My second year on the Tour de Mont Blanc – video diary 2011

Last year when I walked part of the Tour de Mont Blanc with my friend Julia, I kept a video diary, filming at the end of each day my impressions of the things we had seen on that part of the walk. I really enjoyed putting it all together and re-living the highs and lows of our three day walk, so this year I decided to make another video diary as we walked the next part of the route, starting at Flegere, where we had left off last year.

Some of the time I let Julia walk ahead, filmed myself quickly talking to camera and then had to jog along to catch up. Other times I was able to persuade Julia to film me (I had to catch her in a good mood, as not being a blogger she didn’t always understand the fascination of filming, photographing and audio recording every single thing we passed on the walk).

I hope you enjoy my video diary of the Tour de Mont Blanc walk below

If you can’t see the video of our Tour de Mont Blanc Walk above, please view it on my blog here
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Download the Tour de Mont Blanc Video Diary 2011 [MP4]
If you enjoyed this video, check out the others in my Video archive

When I look at the video it does make me laugh to see how fresh I was in the first shot when we had only just come up the cable car and been walking for a short while. Although the wind was blowing and making my eyes water, I still had the makeup and mascara in place – yes I am vain enough to wear make-up when I know I’m going to be on video for posterity! A few hours hard walking later and the sweat had stripped my face bare – so now you see me all fresh faced and natural (well natural anyway)

On the first day we took the bus along the valley and ascended on the bubble lift to the refuge at Flegere where we had descended the year before – what had taken two days hard walking the year before was achieved in a 30 minute bus ride. The climb up was punishing, even more so because the weather was cold with mist and drizzle and once at the top we could not even consider taking the downhill descent on metal ladders which would have been slippery and dangerous. Because of this, our descent was much longer, down a rocky couloir to the bottom of the valley again at Tre-le-Champs. We stopped at the refuge in the pretty hamlet to have lunch and wished we could spend the night there, but after lunch it was up hill again towards Aiguillette de Possette.

Through the morning Julia had not been feeling great and we realised that the altitude must be affecting her, as she found it a struggle to climb up but was much better once she came down to the valley. Because of this the afternoon with a climb up to Aiguillette de Possette was a real struggle for her and even when we got beyond that peak, we had to encounter a further climb and a face-off on the path with a herd of cows. Julia had been chased by a herd of cows as a girl, so she was positively terrified, while I was happy to get out the camera and film them go by. Finally, just as dusk was falling we arrived at the Refuge Col de Balme where the dining room was cosy with a stove but the dorm rooms had no light at all, and we shared with 3 Frenchmen, the only other guests.

Read my account of Day 1 – Flegere to Col de Balme

The second day dawned with blue skies and sunshine and spirits were high as we set off, skirting around the mountain and eventually reaching a point when we had a fantastic view of the Glacier du Trient, hanging over the valley. Julia was still struggling and by the time she reached the bridge at the bottom of the valley, she told me later that she was nearly ready to pass out. At the Cafe du Glacier, we assessed the situation and realised that we couldn’t make another 5 hours walk to Champex so in the end we had to hitch, train and bus to Champex, reaching it by evening. Although the Swiss public transport system was super efficient, we wished that we had been able to walk the whole way as planned – we felt cheated of our walking achievement.

Read my account of Day 2 – Col de Balme to Champex

I filmed the final part of the video at Champex at our wonderful hostel – Gite Bon Abri and by the lake where we did a very gentle tour around the lake and then sat in the cafe sunning ourselves until it was time to get the bus to the station at Martigny and then on to Chamonix to our start point again. Next year, we hope to plan a longer leg to get as far as Courmayeur and into Italy. I’ll continue my video diary next year – Bonne Route!

More tales from the Tour de Mont Blanc

Watch last year’s Video diary on the Tour de Mont Blanc 2010 (do I look a year younger?)

My guest post at Roaming tales about last year’s walk – Hiking the Tour de Mont Blanc

Resources for those walking the Tour de Mont Blanc

On the first night of our walk we stayed at Refuge Col de Balme (Tel 04 50 54 02 33) and the cost was around €40 per person with dinner and breakfast in a 6 bed dorm room. On our second night we stayed at Gite Bon Abri at Champex-de’en-Haut, which we highly recommend, with private rooms and dorm rooms. The cost was around CHFR 76 per person with dinner and breakfast in a 6 bed dorm room and the Gite may be booked in advance by e-mail.

I got my women’s outdoor clothing at Ellis Brigham who have a wide range of waterproof jackets, trousers and other walking gear you might need for a trek on the mountains.

We used the Cicerone Tour of Mont Blanc guide by Kev Reynolds - we found it to be an excellent guide for both the clockwise and anti-clockwise route with detailed route guide, maps, accommodation information and points of interest along the route.

At the start and end of our walk, we stayed at the modern, stylish, budget boutique Hotel Slalom that is perfectly placed in Les Houches for summer walking opposite the start of the anti-clockwise TMB route. Double rooms in the summer season €86-99 plus €10 breakfast and you can compare prices and book through Hotels Combined.

We booked our transfer from Geneva airport to Les Houches through Chamexpress and found them to run an extremely efficient airport to hotel service – cost was €28 + tax per person each way.

 

www.flickr.com heatheronhertravels’ France – Tour de Mont Blanc 2011 photoset

 

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

You’ll also find our sister blog with tips on how to build a successful travel blog at My Blogging Journey

Don’t miss out – subscribe to Heather on her travels

My Tour de Mont Blanc diary Day 2 – Col de Balme to Champex

We awoke to bright sunshine and blue skies at Refuge Col de Balme and the dramas of the day before, our exhausting walk and the encounter with a herd of sharp-horned mountain cattle, were all but forgotten. Rather than take the route to Trient as advised by our TMB guidebook, both the Monsieur from the Refuge and the other walkers there strongly advised us to take a slightly different route to Col de la Forclaz which they assured us would be shorter and easier. We skirted around the edge of the mountian keeping the height, with views onto the rooftops of Trient in the valley below.

After a couple of hours we came around the bend and caught sight of the Glacier du Trient in front of us, hanging above the valley. From here the path ran downhill, past another small refuge where the Swiss flag was flying to confirm that we had crossed the border into Switzerland.

It was tempting to lie in the sun or buy a drink on the terrace but we decided that instead we would stop when we reached the valley, conscious that we had a long walk ahead to reach Champex. We zig-zagged downhill through the forest beneath a cliff of rock where there were chains attached to the rock to help us get down safely. We could hear the rushing water from the river at the valley bottom and as we descended we could also see the cafe beside the river that we assumed would be the hotel at Col de la Forclaz. We had already been walking for 3 hours but I was slightly suspicious that I could not see the road that was marked on the map. On reaching the river we crossed the bridge and consulting the map again I realised that we were at Chalet du Glacier, with a sign indicating a further 50 mins walk to Col de la Forclaz.

My friend Julia had been finding the going tough as she was suffering from the altitude, and so we collapsed in the shade by the cafe with a cool drink to assess our options. As it was nearly 2pm we realised that a further 5 hours walk to Champex would be impossible and that our best option was to get to Champex by public transport. After a picnic lunch we set off in the direction of Col de la Forclaz along the flat path, with Sunday afternoon walkers passing us, heading for the picnic spot beside the river that we had just left.

On reaching the bar beside the busy main road at Col de la Forclaz, we consulted the bus timetable and established that the next bus to the rail station at Martigny would not pass by until 6pm, which would be too late to make our connections to Champex. We enquired at the hotel but were told that a taxi to Martigny would cost us 75 Swiss Francs, and so we decided that there was nothing for it but to hitch a lift to Martigny.

This was a completely alien concept to me, never having hitch hiked, but my friend Julia was an old hand from her student days. We stood at the edge the car park, while Julia confidently stuck out her thumb at any likely cars, while I tried to fade into the background from embarrassment. Within a few minutes a car pulled over, a Frenchman with his two teenage daughters in the car. As Julia asked him if he might give us a lift to Martigny, he looked rather taken aback, and I wondered afterwards whether he had just pulled over to take a photo of the view. Nevertheless he agreed to give us a lift and on the way we chatted amiably to him and his daughters about their visits to their family in the area and how he had spent some time in Norwich as a student to improve his English.

Chalet du Glacier near Trient

River below Glacier du Trient

After being dropped at Martigny station we joined the very efficient Swiss transport system and two changes later, by train and then bus, we reached Champex Lac at 7pm in the evening – probably not much earlier than if we had walked it, but a lot more relaxed. It was a relief to arrive at Chalet Bon Abri, where our first sight was of a tipi in the flower-filled garden where a couple of campers were playing table tennis on the outdoor table. As soon as we entered, we realised that this was a very different proposition to the basic facilities at Refuge Col de Balme from the night before.

We found ourselves in a traditionally built Swiss chalet that felt modern and stylish with a dining room and bar at the front and a reception around the back where we could take off our rucksacks and boots. We put on the plastic clogs provided and left our boots in the basement, then Madame showed us to our dorm room with cheerful red checked duvets. As dinner was about to be served we went down straight away for homemade soup and chicken in a wine sauce, while we examined the map and planned next year’s leg to continue on the Tour de Mont Blanc to Courmayeur.

The next morning we took a short walk around the lake at Champex and chilled out in a cafe until it was time to take the bus and train back to Chamonix where we had started 3 days before. This small resort town was altogether more tame than the high mountain paths we had been on, and most of the visitors appears to be retirees taking the mountain air without an strenuous exertion.

The lesson we had learned was that next year each day’s walk would need to be shorter, with plenty of time for resting our legs and admiring the mountain scenery. However efficient the public transport system, we would much rather be high in the mountains with views of glaciers and toy-town villages in the valley and kidding ourselves that we were real Tour de Mont Blanc walkers.

More Tour de Mont Blanc Tales

A Tale of Two Refuges – on the Tour de Mont Blanc (2011)
My Tour de Mont Blanc Diary Day 1 – Flegere to Refuge Col de Balme (2011)
Video diary – walking the Tour de Mont Blanc above Chamonix (2010)

Resources for those walking the Tour de Mont Blanc

On the first night of our walk we stayed at Refuge Col de Balme (Tel 04 50 54 02 33) and the cost was around €40 per person with dinner and breakfast in a 6 bed dorm room. On our second night we stayed at Gite Bon Abri at Champex-de’en-Haut, which we highly recommend, with private rooms and dorm rooms. The cost was around CHFR 76 per person with dinner and breakfast in a 6 bed dorm room and the Gite may be booked in advance by e-mail.

For women’s mountain clothing I used Ellis Brigham who have a wide range of waterproof jackets, trousers and other walking gear you might need for a trek on the mountains.

We used the Cicerone Tour of Mont Blanc guide by Kev Reynolds - we found it to be an excellent guide for both the clockwise and anti-clockwise route with detailed route guide, maps, accommodation information and points of interest along the route.

At the start and end of our walk, we stayed at the modern, stylish, budget boutique Hotel Slalom that is perfectly placed in Les Houches for summer walking opposite the start of the anti-clockwise TMB route. Double rooms in the summer season €86-99 plus €10 breakfast and you can compare prices and book through Hotels Combined.

We booked our transfer from Geneva airport to Les Houches through Chamexpress and found them to run an extremely efficient airport to hotel service – cost was €28 + tax per person each way.

www.flickr.com heatheronhertravels’ France – Tour de Mont Blanc 2011 photoset

 

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

You’ll also find our sister blog with tips on how to build a successful travel blog at My Blogging Journey

Don’t miss out – subscribe to Heather on her travels

Apartment Living on Laystall St with StayManchester – video

I’ve slept everywhere from a tent in the back garden to a luxury hotel, but I must admit that serviced apartments such as the  Laystall Apartments by StayManchester.com were a new experience for me.

Once the industrial powerhouse of the north of England, Manchester is full of old warehouses that once manufactured the goods that were sent all over Britain’s colonial empire. With Britain’s industrial decline, the old mills and warehouses have fallen silent silent but many have been renovated and converted into modern apartment buildings.

Although the Laystall Street Apartments are in a modern rather than old building, the conversion of old warehouses seems to make Manchester an ideal city for serviced apartments as an alternative to hotel accommodation. Of course many groups of friends come to Manchester for the football, concerts, shopping or nightlife and are looking for somewhere they can stay together that will also be good value, so serviced apartments fit the bill perfectly.

If you can’t see the embedded video above, view it on my blog here

At the Laystall Apartments I found our 10th floor apartment was a cross between a hotel with 24 hour reception and a show home with two double bedrooms, one with en suite shower room and a second bathroom.

The decor was the latest look with a colour scheme of cappuccino with a twist of lime. My en suite double bedroom had a comfortable bed with crisp white bed-linen, a brown leather headboard and dark wood furniture.

Beside the bed was an elegant silver string lampshade and a radio alarm clock, useful if you’re in Manchester on business although I can’t see the party crowd would be wanting an early morning wake up call.

There was a proper wardrobe with extra quilts and pillows and a normal hairdryer (as opposed to those horrid wall mounted ones) for getting ready for those nights out on the town. The pictures in both the bedroom and the living area were night-time cityscape pictures of Manchester. I must admit that the city looks a lot prettier at night with all those twinkling light that it does in the daytime with a view of the retail park opposite and the surrounding industrial landscape.

Laystall Apartments from staymanchester.com

Laystall Apartments from staymanchester.com

The bathroom was also ultra modern with white tiles and black polished surfaces, modern chrome fittings and a pale aqua glass bath surround, and there was some hotel style miniature shampoo and soap. The living and dining area was large enough to throw a party with a chocolate leather sofa and chair that turned into a sofa bed and a Samsung flat screen TV.

The glass dining room table seated six people with a bowl of fruit and some bottled water to keep us going and wrap around windows with a great view over the city warehouses. The red kitchen with grey surfaces was an impressive size with all the fittings and equipment that you’d expect in your kitchen at home. For those who are staying a few days, the washing machine in the apartment was also a bonus and there is also free wifi in the apartment.

It seemed rather a shame that as I was out for most of the time at the Travel Bloggers Unite conference, I didn’t get the chance to have a few friends round for dinner or throw a wild party. I was sharing with fellow blogger Abi King, who was coming down with a nasty cold, so we were rather the party poopers and used the apartment as a convenient base, rather than making the most of all the space.

Laystall Apartments from staymanchester.com

Laystall Apartments from staymanchester.com

If there were any downsides it might only be that the location is down a quiet side street and I felt a little nervous walking back to late at night, although on the plus side it’s only a 10 minute walk from the Picadilliy train station and 10 minutes the other way into the Northern Quarter. There is an Aldi supermarket close by where you can stock up on necessities, but otherwise you’ll have to walk at least 10 minutes to get to any coffee shops or restaurants.

The other thing to be aware of is that Manchester is known for its nightlife, so if you’re not a party animal I’d suggest you request a quieter apartment on a higher floor or facing away from the street as groups of clubbers coming back late (or early depending on how you look at it) can be noisy.

Now I’ve tried the serviced apartment experience I’ll be seeking it out more regularly, especially when travelling with friends, and I’d definitely recommend the Laystall Apartments from StayManchester.com as a stylish and comfortable alternative to a hotel. I received a discounted rate from StayManchester.com but the normal rate for our 2 bed apartment was around £159 per night, which is excellent value if shared between 2 couples and certainly cheaper than a hotel of a similar standard.

You can check prices and book Laystall Apartments from StayManchester on their website here

Read what my flatmate Abi King had to say -StayManchester.com – An Independent Review

 

 

www.flickr.com heatheronhertravels’ Manchester photoset

 

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

You’ll also find our sister blog with tips on how to build a successful travel blog at My Blogging Journey

Don’t miss out – subscribe to Heather on her travels

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