DAY 19: Wednesday June 20th - Mont Thabor to Modane:
Walk: 17k, 5hrs 15mins: 0°C to 18°C (mostly 10°C)
Accommodation: Hotel Logis Le Perce Neige Fourneaux near Modane
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 day in the rain. It's 0°C and a long walk down hill from 2,500 metres to 1,100 metres - a drop of 1,400 metres. We arrive in Modane at 1pm, then it's off to buy Ian some new shoes (boots), me a light poncho (red of course) and new gas can in case we run out. I also had a hair cut - saves on shampoo.
We awake at 6am to sleet and 0°C. We pack - it doesn't take long as we hadn’t unpacked and I had slept in my clothes. Breakfast at 7am is stale bread, butter, jam and luke warm tea. I'm looking forward to a cup of hot morning coffee later. We say hooray to our American friends, leave rugged up with weather gear and tramp off through the snow. Surprisingly, the weather warms as we descend, and soon it's 8°C, even though it’s raining. It's just down and down, zig zag after zig a zag. The drizzle continues, and soon we meet up with our American friends to see Tuli has a red umbrella - I'm envious - it's Golite brand and RED!! A bit further on there's a toilet in the middle of nowhere. After 2 hours of mountain tracks, we’re into forests, looking for a dry spot for coffee. Sheltering under a dripping tree is the best we can do. The hot coffee is good after the luke warm tea this morning - but really, the hut was a fabulous experience - I don't know how the three women who run it can live there all summer, in freezing conditions.
The mist rises from the valley and soon we see the twin towns of Fourneaux and Modane, a major thoroughfare to Italy. This was the scene of the world's 3rd worst train disaster on 12 December 1917 when a troop train carrying 1,000 soldiers home on leave ran out of control down a steep gradient. The train’s engineer stated that the brakes were inadequate to slow the heavy load, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths.
We zig zag down the hill seeing signs to tell us how many zig zags we have done. Finally we reach the town of Fourneaux and see a line of 5 hotels, all within 100 metres of each other. I spy a coiffure - I'll be back. We choose Hotel Logis, Le Perce Neige, and we're on the 3rd floor overlooking the railway line and main highway - trains and traffic tonight! 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.
It's only 1.30pm - still time to phone home at a reasonable 9.30pm in Oz. We also do a bit of re-arranging of bookings ahead and alter the 4 nights just prior to the Tour de Mont Blanc to give us an extra day in Les Contamines. We wander back up the street to find a sports store. Ian has arrived in Modane with sodden shoes, wet socks and cold feet - my new shoes from Embrun are goretex and my feet are bone dry. We go into Action Sports and see a screw top isobutane canister - perfect - then Ian tries some boots on - Goretex Salomon. I'm also on the lookout for a light poncho as I sent my heavy Sea to Summit poncho back in the post. I find a kid's poncho (10 to 12 yrs) that fits perfectly and it's light - AND red!
We leave and I go back to the coiffure and have a short back and sides. I know 20 words in French and the hairdresser knows 20 words in English and we have a great conversation. Afterwards, Ian meets me at the bar and we have a quiet beer/wine before returning to the hotel to catch up on blogging and 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 Modane. It's full - mid week and early summer season - that's a good sign. Ian has canard and I have egg salad with frites washed down with a 50cl of rose from Provence. We walk 50 metres up the road to our hotel and decide to pay tonight to save time in the morning as the Col de Chaviere (2,796metres) is our biggest climb yet and the forecast is afternoon rain. Then up to bed. Our washing is still damp so we reshuffle it around and use the hair dryer. It's nice to have WiFi in our room instead of sitting on the cold steps outside a kitchen. We’re in bed early, excited about tomorrow - Col de Chaviere is the highest walking pass in France and Refuge Peclet Polset is one of the newest mountain refuges
Lacet Zig-zag No 14 - only 86 to go.