Friday, June 19 - Day 1 - Les Houches, France to Les Contamines

It was very quiet night at Hotel du Bois; I suppose because we have begun ahead of the main hiker season (July 1 through mid September). We had a very restful night and enjoyed a nice breakfast buffet this morning complete with meats, cheeses, cereals, yogurt, an assortment of croissants and breads, fresh fruit. We each made a very small sandwich to take with us for a snack or lunch. 

This was the view from our room when we pulled back the curtains. Our beautiful mountain view was shrouded in fog. 

We put on our backpack covers. Nick opted for the poncho he wore several times during our Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) in Spain last year and I put up my trekking umbrella. We were off to the Bellevue telepherique. With the fog and light rain/drizzle, we opted for the 10 minute cable car ride out of  Chamonix Valley from Les Houches to begin our Tour du Mont Blanc. Our guide book noted it would save us 2 hours and 900 meters (about 3,000 feet of ascent). We were apprehensive about our ability to hike in these enormous mountains and decided to begin in a way that might be more gentle ....

We were first in line for the cable car and rode up with a group of French men who had been training to walk up to the summit of Mont Blanc. There were two guides with them and they hoped the weather would allow them to begin their ascent. 

And so we begin ... initially we walked alongside a train rail and eventually turned into a wooded area.

Lupines

Because of the weather and our general apprehension about hiking in these mountains, we chose the "easy" option reputed to wind through beautiful forests and apline pastures via Bionnassay to Les Contamines (16k - approx. 10 miles with 2,119 ft. of ascent and 2,076 ft. of descent). The walk via Chalets de Miage would have taken us up higher and included beautiful views but at days end we did not regret our choice.

We walked alone for a couple of hours passing by Refuge de Fioux (a bar and restaurant). Not sure if it was open; it seemed very quiet.

 Looked so new and notice the flower boxes ....

Beautiful curtains and woodwork

and then coming down a path to our right, we met this man from Belgium. He left his home in Brussels on April 4th and had been out for 9 weeks; he hoped to hike around the world and estimated it would take it 5-6 years. 

This was his first backpacking experience.  Can you imagine - walking around the world on your first backpacking trip? He had a pack on his chest as well as his  backpack  (which looked enormous). Together he said they weighed 25 kilos (about 52 lbs.). He said he had everything he would need for the journey. 

As we crossed over this bridge, there was lots of water coming down from the mountain - melting snow, I guess.



About 45 minutes later we passed by him and he was taking a break and enjoying a snack. Another man was sitting with him at the picnic table and he soon started to walk with us. We met Harry (age 49)  from Heidelberg, Germany. He told us he was walking the GR 5. Upon returning home I looked it up and learned that it is the premier long distance hiking trail of Western Europe. GR stands for "Grande Randonnée", which in French means a long distance hike. It begins in Holland and ends in Nice, France; it is approximately 1,500 miles long. See this link about the GR 5.

Harry was camping along the way for the most part so his pack was a good size. He was using this walk to prepare for an ultra run of 300 miles in the Swiss Alps which was to begin in about one month. He walked with us for a couple of hours; I think he was a little lonely. He said he was missing his two sons, 19 and 16 years of age. Harry works in Germany for an American tech company and so we conversed in English. 

We stopped to admire this beautiful door on a beautiful home situated in the bend of the road.

 And before the road curved to the right, we headed left off the road on the trail passing through a small village.

We saw these guys coming up the hill ....perspiration was pouring off of them.



Passed a place to fill up our water bottles

 and then saw this sign and wondered if the cows drank from this as well.

 The cows seemed content.

 I usually stop to take pictures of flowers and these were beautiful as we walked through this tiny village ...

This beautiful waterfall was not close but I zoomed in to take a look

Near Les Contamines Harry kept on the trail heading for a campground



and we took a lunch break near the river on a shaded bench. While making this movie, my hat had fallen off my waist belt. At the end of lunch I noticed it was missing and had just started back down the trail to find it when a couple came out of the woods holding it.  They were from Australia. So our lunch break was well timed for the return of my hat by the thoughtful couple.

Stoney wanted to proceed UP (a steep UP) into Les Contamines even though I showed him on our directions that we needed to go a bit further into a village called Le Lay in order to find our hotel for the night. He won and we walked into Les Contamines only to learn that we had further to walk -- and now, down the road rather than the shaded trail by the river. It wasn't a total bust, I got pictures of a church and lovely roses ...

 At the end of Les Contamines, I spied the trail sign and we made our way back along the river for another 30 minutes to Le Lay and La Chemenaz Chalet Hotel. I could see the sign just ahead in the middle.

Day 1 walking the Tour du Mont Blanc was complete. The guide said it would be a 12.5 mile day and we had 12.7 miles on our pedometers. We had bath tub/shower combo and so I soaked a bit to relax and then did our laundry in the sink.

We had a very quiet and restful night.