Hiking 700k from Avignon to Mont Blanc May 29th to July 12th 2012
France is my (our) favourite destination for an active holiday. The countryside is magnificent, the cycling and walking trails are exceptionally well marked and the villages are close enough together so that after a long hard day on the track, it's relatively easy to find a pension/refuge/gite or hotel (no, not a camping ground) to rest our weary feet and enjoy a good wine, French cuisine and a comfy bed with a roof over our head - and the French people are really friendly and helpful - particularly if you try even a few words in French. We have been many times to France since my first visit as a hitchhiker in 1971 and it has become My Mooloolaba - some people go year in year out to sit on the same beach, do the same thing and eat at the same restaurants. We prefer to go to the same country, eat the same food and walk the same walks.
So when Scully, our dearest beloved German Short Haired Pointer (GSP) died on December 10th 2011, after a month of mourning it was time to move on, so France, here we come again. Of course we didn't count on adopting another GSP called Chester 3 days before Christmas 2011, but by that time the wheel had been set in motion and we were booked to go to France. Luckily our friends Jackie and Clancy have become dog sitters.
It was my turn to choose a walking trip, and like holidaying at Mooloolaba, I thought it was a good idea to return to do the Tour du Mont Blanc - for the third time, having been there in 2005 and 2009. Our friends Donna and Milton were also busy organising a trip to France for the umpteenth time and had rented a villa near Sisteron in the south of France. In between visiting them and the Tour de Mont Blanc was 350km of French Alps - obviously we were meant to get from A to B by walking.
It seemed like a good idea at the time to throw in the French Open tennis at the beginning and the Tour de France at the end. The total distance done in three stages (Avignon to Sisteron, Sisteron to Les Contamines, Tour du Mont Blanc circuit) was around 700km over 36 walking days was about 20k - some days 12 k others 28k.
Let the trip begin!!!