Day 6 Arp Nouva (Italy) to La Fouly (Switzerland)

 Today we left Courmayeur.  A short (and crowded) bus trip to Arp Nouva and then up, up and up.  We travelled to the head of the valley (the Grand Col Ferret) which is the juncture of the borders of France, Switzerland and Italy.  By the way the ‘Ferret’ in Col Ferret is pronounced ‘Fair-Ray’.  For those of you wondering about a grand ferret (small furry animal)… you will be disappointed.  


The Val Ferret

The walk was pretty arduous but fortunately the weather was good.  Once we reached the summit (2537m) we took some photos and began the descent down.  Ascending is tough physical work but descending just grinds your knees.  I think I actually prefer ascending! Today, we walked 16km, climbed 900m and descended over 1000m.




Peter is in Italy, Karen is in Switzerland.

Yes, it was cold, windy and sunny at 2537m!






Random Fact: Mount Kosciuszko is 2,228m.  Just saying!

Once we crossed into Switzerland and a new valley the landscape changed.  It was a bit more barren initially and dry.  As we continued the descent the landscape had more trees and of course several fast flowing, snow/ice fed, rivers.  We had some light showers in the afternoon but no heavy rain.  The light rain was kind of pleasant.  We continued to trek through meadows of wild flowers and spruce and larch trees.




Wildflowers and Swiss meadows.





Eventually, we arrived at our overnight stop La Fouly (pronounced la fooly).  La Fouly is a small village which is a stopover for Mont Blanc Trekkers in summer and a ski resort in winter.



The Hotel Edelweiss in La Fouly.

Nice… recently renovated; small rooms




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dresden

Image
 A couple of hours on the autobahn, heading north-east.  The autobahn network remains fascinating: the protocols of who keeps right, the overtaking and the outright speed of some cars.  We peaked at a little over 140km/h and were still overtaken and left behind.  It was amazing how quickly a car could appear in the rear vision.  My estimate was that there were many cars doing 160km/h and handful even faster! Bottom line, we saw some more of Germany.  In fact we entered the former East Germany.  There was a sign on the autobahn marking where the border had been.  There were a couple of guard towers type structures but we’re not sure that they were part of border protection. We arrived in Dresden in the afternoon and checked into our hotel.  There was an immediate sense of a different character to the city.  There was much more ‘recent’ style buildings. OK, short history lesson.  On 13 February 1945, Dresden (a non-target: no war indu...
Read more

Driving

Image
 A new approach to our German visit: unleash Peter on the German road system. After another hearty breakfast we finalised packing and checked out of the Hotel.  We quickly found the Avis dealership and our booking was ready.  A grey Ford Fiesta!  I was hoping for a Volkswagen. Sadly, not to be. Das Auto! The first challenge… driving out of Munich during Monday morning peak hour traffic.  It required considerable concentration: driving on the right-side (not left-side), navigating medieval streets, watching out for cyclists (they’re everywhere), listening to the GPS.  Eventually, we were free of the clutches of Munich streets.  Then, we were on the Autobahn!  Woohoo! It’s not quite ‘no speed limits’.  There are quite a few rules/protocols for the autobahn: trucks to the right lane; no overtaking on the right; etc etc.  But there are opportunities to put the ‘pedal to the metal’ or ‘go mental, it’s a rental’.  Todays top speed ended a...
Read more
Image
 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,...
Read more