[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text]Fun Week Day 2 - Bessans to Refuge du Plan du Lac Just to clear up a point of confusion in the title. Today was such an awesome day that we can't possibly continue calling this week Hell Week. It's now become Fun Week, an altogether more positive way of looking at things. Moreover, today I had enormous fun turning what looked like a grind of a day into attempting to slice off as much of Dillon’s time for the hike as...

Hell Week Day 1 - Val d'Isere to Bessans Wet boots, socks and feet. Today is the first of seven in this third phase of Tatiana's Gambol which we're calling Hell Week on account of the rather long cumulative distance that we have to cover between Val D'Isere (VD'I) and Briançon - 168km and some 8000m of ascent. As you'll have gathered from the previous blog, we're joined by Geoffrey Grimmett, the outgoing Master of Downing College, Cambridge. There's one thing that sticks in my mind about the Hotel Bellier in VD'I,...

"Keep talking, sir! We’ll find you." There's nothing like a good night's sleep to repair and recharge the body. After the grim experience of our previous lodging, the Hotel Alpin in Landry was positively luxurious in that IBIS minimalist sort of way. More of a businessman's hotel that had transported itself into the heart of the Alps. There was still enough heat in the late afternoon sun to dry off clothes, which we washed by hand immediately on arrival....

Les Contamines to Refuge du Plan de la Lai - D9 Twenty-one kilometres and a mountain separates heaven from hell. The hotel Gai Soleil (the third Gai Soleil we've stayed in) in Les Contamines is excellent in every way. Definitely at the upper end of the scale. Very friendly owners, unusually good food, rooms and amenities. Each floor has its own WiFi. Main Street is a two minute walk. It's popular with TMBers. By contrast the Refuge du Plan de la Lai (about 10kms east of Beaufort on the D925) is...

A day of rest followed by an easy day's hiking. Les Houches & Chamonix - Sunday 12th August We arrived at the Hotel Chris-tal (odd spelling) in Les Houches at 1730 after a wearying, hot plod down from the Brévant late on Saturday afternoon. Fortunately, we didn't have far to trudge before throwing off our packs. A couple of beers were also in order before an early meal, washing stinking clothes and sleep. An old chum from the 1 PARA days in the 1980s, Ben Clayton-Jolly, had a flat somewhere in...

The Ninja of the Alps The Refuge Moëde Anterne at the end of Day 5's walk has mixed reviews on Trip Advisor, so I discovered when someone on Facebook asked whether the reviews were justified. I don't bother looking at Trip Advisor - full of whining people with first world problems. What I can say is that the refuge is set in spectacular surroundings, a joy to arrive at and, as far as amenities go, is perfectly adequate for serious hikers - hot water, showers and a very cosy wooden...

Another cracker. Completely different to yesterday, ending in a race to the death up Col d' Anterne - part of Richard's alpine scientific experiments. This time he had two guinea pigs to play with. Samoëns is definitely a tourist destination and caters for sporting types. I found the supplies I needed with ease: finally getting my hands on two appropriately sized Jetboil gas canisters, some 2% Voltarol to sooth my Achilles' tendon and some heel inserts, which Dr. Villar felt sure would help the pressure in the tendon. We stuffed...

What a day! Where to begin? The evening meal last night in the cosy Refuge de Chésery was some sort of soup (you never ask what's in it), a meat stew and pasta (ideal) with grated carrot (ideal for me, not for Richard, so I had his) and some kind of Bird's Angel Delight chocolate thing made from powder and water. The sleeping arrangements were extra cosy - sardine bunks, four people along the bottom and four along the top. Richard and I were the only ones on top and...

We seem to have survived another day. Slightly longer than yesterday and with more ascent but much more gradual. For the data-hungry there's a link to the Garmin readout. But first, back to last night and a splendid home cooked meal of leak and potato soup, potato gratin and fresh fruit and yoghurt for desert. The highlight wasn't the food but our delightful waitresses - the charming six-year-old daughters of the manager of our Gite d'Etape earning their holiday money in a most professional and courteous way. They earned...

From St. Gingolph to La Chapelle d'Abondance The GR5, we have concluded after only one day into it, is a pretty serious endeavour. Admittedly, yesterday was mostly taken up with travelling to the start at St. Gingolph and a leisurely 4km hike up to Novel, having dipped our toes in Lake Leman. Today, though was a completely different story - and we only covered 16 kms, admittedly over two very steep cols causing the profile of our route to look like a M. We finished quite dehydrated having drunk four...