Hello to the Alps

In our excitement, we got back to Geneva airport early,so had time for an iced tea. As we drank, we saw a man in a black Exodus t-shirt sitting right outside the cafe we were in. This was exciting, as the adventure travel company, 'Exodus', was the one organising our holiday. We popped out to say 'hello' and discovered we were talking to mountain guide Frank, who wasn't going to lead our walking group (he was going to lead the hotel group (cushy number) while we were the hardy camping group), but he was going to escort us, and the members of a couple of other tours, to our campsite just outside Chamonix.

It was a comfortable coach ride to our campsite and we were dropped off in a lay-by, where a white van and 2 strapping men were waiting for us ...


These were Simon and Ben who were going to look after us for the next 2 weeks, while we walked what is arguably one of the world's top 10 walks, the Tour de Mont Blanc.

Our bags went into the van and were driven the short distance to the tents, while we walked there with Simon who we all liked immediately. As we walked into the campsite we knew it was going to be a good one as it had such a great name, as well as location - it was marmots camping (not that we saw any there!)


It also had 3 stars and wifi, so really we should have started blogging straight away - shame on us that we didn't. Anyway, the tents were up and looked welcoming and we were relieved to see that there was plenty of room for our minders and their luggage as well as us. We didn't really want to go into our tents to unpack, as the view, in the direction of Mont Blanc, of the Los Bossons glacier, was simply superb and we couldn't tear our eyes away ...


We did join the 15 members of our party for a pre trek briefing which was very exciting and gave us a lot of confidence. We discovered that Simon, our leader and guide, had served 23 years in the Royal Marines as a physical training instuctor before becoming, not just an International Mountain Guide, but a trainer of mountain guides. What a pedigree! and as the briefing continued it became clear that he really knew his stuff and we would be in the best possible hands.

Our worries about the walking, which we knew was going to be tough, began to subside and we were in great spirits as we tucked into our first camp meal and started getting to know our fellow trekkers.

Back soon,

Lots of love, George, Yorkie and Gio xxx