It was so hot when we got to our tents that we couldn't go in them for more than the 5 seconds it took to reach in and pull out our bags. We had the seek the 2 inches of shade provided by the side of our support van, to sit in to drink our tea. Although the site was very busy with all the festival goers, Ben, our brilliant support crew, had found enough room for all our tents and booked us into the on site restaurant. The queue for the showers wasn't too bad as everyone was at the festival, so we had everything we needed.
We woke up the next day to pouring rain. Thankfully there was an indoor room we could move breakfast into, otherwise we'd have had very soggy cereals. We all agreed to spend €1 and catch the bus to the start of the day's walk, rather than have a very wet road walk, and everyone agreed it was a €1 well spent.
By the time we got off the bus, the rain had as good as stopped, and it soon got very hot. We followed a climbing riverside path for a while, then we had flat section (you can see from our next picture, just how flat!) which was unusual for the Tour de Mont Blanc ...
... we think that glaciation had something to do with it. Just after the point where we took this photo, it all changed and there was a steep 'up' with the consolation of another refuge/coffee stop (chocolate on this occasion!) just when we needed it. For the rest of the morning we dodged showers, saw some more marmots and made steady progress upwards through some sizeable patches of snow.
Shortly after this picture we reached a visitor information hut, with some charming staff and lots of information about the geology, history and flora and fauna of this area. There was also an empty room we could use to eat our packed lunches. This was good, as we were at a high enough altitude for it to a bit cold for outdoor picnicking.
It was hardly surprising that it was cold as we had almost reached the day's high point of the Col de la Seigne at 2516m. Here we are at the Col, and if you look extremely carefully, you might spot Gio sitting half way down the cairn. The rest of us were scoffing cheese which a fellow walker - but not one of our group - was giving away!
The col marked our re-entry into France so we switched back to bonjours for everyone we met coming the other way (it was actually us that were doing the Tour the wrong way round, but it was by far the best way to go!)
Our descent was long but easy, just how we (well our minders) like them. The scenery kept changing and there was another refuge/drinks stop, but this time it was hot again so it was an iced tea with ice cream stop.
Our camp site for that night was our second 'wild' camp, but as you can see it wasn't too wild.
'Wild' just meant no showers and log drop toilets, which were actually no different to any other toilet in looks or use, they were just lacking a flush handle and looked rather dark inside. The lack of showers wan't a problem, as just a few yards behind us, as we took this picture, was a small stream with fast moving water and pools big enough to sit in and wash. So, it was on with our swimming cossies and into the stream. Much more fun than a conventional shower, especially as it was still very hot.
That evening we met up with the hotel group in a local restaurant and, much to our delight, they didn't like the idea of the simply delicious pigs cheeks that were served up, so left loads in their serving dishes, which they were happy to pass across to us to finish off. With the soup and clafouti like pudding, it was one of our best meals.
Lots of love, George, Yorkie and Gio xxx
2 comments:
We're back! Sorry, lost you for a while but glad to catch up with you again. Love the piccies - your wild camp is like our Ladakh sites - but our tents leaked! Love the "log drop" toilets - very apt!
Love from the absent but now back Suffolk Branch
You were luck that there was always room for you all on the bus, but we can't remember how many people were in your party.
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