Karen and Peter- European Vacation 2023

 At last, off and walking!   The quick description: short vehicle ride to the cable car at Les Houches; then 15km through some beautiful and spectacular countryside; a coffee in a farm house with the barn next door-in the farmhouse; lunch was a three course meal (kind of coleslaw entree, steak for main and a fruit mousse for dessert); then to our quaint chalet hotel.  Some light rain and mild temperatures throughout the morning. All up a pretty good day!  Boots and pack are all good. A bit more info and pictures. After waking up and having a hot shower, it was down to the buffet breakfast.  The Mercure put on a very good breakfast. Bacon, eggs, those little sausages, fruit, yoghurt, crepes, breads, jams… juice, coffee and tea. Then we met with our No Roads coordinator, Irene, to get the final briefing and drop off luggage etc.  Our man Luca (Mr Big Hair- frizzy, Afro, Rumanian) turn up as one of the drivers.  Unfortunately, after a quick chat with him,...

 Had a great nights sleep thanks to great blockout curtains as it is still light outside till 9.30pm. This morning we started the day with a delicious buffet breakfast downstairs in the hotel. We then met our in the foyer with our other walking companions. We have Daniel and Margaret from Victoria, June from the Gold Coast,  David from South Australia and two ladies from America.  We then met Bernadette who has lived in Chamonix for over 40 years. Bernadette took us on a tour of the town and filled her walking tour with lots of interesting facts, history and pictures of Chamonix. A proud local and very informative and entertaining.  Brief History of Chamonix In 1741 two Englishmen, Windham and Pococke, discovered the 'Chamouny' valley and its glaciers. Their expedition was met by a rural population of mountain farmers, and a humble monastery. This community lived off animal husbandry and a sparse harvest of oats and rye. Windham and Pococke explored the valley and vi...

 Today our journey to the start line began. We met our friends at the airport and we were collected by Luca - known from here on as BIG hair Luca! He had some sort of frizzy Afro thing happening.  Luca drove us for an hour from Geneva to Chamonix/Mont-Blanc , France This place is amazing. The huge snow capped peaks surround the quaint village. It is a busy place with lots of tourists enjoying the warm summer’s day. But those mountains! Everywhere you looked was the towering mountains surrounding Chamonix. It’s almost unreal, like a painted back drop. Running through Chamonix is a very fast flowing river. It is fed by the melting snow and has that strange colour. There are lots of shops with everything from souvenirs (of course),  to bike hire, to sports stores; they’re places to book tandem paragliding adventures, and chair lift rides.  There anre many different restaurants as well: French, Indian, Japanese, Italian and more. We spent our time exploring the village. ...

  Second leg, from Dubai to Geneva only 6 hour flight, a stroll in the park after our 14 hour flight. We got to wait in Dubai for 3 hours and stretched our legs. Dubai airport is an international hub with lots of dialects. We tried a travel hack on our second flight by booking an isle and window seat with an empty seat in between. It worked!! We got three seats and this plane was more up to date with better leg room and more responsive touch screens for movie watching.  We arrived in Geneva at 7.45 pm and we were exhausted. The days are still day light till 9pm.  So it was still light, got to have a sneak peak of mountains behind the airport. A shuttle bus was waiting and delivered us to Nash Hotel. The hotel is actually about 5 minutes from the airport. Can I just say a hot shower and a flat soft bed were WONDERFUL. Total travelling time from Brisbane to Geneva 26 plus hours. Tuesday 27th June: Up at 8am and feeling so much better. Today is the day we catch up with our f...

 It’s 40 degrees Celsius, there’s a heat and/or smog, a bit overcast.

 After 14 long hours in a packed plane we have arrived at Dubai.  Food was good and plentiful; sleep was all but non-existent; movies watched… Top Gun Maverick, A Man called Otto and a couple of episodes of Band of Brothers.

 Doh!

 A very early morning (or late night, depending how you look at it) flight!  Yawn! A full flight, so plenty of folks checking in. Wait, yawn! Customs and immigration was swift.  No ‘Border Security’ cameras for the outgoing. By the way, today is our wedding anniversary (42 years… Karen is a saint!).  Well, until she tried to hit up the check in lady for an upgrade.  Karen’s optimism is truly boundless. No surprise… no upgrade. Now for some waiting and flying.

 We originally planned to trek Mont Blanc in 2019.  Unfortunately, a global pandemic interrupted and delayed that idea! Well, at last Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) is about to actually happen.  We have been training for some months because the TMB is a walk of some 150+ km with a little bit of  'up' and a little bit of 'down'! The Tour du Mont Blanc Journey DAY 1 | Arrive at Geneva airport and transfer to Chamonix. DAY 2 | Chamonix DAY 3 | Trek from Les Houches to Les Contamines 5/6 hrs - 15km - 950m 1400m DAY 4 | Les Contamines to le Chapieux...