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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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

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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

Enjoy the historic sites of Europe on a Rhine river cruise

If you want a comfortable way to see many of the major cities of Europe, with historic sites and beautiful scenery, then you’ll enjoy today’s sponsored post from Viking River Cruises, taking us on a cruise along the river Rhine.

An introduction to the Rhine

For centuries the rivers were the highways of Europe – roads were poor or non existent and so rivers were the arteries of commerce and travel, with major cities growing up along their banks and wealth being created on their shores. The Rhine is one of the longest of these European river highways, rising in the Alps and flowing through Europe until it reaches the North sea at Amsterdam. A cruise along the Rhine will take you through the landscapes and treasures of Europe at a relaxed pace as you move through your destination rather than hurrying to meet it, cruising through Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. Here’s a flavour of the things that you can see on the Rhine, starting in the upper reaches of the River at Basel and ending in the Netherlands at Amsterdam where the Rhine reaches the sea.

Switzerland and Germany

You can start your Rhine river cruise in the Swiss city of Basel, with outstanding art museums, historic sites such as the Middle Bridge and cathedral and picturesque winding streets as well as outstanding art museums.

Before long you’ll be leaving the Alpine scenery of Switzerland and moving through the  Southern Germany, and into the Alsace region, passing through Breisach. The landscape is changing to one of rolling meadows and dense forests and you can climb up to Cathedral hill at Breisach to catch some stunning views of the Rhine valley. This is a major winemaking region and so you may like to take some time out to visit a vineyard and enjoy some wine tasting.

In Strasbourg, home of the European Parliament you can explore this Alsatian city’s blend of French and German cultures—fabulous churches, medieval covered bridges, beautiful parks and some lovely Art Nouveau and modernist architecture. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has a world famous cathedral.

Moving on down river you’ll pass through Heidelberg,  home to Germany’s oldest university founded in 1386. You can tour the imposing Heidelberg Castle, a red sandstone ruin overlooking the Neckar River and wander through the Old Town to Heidelberg’s renowned gates. At nearby Speyer you’ll find an imposing Romanesque cathedral, built in the 11th century on the site of a former basilica  and the final resting place of eight German monarchs. Its soaring interior features graceful rows of sandstone columns and a large stained glass window installed in the western façade during a later Gothic period.

In the scenic Middle Rhine Valley, the Rhine passes charming villages, castles that overlook the river from their hilltop locations and the legendary Lorelei Rock.

The town of Koblenz is situated at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle and you can take an excursion to the 700-year-old Marksburg Castle and tour its museum. From Rüdesheim wandering around the Drosselgasse, a pedestrian-only street lined with restaurants, bars and shops and visit Eberbach Abbey in Hesse, where key interior scenes from The Name of the Rose were filmed.

In Cologne you can stroll through the Old Town past St. Martin’s Church and spend some time inside Cologne’s Dom, a remarkable Gothic cathedral, whose construction was begun in 1248 and was only completed in 1880.

Netherlands

We’re now crossing into the Netherlands and one of the first stops is Arnhem, a quaint town rich in World War II history. Visit the site of Operation Market Garden and the Airborne Museum or the beautiful 17th-century Paleis Het Loo, with richly furnished rooms and manicured gardens, for three centuries the retreat of the Dutch royal family.

You can take an excursion to Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for a tour of this ingenious network of windmills and other flood management devices. You’ll learn why the windmills were built and see how they work entering a working windmill for a tour of its mechanisms and living quarters. Sample some of the many handcrafted Dutch cheeses and jenever, a distilled juniper liquor, and try your hand at sjoelen (Dutch table shuffleboard)

Our Rhine River Cruise finishes in Amsterdam where you can cruise through this canal-laced city in a glass-topped canal boat  passing  narrow merchant houses and the renowned Skinny Bridge and get a different perspective of this vibrant, multicultural city. You can tour of the Van Gogh Museum to see works by the famous artist and his contemporaries or take an excursion to Zaanse Schans, a Dutch neighborhood that features a collection of beautifully preserved wooden windmills.

If you’re tempted by the historic places of interest that can be visited from the river Rhine, you may like to consider a Rhine River Cruise through Viking River Cruises who offer a range of itineraries along the Rhine as well as other European destinations in comfort from their elegant and comfortable fleet of river cruise ships.

Photo Credits: Photos from Viking River Cruises , Featured content photo of Heidelberg Bridge by phatfreemiguel

Other European articles to enjoy

Passion, Music and Drama at Oberammergau in Germany
Kensington Palace and tea at the Orangery in London
Planning my mini Tour de Mont Blanc in the French Alps

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

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