‘Living intensely makes every effort and every sacrifice worthwhile; living halfway has always been the function and the punishment of mediocre people.’ Rollo Diez, Tombstone in the Valley of Death. Night move through the Vanoise I’ve always thought that eliciting a bit of divine intervention helps in one’s endeavours, particularly when up against the elements. Just a few kilometres south of the trekkers’ and outdoor enthusiasts’ Mecca of Les Contamines-Montoje in the Savoie, just off to the right of the road that leads to a long and strength-sapping climb...

On 17 September 1944, seventy-five years ago 7,500 men of Britain's 1st Airborne Division began parachuting and gliding into dropping and landing zones near the Dutch town of Arnhem. Their objective - the town's bridge over the Rhine. Nine days later barely a fifth of them had made it out. The rest were killed, wounded or captured. By any reckoning the mission was a failure and a disaster. Operation MARKET GARDEN as it was known was bold in its concept. The plan called for three airborne divisions, two...

Several billion years ago God instructed the gods responsible for building mountains to turn their attention to planet Earth. Once they'd finished building the world's mountains they threw the leftovers into Montenegro. All the remaining rubble, the worst scraps, were cast in a pile on high land that would one day become an island in the Mediterranean. The mountain gods' children used it as a kind of sand pit to shape razor-pointed mountain ranges. They let their imaginations run free and fashioned mountains steep and sharp. Eventually, God...

'Les Courses comme Les Anglais', the elderly of the two gentlemen gave one of those Gallic shrugs while souring his mouth in mock ignorance. I'd met these two French gentlemen in the campsite at Menton. They'd just finished the GR52 and had asked me where I'd been and where I was going. They had no English but I had enough le stylo de ma tante est sur la table de mon oncle to get by in French on easy topics like hiking or ordering beer. When I revealed...

I've spent nearly ten days here in Menton. If you have to rest and recuperate, allow swollen feet and ankles to abate, sew up and wash torn clothing and generally recharge, then Menton is definitely the place. We were here so briefly at the end of Menton's Gambol last September that there was really no time to appreciate this jewel on the Côte d'Azure that nestles on the Italian border. In fact, Menton has only been back in French hands since 1861. Prior to that it had, since 1793,...

(Caveat: if you're coming to this blog for the first time it won't make much sense unless you read the two previous blogs.) A plan never survives contact with the enemy. This is a military truism that is drummed into all soldiers. But, you have to have a plan in the first place to flex around when the enemy does its own thing. In other words, it's vital you have a plan but don't ever expect it to work out. Humans get upset for only three reasons: unfulfilled expectations (things...

13 August. Day 11. Briançon: So, all plans go awry. This one is no exception. We're eleven days into a mad dash for the Mediterranean, covering distances I would not have normally contemplated. The day before yesterday we pushed out 50kms over some fairly challenging terrain....

Good morning! Bonjour! Добар дан! Добрый день! Dzień dobry! It's August, the silly month. So, here we go again! Just when you thought it was all over, another bout of lunacy to keep you all amused and entertained over the next couple of months. Lego Tatiana and I are on the hoof again. If you've received this it's because our ships have crossed each other's horizons at some point in the last few decades. Some of you will have followed Tatiana's Gambol last year and helped raise awareness and...