeat 25 - 30 times as required. 189 kms....do the math, that's on average 18.9 kms per day, with a total of over 10,000 metres of climbing, and vica versa 10,000 metres of knee-breaking down.
Sound like fun? To us it is and that's all that counts! So a picture speaks a thousand words........
DAY 1 Sept 9/13:
 |
| Grabbing the train from Chamonix to Les Houches, which is the starting point for the Tour Mt. Blanc trek. |
 |
| Les Houches and we are off to a good start.....where does the bloody trail begin?? ...and why are all the signs in French? |
 |
| This is ski country, so it made sense that the trail would start at the bottom of a ski slope......OK, I guess it's up from here. |
 |
| OK so we have 16kms of trekking today with a total of 646mts up and 633mts down…..this is the up part. |
 |
| My reward after the slog uphill…..a foot-long hotdog and a cold beer! |
 |
| Les Houches fading from our view. |
 |
| After 2 hours of sweating in 23C sun climbing 646 metres up a ski slope we come across this cog train...wait a minute... Isn't this the bloody same train we got off two hours ago? 'Damn I hates that'. |
 |
| "Look at that there luh....." |
 |
| We would go from open ski slope to dense virgin forest and back to open ski slope and then back to dense virgin forest and so on and so on and so on…... |
 |
| Around every turn a new view. "some nice wah?" |
After a day of huffing and puffing we staggered into Les Contamines. A pretty little French village, one valley removed from whence we came. OK, so now we need to find a place to stay.....I have an idea, let's go into the Tourist Information Office and see what they recommend.
"Parlez vous anglais?"
"Oui, une peut"
"Can you recommend a hotel?"
"Oui monsieur, there is only one open"
...ONE!!! (gulp), please say they have rooms (fingers crossed here)…."
We are in luck. The Gods are smiling on us today! OK, important note to ourselves...call ahead and make sure we have a place to stay!
Head cold moved into a new phase......now I was making love with the toilet bowl from both ends...Lovely. Nothing I'm sure a good stiff upper climb won't rid me of!!!
We got some good advice from an Aussie couple. "Turn left at the local village church and take it from there mate!" So we did.
 |
| The local village church. Five hail Mary's and we were off ! Thank God for the advice from them Aussies. |
 |
| Just another stroll in the woods. Them Aussies hey!! What great advice! |
 |
| Les Contamines down in the valley below. |
 |
| Much to our surprise there are signs of ancient civilizations everywhere. |
 |
| Just over that ridge up there and we should hit flatness! Thank God we got the advice from them Aussies! |
 |
| Oh look a Refugio, let's drop in here and get a bowl of hot tea...thank God we got advice from them Aussies! |
 |
| Ahhh yes this is great. The head cold has abated for a while and all we have to do is head down into this valley and we're done. Thank God for the advice from them Aussies............wait a minute, isn't that the same valley we started in 4 hours ago? |
 |
| Time to refill the water bottles. |
 |
| OK we just walked 4 hours up 750 metres and back down and ended up less than a kilometre from where we started....them friggin Aussies and their advice. So where are we really going? See them mountains way up there? Yep 18 kms and another 5 hours of climbing 1300 metres ahead of us...damn them Aussies. Bad bad bad Aussies!!! |
Anyway folks, the morale of the story is take all advice with a grain of salt and then consult the maps!
By the time we made it to the top, it was starting to snow and my head cold had taken a severe turn for the worst, but we made it ! What should have taken 6 hours at most, took 9 1/2 hours. Our original destination was another 4 kms away, but by the time we reached the Refugio Bonhomme it was getting late and dangerously dark and cold. We checked in, got a 6 bed dortoir room (sharing with an Isreali, two Brits and us). Day 2 was done! Are we having fun yet Mel?
DAY 3 Sept 11th, 2013:
Carrying on from the last post.......the next day we awoke to a fresh dump of snow and some fog. We are in the Alps, so the snow wasn't a complete surprise, even if it wasn't what we wanted to see!
It's at this point in the trek that one can take the normal route (the route we were supposed to follow), down into valley OR we could climb up and over a mountain pass and knock off about 2 hours of additional trekking. Given that my head cold (and the Aussies advice!!!) had made us fall short of our original destination by 4 kms, we opted for the high pass!!
 |
| Leaving Refugio Bonhomme. |
 |
| Heading for the hills in the fog and snow!!! |
 |
| Fog still drapes the valley! |
 |
| Up and over ! |
 |
| Out of the white and into the green.....Still a long way down! |
 |
| This is dairy country in a big way. |
 |
| Crossing into Italy. Got to learn a new language.....just getting use to the other one! I find if I put either an "o" or "a" after any word, it sounds more Italian. Bonjour becomes Bonjourno....see it works! |
 |
| The Italian Customs house. There was no one there! Guess we illegally entered the country, glad we didn't dump the booze we were smuggling! |
 |
| A very very tiny church...I kid you not! Parishioners sit on the surrounding bench and the minister stands in the middle. |
 |
| Our next home, the Refugio Elizabetta, perched high on a ridge with glaciers as a backdrop. |
 |
| A panoramic view of our refugio! |
DAY 4 Sept 12th, 2013:
We awoke at the Refugio Elizabetta to another light sprinkling of snow and the worst breakfast I've ever encountered. Dry melba toast and warm tea....yuck. Thankfully we were headed for the fairly large Italian community of Courmayeur. Would I have pizza or pasta.....hmmmmm? But alas before I could pick either we had an 18km day ahead of us. One consolation was that it would be nearly 1,600 metres down!
 |
| The Refugio Elizabetta would close in 3 days and this white stuff was the reason.......winter arrives early in the mountains! |
 |
| Rock strewed alpine meadows as we head for Courmayeur. |
 |
| The Italian community of Courmayeur comes into view. So what will it be....pizza or pasta??? |
 |
| Old town Courmayeur. |
 |
| Little Italy! I suppose they make a good pasta here? ...or Pizza? .....or pasta? ....or pizza? |
 |
| How very quaint! How very European! |
 |
| OK pizza it is.....and a cold beer!!! |
 |
| B doing laundry in the bidet! "so this is what these things are for!?!?" |
 |
| A view of the Italian Alps from Courmayeur |
 |
| Fine Italian dining!! |
After 4 days of huffing and puffing up and down mountains, the head cold I developed had me whipped. We decided to take an extra day here in this beautiful little Italian village and recuperate.....never did have my pasta!
DAY 6 Sept 14, 2013:
Today we had good weather, a long trek and a brand new country to enter.....Switzerland! What's Switzerland famous for??? Cheese, chocolate, watches and banks. The last two we wouldn't concern ourselves with, but the cheese and chocolate.......well as the saying goes.....when in Rome!
 |
| The Tour Mont Blanc (TMB) logo that marked the entire trail. |
 |
| ...and so the uphill climb begins. Switzerland is just over the mountain! |
 |
| Up, up and away. |
 |
| The scenery here is spectacular! |
 |
| Breath-taking in every sense! |
 |
| Almost there! Notice the Refugio far far below? |
 |
Taking a break along the way!
|
 |
Switzerland directly behind us. I had quite the sweat going on as can be seen from my shirt!
 |
Looking back at Italy.
|
|
 |
Switzerland……where all the trees go?
|
 |
| And now.....we go down! |
 |
| Civilized trekking......every dairy farm sells beer!! |
 |
| A typical Swiss home....seriously, they all look like this! |
We arrived in the village La Fouly just as the weather started to turn.....I thought the name of the place was appropriate.
DAY 7 September 15, 2013:
Got up today to threatening rain, but it held off for most of the day. Switzerland is not as dramatic as the French or Italian side, but held a certain charm nevertheless. What we did notice was that the prices were higher and the value less....go figure.
 |
| This part of the trail is known for its landslides, such as in places like this! |
 |
| Although Switzerland lacked the high mountain backdrop, the trail itself was very dramatic. |
 |
| We had the trail pretty much to ourselves…..perhaps everyone knew what was in store weather wise! |
 |
| We went through several little Swiss villages. Things doesn't appear to change very fast in this part of the world. |
 |
| Paul checking our location. |
 |
| Looks like the East Coast trail in Newfoundland at times! |
 |
| …..And then the rains started! |
 |
| Stopping for a beer and to get shelter from the rain. |
 |
| Back on the road again! |
 |
| A typical vegetable plot along the way. |
 |
| First the rain was gentle, but then it began to pour. |
 |
| This part of the trail had these carved mushrooms and other figurines all over the place. |
 |
| Mushroom alley. |
 |
| We arrived in Champex, a beautiful lakeside town, with the rain just pelting down....lovely! |
 |
| A couple of local fisherman on the Champex lake. |
 |
Our spot in Champex. Such a nice place…..too bad the weather didn't allow us to enjoy it better.
|
Day 8 September 16, 2013:
We woke up today with a watchful eye on the weather. It wasn't raining, and the forecast was not calling for any for a few hours....hence we had a window of opportunity to make it to the next village of Trient.
We started out with heavily overcast skies and before long these opened up and the deluge began. Not good considering we had a 20 km day and it was up, up and up.
We made it to Trient in a record 4 1/2 hours......soaked as soaked as could be. All this technical hiking gear (gortex, etc) could not stand up to the weather. Should have stuck with a good ole Southwester and rubber jackets! Of course with wet comes cold and Melanie started to show signs of a head cold.
 |
| We hardly stopped for a picture....what was the sense really? The fog let up long enough for us to actually see what was around, but before long it was closed in again! |
 |
| These guys didn't mind the rain!! |
 |
| When the fog lifted it was actually beautiful countryside. |
 |
| A cross along the way. |
 |
| Trient. Not a happening place! There was no snow in the hills when we arrived last night….not a good sign. |
DAY 9 September 17, 2013:
Although we were still in Switzerland, we were only 20 kms by road from Chamonix, France. The weather had turn downright nasty and we made an executive decision to end things here. Otherwise, we still had two days of hiking and by the looks of the hills around Trient, it was obvious that a portion of that would be in snow and rain and mud.....and who wants that?
We grabbed a very expensive taxi to Chamonix and hung out there for the day. Did some laundry, and made arrangements to get a train the next day to.......
Carcassonne Sept 18 - Sept 21
After we left Chamonix we took 4 separate trains to Carcassonne, a city built around a 12th century fortress. We would spend 3 days here while we waited for Don Peddle to arrive and to pick up our boat. It was all very quaint and somewhat touristy but still very nice to explore. Loads of restaurants and drinking establishments, so everyone was happy!!
So why not just get to the pictures!!!
 |
| Is this where King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are?? |
 |
| Rain spouts......just like the ones on our house! |
 |
| The Keep....or not! |
 |
| This picture was taken from our hotel. Cool hey ! |
 |
| It was a great place to explore...and explore some more! |
 |
| Did you know a goldfish has a memory span of .002 seconds? So within the goldfish bowl, the goldfish would be swimming around and saying, "oh look a castle.....oh look a castle.....oh look a castle..." |
 |
| This is the Friendly Giant part..."Look up, look waaaaay up!" |
 |
| The cathedral. All castles have one! |
 |
| If you are thinking from the pictures that this place is huge. Well that's because it is! |
 |
| In that tower is a damsel in distress....or is that Paul? |
The next day we head to the......
The Canal Midi (Sept 21 - Sept 28)
For the last week we've been taking it easy, slowly boating down the Canal Midi. In France, I'm told there are close to 1,200 km of canals, weaving through the back countryside of which the Midi is the most famous. In fact, throughout Europe there are close to 12,500 kms of canals in such countries as Poland, Italy, Holland, England, etc... A person could spend years seeing Europe from a different angle.
Apparently the Midi was created in the 1700's to connect the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean and open up the French wine-making regions to the rest of the world. There's not much commercial traffic now, with the majority of the flotilla consisting of rental boats, private yachts and some commercial cruise barges. We chose a rental!!
The rental boats come in all sizes and shapes, ours had 4 bedrooms and bathrooms, a large galley and common area.....plenty of room for 4 people! Think of a RV, except on water! If you are inspired enough from this blog to take a trip like this, count on about $100 per day per person.
The beauty about this type of travel is you move at your own speed (well up to a max of 8 knots)! You can stop anywhere along the canal and visit multiple wineries (all offer free wine tasting....hic) and the cost of a bottle of wine is extremely CHEAP!! Of course there are many little villages along the way (some appear to be lost in time) and loads of family run French restaurants (never saw a McDonald's at all). We also rented bicycles for the duration of the trip and this gave us ground transportation for the places that were a little further off the beaten track.
 |
| Just got our boat! Time for a beer and a plan. |
 |
| Our first lock! Nothing to this :) |
 |
| "I know there is a winery here somewhere!" |
 |
| "You find the winery?" |
 |
| Chillin' on the deck while Paul and Don are gone looking for some vital supplies….beer, wine, cheese and dried salami!! |
 |
| Vineyards everywhere! There can be no doubt that the wine industry is big business here. |
 |
| "Anyone see the beer-opener?" |
 |
| Prior to motorized transportation, horses would pull the commercial barges through the canal system. These natural horse paths are great for biking and walking. |
 |
| Our boat, the Le Somail. Not bad hey?!?!? |
 |
| Paul grabs a beer while Don entertains us with his cigar-box Pickin' Stick! |
 |
| Local fishermen passing a lazy hazy dazy day. |
 |
| Squeeze them in!! |
 |
| A lock refilling with water. |
 |
| I can't remember how many locks we went through, but this one was a double, the most we had to contend with were three locks in a row. |
 |
| At first we were nervous going into the locks, especially with up to four boats at a time, but after awhile we became pros! |
 |
| Entering a French community...."what's that Don? Pull in over there!" |
 |
| Getting a lesson on the finer points of wine from a winery...with free tasting we had a go of every kind she had to offer! |
 |
| The Canal passed right through Carcassonne. It was a challenging lock since there were so many moored boats. |
 |
| After going through the Carcassonne lock we tied up and had lunch…..wine, cheese and dried salami!!! |
 |
| Paul takes the La Somail into a lock. |
 |
| We passed under many bridges and some of them didn't afford much room for error. |
 |
| Entering Trebes....just another quaint French village. |
 |
| A beautiful restaurant in Trebes right on the Canal. |
 |
| Checking the internet at a wine-bar in Trebes. |
 |
| The locks in Trebes. |
 |
| My first mate takes the wheel! |
 |
| My first mate had enough of taking the wheel and decided to relax with a few pickies and some vino! |
 |
| A cruise barge. About 10 paying customers are treated to luxury travel on these, but they probably pay through the teeth and without the fun of being your own captain. |
 |
| Two musicians and one bored dog! This lock-keeper obviously had plenty of time on his hands because he had created all of these elaborate lawn ornaments! |
 |
| Now that's a beer! |
 |
| Picture postcard perfect! |
 |
| El Capitaini. Still can't figure out how that barge fit under that bridge (notice the hot-tub on it's deck!). |
 |
| The Canal Midi. Elm trees lined most of the canal. |
 |
| The Canal crossing over a small river. |
 |
| A small castle on a hill.....just another site along the way! |
 |
| Not every boat was a luxury liner. Guess the guy couldn't afford too many windows! |
 |
| Narrow streets in a small French village along the Canal. |
 |
| Another small village with an over-sized church! |
 |
| Canal boats lining the banks of a town. |
 |
| We are far enough south that palm trees grow. |
 |
| Church??? Nope...... a winery. |
 |
| Now this is the way it should be done! Bring your own bottle and have the winery fill her up! For 5 litres of primo vino.....7 euros. What a country! |
Well folks, that was the Canal Midi trip.....very enjoyable and highly recommended!
We head for the French Mediterranean island of....
Corsica (Sept 28 - Oct 3, 2013)
George Harrison wrote an album titled "All Good Things Must Pass", and like the title implies, this holiday is also coming to pass....c'est la vie!
We flew to the French Mediterranean island of Corsica.... a beach lovers paradise!! (Un)fortunately none of us are beach lovers, BUT Corsica is also known for its mountains and hiking, and we are big fans of that. I realize back home where summer is quickly slipping into fall, that a Mediterranean beach sounds pretty darn good now, but for us, after spending a week lazing around on a boat, a hike sounds pretty darn good as well !
Corsica is the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte (and besides the French, who really cares about that) and apparently Christopher Columbus was also born here (but since he played a very minimum role in the French history, he receives no mention). Corsica is physically closer to Italy than France and that language seems to be spoken nearly as much (the food is definitely Italian influenced). As well, Corsica is closer in looks and feel to a Greek island than France. All and all, it's totally different than mainland France, at least the places we travelled to and this was an appeal for us!
Getting to Corsica is not hard, just time consuming, so we had a limited amount of time here. Getting around Corsica is a little more of a problem.....as I mentioned earlier, this is a mountainous island and the roads are riddled with switchbacks, twisting turns and VERY narrow roads. High cliffs on one side of the road, dramatic drop on the other side and crazy French drivers coming and going.......so we rented a car just to be part of it!! Woohoo!! Thanks Paul for volunteering to drive!!
So here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what it's like here:
 |
| Crazy Corsican roads.....pull over or create a traffic jam. |
 |
| Lumpy landscape |
 |
| No commentary needed. |
 |
| Pulled over. Waiting for the traffic to pass. |
 |
| One lane, sharp turns, big drop and a speed limit of 90 kms/hr.!!! Yikes! |
 |
| These kind of roads make texting difficult, but I've seen it, they still do it! |
 |
| "Look a topless beach!" Aaaaah yeah right....there's no one on it!! |
 |
| Porto. Typical touristy Corsican seaside village. |
 |
| The village of Porto is split by a promontory, topped by a Genoese square tower, erected in the 16th century to protect he gulf from incursions! |
 |
| Exploring said Genoese square tower! |
 |
| A bird's eye view of the seaside port of the village Porto. Nestled at the base of a thickly forested valley trammelled on either side by crimson peaks! |
 |
| ……and from a different view! |
 |
| Ota. Typical touristy Corsican mountain village! |
 |
| Paul and moi exploring Ota….a quintessential Corsican mountain village. |
 |
| An impressive mountain peak is the back drop for Ota. |
 |
| Corsica is far enough south to have palm trees growing……nice! |
 |
| Every village, no matter how small had a whomping big church....go figure? |
 |
| The Geonese from Italy were here in the 12th century and built these watch towers all over the island.....such as the one on the hill above this village. |
We had read about hiking the Splelunga Gorge and decided that we wanted to do it. It was a little disappointing in scenery but it was a good workout:
 |
| Spelunga Gorge. We needed a good workout after eating, drinking and being merry on the Canal Midi and the gorge was the perfect place for that. |
 |
| Half way up the gorge. |
 |
| The Splelunga Gorge...it was very muggy when we made the 300+mt climb up the gorge,so this pool was very inviting! |
 |
| Just a walk in the park. |
 |
Not sure of need for the orange maker paint….seems this is the only way.
|
The next day we headed for Corte, a small town in the middle of the island. It's surrounded by these dramatic rocky mountains and there are hiking trails all over the place.....
 |
| The start of the lake hike....we're headed for them there hills (literally headed for them there hills)! |
 |
| Looking back at where we've come from! |
 |
| At first it was a relatively gentle grade….. |
 |
| ….Mel says...."this ain't hiking. This is climbing." |
 |
| ....actually it ain't even climbing, it's called "Ferrata" in Italian. Not sure what that means but ladders were part of it! |
 |
| Not as hard as it looks! I'm just old !! |
 |
| The prize....Lac Melo. One of two lakes! |
 |
| My attempt at infusing a berry laden dogberry tree into the mountain landscape. |
 |
| Onwards and upwards! Can you pick the ghoulish face in the peaks??? |
 |
| "no really! This is climbing" |
 |
| Mel cresting another lump of rocks. |
 |
| Juli cul (nice bum in French)!! |
 |
| Finally the top....and the clouds move in. |
 |
| "I can't believe I was talked into this" |
 |
| The ridge......a very long way down on either side. |
 |
| From whence we came! |
 |
| We didn't have a sensible map and the "well trodden path" didn't exist on this rock, but we managed. |
 |
| Rock climbers...crazy f***kers |
 |
| Lac Something or Other |
 |
| In the event you haven't figured it out yet….I love this kind of landscape!!! |
 |
| It took 1 1/2 hours to get to that lake, and another hour to get to the other lake. It would take another hour after this to get to the ridge! All and all a very good hike! |
 |
| The very happening centre ville Corte. |
 |
| Having a brew in front of our hotel in Corte. |
 |
| On our last full day we drove up and around the Cap Corse. Was this a family home?? Nope it was a mausoleum! |
 |
| Old meets new! |
Well that's it for Corsica. I know for all you beach bunnies, it probably don't look like much fun....but believe me for us, it was!! So we are now on our way back to good ole Newfoundland, and should be there on Saturday! Thank you for coming along and I hope you've enjoyed the show!
Cheers
DIARY ENTRY: SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 8, 2013: We arrived in Chamonix, France via Geneva, Switzerland yesterday. We are here for a full month in France.
Today (Sept 08) we had a lot to do! We had to book our train to Carcasonne (where we pick Don up). We needed to book a hotel and find a place to store our luggage while we are on our trek. Finally, we need to get some money and I need a hiking pole. We were all done by 10:30AM !! This was good because it gave us time to explore this beautiful little community.
First thing we did we head for the cable car that takes you up the side of Mt. Blanc, known as Aiguille du Midi. This trip takes 20 minutes on a cable car up to the height of 3,842mts. Although it was cloudy at times, the sun did break through at times and we could see the Swiss and Italian borders.
After this, we took a cog-train up to Montenvers - Mer de Glace. This 5km train climbs 1,000 mts through forest and tunnels cut through the rock and over viaducts. Upon conclusion we take a cable car halfway down to the Mar de Glace and from there we walk down 430 steps to the glacier. Upon reaching the glacier we are able to walk into an ice cave carve from the glacier itself. This cave has to be re-excavated every year because of the movement of the glacier. Very interesting! I was hoping to here some cracking noise, but did not.
Tomorrow we start our epic trek!!
DIARY ENTRY: Wednesday September 11/13 4:18PM: Woke up on Monday (Sept 9 - TMB) feeling very ill. Had a fever, felt like vomiting. Definitely not the way a person should feel starting an epic trek.
We grabbed the Chamonix train to Les Houches but when we got off the train we were totally lost…..not a good start! We just started to walk hoping to find where it was we had to go. We eventually found the trail head but quickly realized that the rains had washed some of it away. This required us to take a few deviations which, I expect, added to our time.
We fell into Les Contamines (quite literally). This would be our first stop of the tour. We did not book a hotel for Les Contamines, so you can appreciate our surprise when we checked at the local tourist information that only one hotel was open. Damn! Please please have a room!
They did!! In fact the owner picked us up and brought us to her establishment. This turned out to be a big (and good) surprise place to stay. The service and food was awesome! Cold cold draft beer, 4 course french meal, super hot showers and all for 53euros.
The next morning (Sept 10) - TMB) we got up fairly early and had breakfast which I immediately vomited back up! Not a good start! Nevertheless, we started out and followed the instructions that an Aussie couple had told us to follow……wrong move!
We climbed 800+ metres and dropped 500+ metres before we realized that we were basically in the same location as where we originally started. Damn!! Four hours of strenuous hiking and four additional hours unto our day. In the end this would seriously jeopardize our hike. We realized that we still had a 900+ metre climb and I was already done. The climb up to the Refuge Bonhomme was so strenuous and I was so sick and tired that towards the top I hit the wall literally. By now I was doing the dry heaves and could not go any further. Thankfully, Paul still had enough energy, so he clamoured to the top and dropped his knapsack off and came back down and took my knapsack. I know I would have eventually made it to the top but at what price paradise? Instead of going to Auberge au la Nova we stayed in Refuge Bonhomme.
The Refuge was a good spot but it being the highest point we would stay, it was a little chilly….and of course I was super tired and sick so I guess it was still the perfect spot.
Today (Sept 11 - TMB) we were up and on the go by 9:00AM. We had talked to a British couple who indicated that we could take a variant and go over the mountain instead of going the traditional route. These variants was what got us in trouble the day before, but this one made perfect sense. We climb for 15 - 20 minutes and then spend the next 2 1/2 hours going downhill. This variant would shave 1 hour off our hiking time!! Perfect!!
Everything was frozen as we climbed higher. It had snowed the night before and this made the descent tricky but we made it with no mishaps. After 61/2 hours we arrived at Refugio Elizabetta in Italy! We arrived ahead of the crowds and this allowed us to get a private room between the three of us for an additional 50euros…..the other choice was to stay in the dormitory with 70 other people. We chose the private room!!!
So here we are in the Refugio Elizabetta, enjoying a cold beer and warmth. I'm feeling much better and look forward to the next portion of our epic trek.
DIARY ENTRY: Thursday September 12, 2013 5:27PM: Today we were up at about 7:00AM and went down to "breakfast" at the Refugio Elizabetta. This "breakfast" consisted of a half-cup of warm tea and melba toast….yuck!
Anyway by 8:00AM we were on the road and trekking towards Courmayeur, Italy. Once again without a stable breakfast, I started to get a little sick.
The trek took about five hours and for the first portion it was pretty much all flat. Then we started uphill for about 460metres before starting a knee crunching downhill of 1,560metres. By the time we reached the bottom it had did us in.
Courmayeur is a beautiful town with typical European flavour. Narrow streets and cobblestone, over abundance of restaurants, etc… The hotel we are staying in is excellent and this is good since I have a bad case of a cold.
Tonight I expect we will have a late supper and a few beers/wine before getting a much needed sleep. Tomorrow is only 12kms and all uphill.
DIARY ENTRY: Saturday September 14, 2013 5:35PM: On Friday (Sept 13 - TMB) morning my cold had worsen and I made an executive decision to take the day off and Courmayeur is the perfect place to do this.
Melanie poured me a bath and afterwards I went to bed for a nap. While I was napping Mel & Paul made arrangements for travel today. At around 12:30PM I got up, feeling much much better. The sun was shining in all its glory and we decided to go have a few beers.
Today (Sept 14 - TMB) we had a taxi lined up to take us as close as we could get by road to the trail. This saved us a full day and put us back on schedule. The hike today was very good as the weather co-operated completely. We crossed the border into Switzerland at around 11:30AM.
From the border it was all downhill. We stopped for a beer at LaPeule (a dairy farm and restaurant). About 2 hours later we arrived in a very very small village of La Fouly. There are only three hotels here, so we took the first one we came across. It is more like a refugio than a hotel, but it is good enough for a night. Tomorrow the forecast is not looking good, so we may take a bus to Champex.
DIARY ENTRY: Sunday September 15, 2013 4:59PM: This morning we headed out under misty skies. It wasn't supposed to be a hard day, mainly downhill through a valley from La Fouly to Champex. Just before we hit the 420metre climb it started to rain and by the time we were 30 minutes from Champex it started to pour. Fortunately the temperature was warm enough that you didn't need to wear rain clothes, but of course that means I got soaked.
We arrived in Champex at around 1:30PM and started to look for a hotel. We found a place that advertised B&B…..checked it out. It turned out to be an apartment and a really nice spot. So we took it!!! There's an Elton John special on TV, so I'm off to watch it.
DIARY ENTRY Wednesday September 18, 2013 11:09AM: Got up on Monday (Sept 16 - TMB) and it was actually looking pretty bright and it promises to be a fairly good day. We had a little trouble finding the route but we soon found the correct route and we were off. This was supposed to be a long day with equal amount of up (700+mts) and down (690+mts) at nearly 20kms. It took us about 4 1/2 hours!!
About 1 1/2 hours into the trek the rain started and with each passing minute it rained harder and harder. By the time we reached Trient it was a steady downpour and we were all soaked to the bone.
We found the Hotel Ourse and managed to get a room but found out that they weren't into serving food. No big deal we'll simply find a restaurant but alas, there is no restaurant. We managed to talk the owner into making us a tuna fish spaghetti. As it turned out, it wasn't bad.
On Tuesday (Sept 17 - TMB) we woke to find that the rain we were getting the night before had turned to snow and it was still overcast and threatening to rain some more. It was at this time that we made an executive decision to abort the rest of the trek. By now Melanie had developed a head cold and mine was still lurking in the background. The cable car down to Chamonix had stopped running for the season (adding another full day of trekking) making Trient the last 'exit point'! And the weather forecast was showing no improvement. We managed to get a taxi back to Chamonix and got an apartment in the hotel where we left our luggage.
Today (Sept 18 - Carcassonne) we were up and on the train to Carcassonne. This is Mel's first trip on a train, so we are looking forward to a good adventure.
DIARY ENTRY: Sunday September 22, 2013 3:13PM: The train trip to Carcassonne wasn't without adventure! After leaving Chamonix (Sept18) we took the valley train to St. Gervais, where we got the regional train. First to Bellgrade and then to Lyon.
The first leg of the trip we were in 1st class when the car was invaded by about a dozen non-paying black youth who proceeded to terrorize us (well that may be a bit harsh) but about half way the conductor arrived and chased them out!
The next leg we also had 1st class tickets but obviously some people had jumped queue and had taken our (unassigned) seats. This meant we had to stand for 1 1/2 hours…….not very comfortable.
However after Lyon we were on the super-fast TVG train and arrived in Carcassonne around 7:00PM. Eventually we got a taxi to a hotel and settled in for the night. This had to be the tiniest hotel room I've ever stayed in. Given this, the first thing we did in the morning was change hotels.
Carcassonne is an interesting place with a medieval fortress dominating the skyline. We hung out in Carcassonne all day…….mega restaurants and drinking spots.
On Friday (Sept 20) night Don arrived and we spent the night at a really good restaurant in the old city. But like all of our nights, this one was also early and we were in bed before 11:00PM. Party Animals!!!
On Saturday (Sept 21) we picked up some groceries and headed for Bram to pick up our boat. By the time we got straighten away it was 4:00PM, so we decided to stay put and head out today (Sept 22). There was a beautiful little restaurant right on the canal and we had a good meal, then a few beers on the boat and again, an early night.
Today (Sept 22) we started the Canal de Midi Boat Trip!! We want to pace ourselves accordingly, so we stopped at a little village and had our lunch before moving up the Canal a bit. Now we're moored here for the night.
DIARY ENTRY Tuesday September 24, 2013 4:04PM: Arrived in Trebes today at about 11:00AM. Found a place to moor and had lunch next to the Canal.
Yesterday (Sept 23) we steamed until we found a place to moor along the Canal. Hopped on our bikes and went to a winery. This was our first winery and it was very interesting listening to the particulars of wine making. It was equally as good trying the various types of wine!!
When we got back to our boat we noticed that it had been tied to some roots sticking out of the Canal. This wasn't the way we left the boat…..we had it staked in. Anyway, an English couple, who had been fishing just up aways, came down and told us that the boat had come loose of the mooring pins and had started to drift. They indicated that they had reached her just before she had broke from the second pin. In the end, we lost the first pin but managed to still have a boat!! Important lesson learned there……make sure the boat is secured very well before going off on an adventure.
Anyway we moved the boat up to the next set of locks and spent the night.
DIARY ENTRY: Saturday September 28, 2013 10:13AM: Got up early this morning so we could clean the boat before turning her over to the Nicoll's company.
We arrived in La Somail around 3:30PM and parked the boat for the final time. We spent the night there and had supper at a little restaurant as we had much exhausted our food supply.
After Trebes we started to encounter black house flies and the closer we got to Homps the worst they got. In fact, by the time we arrived in Homps it was like a plague. We could not get rid of them and they seem to be multiplying at an alarming rate. Fortunately we sailed out of the swarm the next day!
We ended up visiting several wineries along the way and on Thursday (Sept 26) everyone had a good jag on!!
Today we head for Toulouse to catch a late night flight to Corsica. It is also here that we bid Don goodbye!
DIARY ENTRY: Saturday October 5, 2013 6:12AM: Sitting here at the Geneva airport waiting for our plane to London.
After dropping off the boat in La Somail (Sept 28) we took a taxi to Narbonne and then a train to Toulouse. From Toulouse we flew to Ajaccio in Corsica. We arrived late, picked up our car and found our hotel (with some difficulty).
We were up early on Sunday (Sept 29) and drove to Porto, a small tourist town, but this is off season so there were no tourist around. This was good in-so-much that the hotel prices were cheap. We didn't do much in Porto as it started to rain, rather we sat on our hotel enclosed balcony and drank two bottles of wine we had brought from mainland France.
The next day (Sept 30) we drove to Ota and from there we hiked up the Splelunga Gorge. The gorge was a little disappointing in that it didn't really follow the gorge, but at 300+ metres of ascent, it was a good workout. Unfortunately, we had to go all the way back from whence we came to get our car.
From Ota we drove to Corte along one of the windiest roads I've ever been on. Crazy!
Corte was a beautiful mountain town with a very active strip. Our hotel was right on the strip!!
On Tuesday (Oct 01) we hiked up the Restonica Valley to two mountain lakes. This was more like climbing at times then hiking but the scenery was stunning. All and all, I think it was the best hike we did!!
On Wednesday (Oct 02) we decided to drive the Cap Corse peninsula. We originally planned on staying on the peninsula but because of the amount time it took to drive, we decided to push on to Bastia, since we had to catch a flight the next day. We had trouble finding a hotel in Bastia and ended up getting a place at the airport.
On Thursday (Oct 03) we flew back to Toulouse and basically spent the day travelling.
On Friday (Oct 04) we flew to Geneva. We had a hotel booked in old Geneva and I have to admit, while the old part was nice, I felt ripped off. We paid $185 for the worst hotel we've stayed in on the entire trip. Got over-charged for our supper and to put the icing on the cake, it started to pour.
Anyway, our trip is now over and we should be home by 3:15 today.
No comments:
Post a Comment