Wednesday 5 August 2015

Tour du Mont Blanc Trekking Holiday

Just back from an amazing Tour of Mont Blanc.  Fantastic weather, a lovely group, great scenery and views and really good food.
 We started in Les Houches and headed over the Col De Voza in sparkling sunshine for our first stop. 
We then made our way through lovely French villages and chalets to Les Contamines for our dinner and comfy bunks.

Day 2 was a long day up to the Col du Bonhomme and Col de la Croix then down into the picuresque valley of Les Chapieux, but again in glorious sunshine.

Day 3 was a short walk up to the Ville De Glaciers for a coffee stop and then a spectacular climb up to the Col de la Seigne.
 The col was our first border crossing from France into Italy so we celebrated with one foot in each country.
 Our overnight stop was at the spectacularly positioned Refugio Elisabetta and we then headed down the valley towards Courmayeur the following morning at the start of Day 4.
 We had some of the best views of the whole trip today as we looked across to the Italian side of the Mont Blanc Range.
 Just after middday we made it to our lunch stop. A lovely old Rifugio set high in the mountains above Courmayeur.
 Day 5 started with a big climb out of Courmayeur towards Mont de la Saxe and the wonderful Rifugio Bonatti.  But with a few stop offs along the way to again admire the magnificent range of mountains in front of us.
 Day 6 we sadly left the Rifugio Bonatti, one of our favourite overnight stops, to make our way up to the Grand Col Ferret and the Swiss border.
 From the top of the col we could look back the entire length of the Val Veni and Val Ferret where we had walked over the past 3 days.
 We then headed into Switzerland for the first time and made our way down to La Fouly and our Refuge for the night.

Day 7 was one of the easiest of the tour and a straight forward hike up the valley to Champex.
 Where they just happened to be holding their summer festival with street vendors selling local foods of all kinds and traditional dancing.
 Day 8 was a day of Alpine pastures with great views down the Rhone Valley and overlooking Martinez, before arriving at the lovely Swiss village of Trient.
 Day 9 we climbed up to the Col de Balme and back into France were we met with our first views of Mont Blanc for several days, which called for a bit of a celebratory photo.
 We then made our way across to the Aiguillette des Posettes for more spectacular views of Mont Blanc.
Our night time stop was the amazing little chalet at Tre-le-Champ which had tons of character, great hosts, wonderful food and a very cosy nights sleep.
 On day 10 we left Auberge La Boerne, to make our way to the Flegere Refuge, with more great views of Mont Blanc as it got closer and then for a welcome dinner of Tartiflette.
 Our final stage and day 11, took us from Flegere up to the Col du Brevent.
 And then around to the restaurant on top of Brevent itself for the best views yet of the cascading glaciers and towering summits of Mont Blanc.
 We had a great lunch admiring the views back to the Glaciers and summits of Mont Blanc.
And then headed back down towards Les Houches, for the end of our Tour.
 A most amazing and unforgettable two weeks.



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