DAY 19: Wednesday June 20th - Mont Thabor to Modane:17k, 5hrs 15mins: 0°C to 18°C (mostly 10°C)
0°C and just leaving Mont Thabor
It's cold and wet and snowy
Bye Bye Refuge Mont Thabor
I'm envious of the red umbrella
Can't pass a real loo on the track
Trees aren't much shelter in rain
Not our usual alpine photo
Modane is a railway town - lots of tracks in a narrow valley
Our first real day in the rain. It's 0°C and it's a long down hill walk from 2,500 metres to 1,100 metres - a drop of 1,400 metres - that's a lot of zigs and zags - especially in the rain. We arrive at 1pm, then it's off to buy Ian some new shoes (boots), me a light poncho (red of course) and new gas can incase we run out. I also had a hair cut - saves on shampoo.
We awake at 6am and its 0°C and sleeting - we pack - it doesn't take long - I slept in my clothes and didn't bother to change anything. Not much point in smelling up clean clothes only to walk again in them today. Breakfast is at 7am - stale bread, butter and jam and luke warm tea - saving on power. Already I'm looking forward to a cup of hot billy tea morning tea. We leave all rugged up with wet weather gear, say hooray to our American friends and others, then tram off through the snow drifts and head down. Surprisingly, the weather warms up and soon it's 8°C, even though tit's still raining. It's just down and down and down, zig zag after zig a zag.
The drizzle continues, and we meet up with our American friends to see Tuli has a red umbrella - I'm envious, it covers the pack, it's a Golite brand (must be light) and it's RED!!! A bit further on and there's a toilet in the middle of no where on the track. We have seen this once before on the tour de Mont Blanc, but don't hold your breath (or whatever) waiting for a real loo.
After 2 hours of mountain tracks, we walk through the forests and try to find a dry spot for a cup of coffee. Sheltering under a tree is the best we can do. And the hot coffee is very welcome after the luke warm effort this morning - but really, the hut was a fabulous experience - I don't know how the 3 women can live there all summer, in freezing conditions.
Time to move on, and we see the mist rising out of the valley, with more rain on the way. It's quite a different experience walking in the rain through the Alps - at least it's not freezing cold today and there's no wind. We can see the the twin towns of Fourneaux and Modane in the valley below. Modane is a large railway intersection and the major thoroughfare of traffic to Italy. It was also the scene of the world's 3rd worst train disaster. At Modane, on 12 December 1917 A troop train carrying 1000 soldiers home on leave ran out of control down a steep gradient. Only one locomotive pulled the 19 cars. Though the locomotive could effectively move the heavy load, the train’s engineer reportedly stated that that the brakes were inadequate to slow the load, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths.
We zig zag down the hill hundreds of times. There's signs to tell us how many zig zags we have done - it just re-enforces how squished our toes are on a down hill descent. We finally reach the town of Fourneaux and see a line of hotels - here's only 5 in the town and they are all wiring 100 metres of each other. I spy a coiffure (hair dresser) - I'll be back. We choose a Hotel Logis, Le Perce Neige, we're up on the 3rd floor overlooking the railway line and main highway - yippee - trains and traffic in the night. We do our washing immediately and it will be a toss up whether or not to leave the window open to let our clothes dry or shut the window to keep the noise out. to be cont'd.
It's only 1.30pm - still time to phone home at a reasonable 9.30pm in Oz - and chat to family. We also do a bit of re-arranging of bookings up ahead - we have 2 days spare since we are able to do the high passes in the next few days. We alter the bookings of 4 nights just prior to the tour de Mont Blanc and arrange for an extra day in Les Contamines to do some shopping - we figure we will be returning to Les Contamines after Mont Blanc and might be able to leave extra stuff for 10 days at the same hotel before return. That gives us one day spar in case of fowl weather, but according to the France Meteo, we should be OK. Milton, did you hear that!! Pull your strings.
We wander back up the street, we've seen a sports store and Ian has arrived in town with sodden shoes, wet socks and cold feet - my new shoes I bought on the track a few days ago in Embrun are fantastic - they're goretex and my feet are bone dry and warm as toast. What's good for the goose …… We go in to Action Sports and see a screw top isobutane canister - perfect - then Ian tries some boots on - they're Salamon - and Goretex - and Jenny said her Goretx boots were good - got to have them. I'm also on the lookout for a light poncho - I sent my heavy Sea to Summit poncho back in the post, but I've been on the lookout for a light one to keep the pack dry. And I find a kid's poncho (10 to 12 yrs) that fits perfectly and it's light - AND it's red. A done deal.
We leave and I go back to the coiffure and have a short back and sides - long hair is just too much trouble on a long walking trip. I know 20 words in French and the hairdresser knows 20 words in English so we have a great conversation. It's amazing how much you can say in so few words. Ian goes for a walk to try out his new boots, then meets me at the bar and we have a quiet beer/wine before returning to the hotel to catch up on blog and check emails. It's noisy outside and already I'm thinking we'll be shutting the window tonight.
Time gets away and it's 8pm. We stroll down to the Peppuccio Italian restaurant I recalled reading about in researching Modane. It's fill - mid week, early summer season - that's a good sign. Ian has canard (duck) and I have egg salad - all with frites - I'm feeing deprived - washed down with a 50cl of rose from Provence. It was really nice.
We walk 50 metres up the road to our hotel and decide to pay tonight to save time in the morning - he Col de Chaviere (2,796metres) isour biggest climb yet - and the forecast is rain in the afternoon. It's interesting though, we checked into the hotel and no one asked for our names, or to see a credit card or anything. Someone just showed us to our room and asked us if we wanted breakfast too. The French are very trusting - they almost consider it an offence to pay before the moment you leave. When we walked the streets of Paris, I often saw a bill with money laid on it at an empty table where the people had paid and then up and left. Anyone could have picked up the cash left there.
Zig-zag No 14 - only 86 to go.
Then it's up to bed. Our washing is still very damp. We reshuffle it around and get out the hair dryer. It's nice to have WiFi in our room instead of sitting on the steps of on the stool outside a kitchen. We go to bed early. I'm excited about tomorrow - Col de Chaviere is the highest walking pass in France and Refuge Peclet Polset is one of the newest and most hotel like of mountain refuges.