Monday August 12th. Since I couldn't hike, I decided that this day would be a day for exploring the local culture. I began by walking up a steep hill to the Alpine Garden in Champex-Lac only to find it was closed. At that point I decided to go as quickly as possible to Montigny where I knew there was an exhibition of Modigliani and other painters from l'École de Paris.
I took the bus at 10:30am back down the valley to Orsieres and after that took two trains to get to Montigny. I walked through the town to the art gallery and spent a beautiful hour there enjoying the paintings.
Later that afternoon I took the bus to Trient - another hair-raising climb over an extremely high pass. Our auberge was not the greatest but good friends and good food/wine made up for anything we were lacking in material comforts.
Today, August 13th, I took two more buses to get to Argentiere, a delightful small village in the Chamonix Valley. En route, we came over the Col des Montets, passed by the Aiguilles Rouge and crossed over the TMB several times as we left Switzerland and came back into France. Argentiere is a beautiful village with unbelievable views of the high peaks. Like Chamonix, it is a centre for alpine skiing, hiking and climbing and forms part of the commune of Chamonix Mont Blanc (altitude 1250m). Visible from the village are the Argentiere glacier and the Aiguille d'Argentiere - first climbed by a British team in 1864.
Here I saw a French doctor who told me not to have my toenail removed. Instead, he put the detached nail back into the nail bed without freezing it - ouch! Now I just have to wait for the new nail to grow. Thanks, Vera, for sending me useful information on detached toenails! Very helpful.
That's it for now. My friends have just arrived and we are going for beers.
What I Missed
I missed the dairy cattle with their huge cow bells and the wild strawberries on the walk from La Fouly to Champex-Lac. I missed a famous flower-adorned house in Issert. I also missed the Bovine alp and great views of the Grand Combin. I missed the Fenêtre d' Arpette, one of the highest and most difficult points on the TMB with its incredible height gains and losses and its chaos of boulders and grit. I missed spectacular views of the Trient Glacier and the arduous climb up the Col de Balme. However, I did not miss too much of the stunning scenery as my bus wound its way through the valleys and across the Cols with great views in every direction.
Afterwards I went to the Sculpture Garden to see the Henry Moore and the Alexander Calder - as a bonus there was also a Joan Miro sculpture there as well. Next, I decided to forgo the Musee des Chiens St Bernard in favour of the archeological walk - good choice!
Later that afternoon I took the bus to Trient - another hair-raising climb over an extremely high pass. Our auberge was not the greatest but good friends and good food/wine made up for anything we were lacking in material comforts.
Today, August 13th, I took two more buses to get to Argentiere, a delightful small village in the Chamonix Valley. En route, we came over the Col des Montets, passed by the Aiguilles Rouge and crossed over the TMB several times as we left Switzerland and came back into France. Argentiere is a beautiful village with unbelievable views of the high peaks. Like Chamonix, it is a centre for alpine skiing, hiking and climbing and forms part of the commune of Chamonix Mont Blanc (altitude 1250m). Visible from the village are the Argentiere glacier and the Aiguille d'Argentiere - first climbed by a British team in 1864.
Here I saw a French doctor who told me not to have my toenail removed. Instead, he put the detached nail back into the nail bed without freezing it - ouch! Now I just have to wait for the new nail to grow. Thanks, Vera, for sending me useful information on detached toenails! Very helpful.
That's it for now. My friends have just arrived and we are going for beers.
What I Missed
I missed the dairy cattle with their huge cow bells and the wild strawberries on the walk from La Fouly to Champex-Lac. I missed a famous flower-adorned house in Issert. I also missed the Bovine alp and great views of the Grand Combin. I missed the Fenêtre d' Arpette, one of the highest and most difficult points on the TMB with its incredible height gains and losses and its chaos of boulders and grit. I missed spectacular views of the Trient Glacier and the arduous climb up the Col de Balme. However, I did not miss too much of the stunning scenery as my bus wound its way through the valleys and across the Cols with great views in every direction.
Hello Wendy,I am glad that you had your toe nail checked in Argentiere and that you found the info I sent you helpful. Thanks for another very interesting blog. It looks like there are many interesting options on what to do besides hiking. All the best! V.
ReplyDeleteHello Wendy, Thanks for adding the photos. They very much enhance your MTB blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks Vera: I plan to keep adding a few photos for each day travelled. It takes a long tme to upload them, though, so I'm a little slow getting it done. I'll also try to add my video of the para sailors on Plan Praz.
ReplyDeleteYes, I noticed additional photos of beautiful Joan Miro's sculptures and an artful plate of delicious food. Looking forward to see the videos. How is your big toe recovering? V.
ReplyDelete