DAY 38: Monday July 9th: Les Chapieux to Les Contamines: 25.0k, 7hrs 15mins: 8°C to 22°C, blue, blue skies
8am start - blue skies and meadows
Time to strip off - it's warm
Procession of climbers on mountain
A picture perfect day
Not a cloud in the sky - blue blue
TMB circuit completed - back at the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme
Coffee at the Col de la Croix
Aussie group - about 14
Busy - lined up to cross the snow
Down the valley to Les Contamines
Lunch on seat 1/2 way down
Still a long way down to a beer
A reminder of a really perfect day
At the back of Hotel Gai Soleil
Finished - 730k, 36 walking days, 2 rest days, average 20.3k per day
A wonderful day in more ways than one. Firstly, it was just magical perfectly fabulous weather - blue skies all day. We climbed 2 Cols, the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme at 2433 metres and the Col du Bonhomme at 2329 metres. But the most wonderful moment was at 3.30pm when we finished our 720k trek through the French alps. 38 days in total, 36 walking days, 2 rest days at an average of 20.3k per day. We are both really excited when we finally arrive in Les Contamines - and go straight to the Carrefour's supermarket to buy a wine and a beer to take to our room to celebrate our finish.
We wake early at the Auberge de la Nova where we have a room to ourselves, but the floor boards are so creaky in the corridor, that once someone is up - everyone's up. Time for a shower and to pack before we go down to breakfast. The refuge is so full, that there's a queue out the door and we have to stand in the 8°C for 15 minutes while waiting to get in. It's warmer inside and breakfast is simple but nice - meuslii, yoghurt, hot tea and fresh bread. We sit with a group of 4 Aussies who are going our way today. In fact there seems to be more people walking clockwise this year than the traditional anti clockwise.
We're out the door by 8am and immediately start the long slow climb from 1549 metresat the refuge in Les Chapieux to the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme at 2433 metres - almost 900 metres up. The track up is very open, just meadows and wildflowers, no pine forests and we can see a trail of walkers going up or coming down. It's cold to start, but after an hour we have to strip off to Tee shirt and shorts. The air is still cool, but the sun today has an amazing burn to it - very high UV - there'll be lots of red faces and backs of knees tonight.
It's just a picture perfect day, with blue skies and no clouds. It's hard to know what to photograph next. After 2hrs 30 mins of relentless climbing, we reach the top of the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme, where we had started the TMB 10 days previously after joining it from the GR5. Time to celebrate with a photo. There's now a large group of Aussies at the col and Jeremy obliges with a photo. I have a chat to the Aussie group from Sydney, whom we met last night, about how unlucky it was for Lisa and David to have missed the TMB. they were supposed to be with this group except for a stubbed toe a few weeks before. Time for a coffee on the grass before we move on.
It's quite amazing that in the 10 days since were here, most of the snow has disappeared and it only takes us 30 minutes instead of 1hr to get the the second col, the Col du Bonhomme at the head of the Les Contamines valley. We don't stop at the col, we're on our homeward leg and want to get in to Les Contamines early to see the tour de France time trial. There's only one long snow drift where people are queued to get across on this track down the valley.
Lunch is half way down on a seat with a view down and up the valley. We eat everything in our food bag - not so fresh bread, melting cheese and very dried ham with a few squashed tomatoes. No more mountain lunches after today. Then on again. It seems easy going down - it's not hot except for a burning sun on the backs of our necks. At 3.30pm we arrive in Les Contamines and head for the supermarket so we can have a quiet beer and wine in our room while watching the Tour de France.
When we return to our Hotel Gai Soleil, there seems to be a misunderstanding with one of the elderly sisters who owns the place - we're not sure if we are in Room 6, or we can't go to our room 'til 6. So rather than stand around and miss the Tour de France, we take our bags and drinks to the TV room in the back corner of the hotel where there's a big TV. Ian's beer is nice and cold, my rosé is a flop - I didn't notice that it was rosé of Peach - I was too busy making sure that the bottle had a screw cap so we don't have to use the fork again - it's like drinking the sickly sugary juice from a can of peaches.
The Tour de France isn't going to well for Cadel. Bradley Wiggins seems to have the better of him in the time trial and in the GC, Cadel is now 1min 53secs down. We go back to reception to see if our room is ready and this time, I pick up on the French and sign language, that it is actually Room 6 and the key is in the door. So we've been sitting around waiting for nothing - that's the danger of knowing a little bit of French - ask a well constructed question in French and you don't understand the answer. We finally go up to our Room 6, shower, do loads of washing in the basin, hang it in the window, then check out the itinerary for the Tour de France. Tomorrrow is a rest day and on Wednesday, we meet Donna and Milton to see Stage 10, the first high mountain stage up the Grand Colombier. I do a quick Face time with them to co-ordinate our meeting in Culoz.
It's 7.30pm, the dinner bell rings and we go down to the orderly seating in the dining room - Room 6 is set for here, we're told. We order a bottle of Savoie White wine which is very nice - a bit like a sav blanc. Dinner is 5 courses - salad, soup, meat and potatoes then cheeses followed b apple tart. We need a walk around the village to settle diner.
Back to our room and time to publish my blog - haven't done so for teh past 3 days