Tour de Mont Blanc - Day 2
Thursday 11 July
Walk from Les Houches - Les Contamines
17.3kms 6.5 hours ascent/descent: 1036/853m
Halfway up the massive, uphill battle the sun was out absolutely worth it.
Backpacks are on and we are off. Looking and feeling pretty fresh right now. Passing under the arch as a start was pretty fun knowing in 10 days time we will be back to finish! I wasn't really sure what we were in for.
Our trek started with a climb out of the Chamonix Valley to Bellevue (1801m) (not taking the chair lift which was recommended) then to join the Tour de Mont Blanc.
Morale was high and the chat was on. We decided to head up the variant and head straight up to the at the top of the chair lift with using the chairlift. MASSIVE up hill battle on our first day in the sun.
Photo op at ever corner.
We walked up to Bellevue our map ended then walked over Col de Tricot option which was the tougher route via Chalet de Miage. This was dominated by the Dôme du Goûter and Aiguille de Bionnasay. Passing just beneath the snout of the Glacier de Bionnassay Mike’s love of glacier began. After passing the idyllic Chalet de Miage we descend to lovely Les Contamines.
Arriving at Refuge de Miage in the middle of a valley - beautiful snow capped mountains and streams surrounded us. So funny …. but so clever ….. there was a group of Chinese (kinda old) people doing stretches taken by their instructor. Maybe we should have joined it as this night our muscles really didn't like what we had just put them through.
It was such a gorgeous little village with many little huts or cabins for people to stay in. For me it was such a surprise coming across something so idyllic in the middle of nowhere but it seemed like a city at the time because of its isolation in the mountains.
Bitten by an insect! Mikey’s getting the sting out.
(The easier option was to wind through beautiful forests and through alpine pastures via Bionnassay to Les Contamines which we didn’t take because that was not our style)
We found water and everyone's toileted so we carried on and ascended upon another little refuge called in to Auberge Le Truc and Restaurant Dortoir. Oh wow just wow what an incredible setting. One comment - “if we have a beer now we will be relaxed and not want to walk any more” - this comment fell on deaf ears and we sat and enjoyed our first beer on the tour in the hills.
It was becoming apparent that these little auberge, refuges, grit might appear from time to time.
Optional Cable Car: Reduces both routes by 2 hours and 900m of ascent (we definitely did not take this route)
Thoughts:
● Tough walk up to get way more elevation Col de Tricot
● Coming down was really tough on our legs
● Hard walk up the gondola track
● Shock the first day over 8 hours walking
● Stop at top which we thought was Switzerland but oh no how we were wrong
● First lesson in reading the maps
● Stop at the bar for icy cold drinks ie coke for R&R
● Stay at different hotels from R&R
● Stretches on the lawns in the rain
● FaceTime to organise plan of attack for the next day
● Hideous/Terrible dinner - lamb bone and a few leaves of lettuce 🥬 yuck 🤮
● Expensive wine in small glasses and 11€ each glass
● swing bridge
● sweat in eyes
● bitten by an insect - little Cunt
● no more beer or wine - this quickly evaporated when we got to the first Auberge Le Truc - sorry Libby the walk was too hard to give up on a beer.
Hotel - Le Christiania - Classic chalet hotel with swimming pool and restaurant. A family owned and run Le Christiania was located right in the centre.
