DAY 25: Tuesday June 26th - Refuge de Rosuel to Landry:
Walk: 10k, 4hrs: Fine, cloudy, misty up high, 12°C to 25°C
Accommodation: Maison Caramel Landry
Down through the forests - it's cool
Luke warm tea for brekky - within 1hr we have a hot coffee at Moulin
Dense forests and mists to Landry
We're still high - cloud over Landry
Eglise (Church) St Michel Landry
World Kayaking Championship- River Isere Landry
Afternoon stroll in Landry
Narrow flowering streets of Landry
Flowers adorn Landry village
Time to smell the roses again
Outside our window - flowers and the rushing torrent Le Ponturin
Maison Caramel - home for tonight
Today was a relaxing stroll 10k down the valley to Landry. It's almost a Rest Day. We are 2 days ahead of schedule so decide to have 2 short days then 1 day off in Les Contamines . Tomorrow is easy peasy too. Today, we trekked through picturesque forests and before lunch we are in Landry to find they have the World Kayaking Championships there over the next few days. A truly restful day.
We slept in til 8am but a disruptive night. We chatted in the dining room the night before after the 3 men doing the GR5 in race time went to bed. By the time we get to the dorm, they're all snoring. We switch on the light, rearrange the bed and sleep fitfully midst the thunder of snores til an alarm blares at 4.30am, followed by another at 5am - then the GR5 men are gone to Refuge de La Leisse. It's quiet and dark and at 8am, after 3 hours of real sleep, the rest of us stir. I hope these guys enjoy marmot stew at La Leisse !!
We have a luke warm shower and go down to breakfast - luke warm tea and stale bread. I don't drink or eat anything. Can't wait til morning tea. We pack and leave - nice refuge - terrible breakfast. It's 9am when we go - an easy stroll down through the pine forests in lingering mist. It's not long before we find a picnic table and chairs in the small village Moulin. Jet boiled hot coffee is great - Ian has some left over muesli and yoghurt from a few days before. A better breakfast than at the Refuge Rosuel!
It's a steep descent down through the forest but soon we see the spire of St Michel above the pine trees, the start of Landry. We think our Chambre d'hôte is close to the church. Looking around, I recognise the street name - Chemin de Glieres, and Caramel Maison is right there. I’ve booked this place a while ago and Sam and Alvaro had been obliging in changing our dates many times. We meet them on the steps and are immediately shown to our room and offered a cup of tea - Sam is English, Alvaro is Spanish. They have 2 dogs Luna and Reg. We do our washing, hang it on the balcony, then have a delayed lunch of lettuce, thawed cheese and yesterday's bread - with mayonnaise.
A walk to the village with sneakers and no backpack is easy. Sam had told us that the World kayaking championships were on so we head off to the River Isere. The streets are full of vans carrying kayaks and we walk to the river to see a few kayakers practising downstream. It's quite warm at 25°C as we wander to the next village of Les Granges and then back looking for a shop - not one - there's only signs to supermarkets 10k away - too far for bread and cheese. But the local Charcuterie just over the road sells meat and bits of everything - cheeses, salads and bread - and cold beer. Ian buys a few beers and we check the opening times for the Charcuterie in the morning - 7am. We'll need enough stuff for 3 days as it's mountain huts until Friday when we're in Les Contamines - the start of the Tour de Mont Blanc.
We're back in our room by 4pm. Time to relax. Ian has a cold beer and does tennis stuff while I blog. Our washing is almost dry. It's so restful listening to the torrent Le Ponturin outside our window. At 7.30pm and we go upstairs for dinner - Sam and Alvaro have gone home, and Sarah and Steve, a young English couple are catering. They came as guests a few years ago, decided to stay in Landry and were offered a job at the Caramel Maison. We sit on the patio with a magnificent mountain view and have aperitifs - cucumber and smoked salmon with a rose, then a salad, followed by chicken and potato with loads of green beans and broccoli with a really smooth shiraz like red. Dessert is a fine filo pasty with strawberries, cream and ice-cream. I's all 5 star - and we're stuffed.
We also find out that tomorrow is the start of the World Championships for Descent Kayaking (Not slalom where they weave in and out of buoys) in the village Bellentre, finishing at Aime so we change our plan. Instead of a cruisy day to Valezan, we decide to watch the kayaking first. We google a supermarket closer to Aime to by stuff for tomorrow. There's supposed to one called the SOC distribution centre but we have no idea if it sells cows, cars or cheese. We'll soon find out
Afternoon off - a beer on the bed
5 star dinner with a mountain view