DAY 29: Saturday June 30th - Les Contamines REST DAY:
No Walk: 0k, 0hrs: Blue Hazy skies, hot, 18°C to 32°C
Accommodation: Hotel Gai Soleil Les Contamines
Jan's new gloves - waterproof
Ian's ne shoes - disguised slippers
4kg of stuff to leave behind
Night time view through window
Today is our first rest day in 3 weeks since leaving Donna and Milton's villa at Fombeton. It gave us a chance to do lots of washing, sort out a bag of stuff to leave in Les Contamines to pick up when we finish the Tour de Mont Blanc, and buy a few extras like gloves for me and night shoes for Ian.
We sleep in til 7.30am then do a bit of phoning home before strolling downstairs to a beautiful breakfast buffet of meusli, hot bread, jam, yoghurt, juice and really hot tea. I eat too much considering we're doing nothing today. Again we are the misfits in the dining room but the staff are really nice and obliging. We stroll downtown to buy tomatoes, honey, nuts and bread which in this part of France is hard and crusty outside with light fluffy bread inside. In other parts of the country they like it soft and sourdough like.
I also want a pair of shorts - I left mine behind to save weight, preferring my 3/4 tights, but it's been so hot the past few days. Ian also wants a pair of night time shoes - his Nike Pegassus that he wears at night time take up 1/4 the volume in his backpack and there's no room for the cheeses I buy. We're in luck. I try on 3 pairs of shorts and choose a pair of khaki coloured Colombia, light with lots of pockets. Ian finds a pair of light squashable shoes - a cross between soft slippers and snow shoes. He didn't want a pair of crocs like everyone else - someone might think he's avant garde.
Back at the hotel, it's time to boil the billy on the bathroom floor for a coffee. It's now midday and I'm bored already. Ian's happy to sit and play with his Samsung tablet all afternoon and watch the start of the Tour de France which is just a Prologue but I decide to go shopping in Chamonix - I don't really need anything, but if I do find something, I can leave it here in Les Contamines. I catch the 1.20pm bus - it descends 500 metres down a winding mountain road to the SNCF train station in St Gervais. Then catch the Mont Blanc Express train into Chamonix. It's getting really hot, already 30°C, and the streets are teeming with tourists. Normally you can see Mont Blanc from every street in Chamonix. Today it's shrouded in dark ominous thunder clouds. The weather forecast is for storms tonight and rain the next few days. I hope I'm back before the storm hits.
Chamonix is familiar - we've been here many times before - and I head straight to the sports stores - North Face, Colombia and Snells. It's worse than Christmas in Myers. Tourists, wannabe mountain climbers, hikers, all wanting new gear - and of course there's nothing on special. I wander around just enjoying the business of Chamonix - all I buy is a black Falke shirt to wear home in the plane in case I don't have anything clean, 2 black rubber knobs for the ends of my trekking poles, a pair of waterproof gloves for when my hands freeze in the sleety rain, and I also check out some shorts - just to make sure I bought the best pair back in Les Contamines - I'm happy to find there was nothing better. I catch the 5.11pm train back to St Gervais, then the 6.05pm bus to Les Contamines. There's still no sign of a storm. A check of France Meteo tells us the storms have gone further north - we might be lucky tomorrow.
While waiting for dinner, we do a collection of about 4kg of stuff we are going to leave behind - Ian's Nike Pegasus weigh 850grams, extra Tee shirts we haven't worn, maps now not needed, and a flannelette shirt I lived in last time but now prefer my Exofficio because it has larger pockets. The dinner bell rings, it's the old guest house way of announcing dinner and I'm starving since I missed lunch. Piping hot spinach soup, cheese on toast with lettuce, followed by chicken and chips, then a large platter of cheese. Stuffed again. Time for a walk down the village to check out where the bus leaves from next Tuesday week when we return to Les Contamines to Culoz to see a Tour de France stage. We've been told it's not the normal spot because Tuesday is market day and the streets are closed. We find the bus stop easily, but the night air has a coolness compared to the heat of last night. It will be an exciting time for the next 10 days walking the Tour de Mont Blanc for the third time.