European Roadtrip Part 3

Circumnavigating Mount Blanc, Western Europe’s highest mountain, the 170km trail or “Tour du Mont Blanc” (TMB) is considered to be one of the world’s classic treks. However, it takes a week and involves a serious amount of planning and ‘gear’, so is not our quest on this trip, especially as we are lucky enough to have our travelling home comforts in Skye! However, we were still keen to catch a glimpse of its famous snowy peaks, so set off for the iconic ski town of Chamonix which lies at the foot of the Alp’s highest peak. Notice I said set off……it took almost the entire day to get there, due to a detour to investigate the engine warning light which had come on in Skye that morning. Always a background worry when on a long roadtrip, mechanical failures can sometimes be quite hard to sort out (I should know – I’ve had a few!). Fortunately, a Fiat garage was located fairly nearby, the fault was found (a hole in the air inlet tubing) and was fixed with relative ease. So – why did it take all day? Well, there were a few things that came out of this detour, the main incredulous discovery is that the French stop for lunch between 12 and 2 – yes, for two whole hours it appears that the whole of France are on their lunch break! I was then informed by my France-expert and Partner-in-Skye that the French only work a 35 hour week. Seeing that my last few flights, both as a pilot and passenger, have been delayed by French Air Traffic control…..”c’est n’importe quoi”, it’s nonsense!! However, before I get in trouble with Mr Skye, I did spend some time looking into it and there are some interesting pros and cons for the French system (read this, for instance). Anyway, back to the problem in hand; we couldn’t have chosen a better place to kill two hours, as we were within walking distance of the lakeside town Annecy (I’m reliably informed that it is pronounced “On-see”) otherwise known as “The Venice of the Alps”. As if on cue, the torrential rain abated and we had a lovely explore around this ancient town, with its bridges, flower-box adorned buildings and cobbled streets.

Back at the garage, Skye was efficiently fixed within the hour (obviously not too much wine at lunch then?!) and we took the opportunity to replace the front tyres while there – in fact, we had been on our way to complete this mission when the engine light came on. If you are going to endure a mechanical problem whilst roadtripping, this one just couldn’t have worked out better: *Fiat garage ✔️, *Pretty town nearby ✔️, *Bad weather day ✔️, *Other mechanical job completed simultaneously ✔️…….it was a full house! Back on the road, we carried on towards Chamonix, but elected to stop just short in the village of Les Houches, the usual jumping off point for the Tour du Mont Blanc. My son and mates (or “The Waterboys” as two were called when they joined me for 6 weeks in Spain in 2020) had embarked on this trek a few days earlier……

Again, the rain stopped for our stroll around, but once on the road it set in again in earnest and Chamonix just didn’t seem too appealing under those grey skies. The ski town’s position at the foot of Mont Blanc gives it its magic, but that comes with a rather brooding feel, as the near-vertical glacier hanging above the town looks poised to plunge down at any moment and the sun (what little there was) had already disappeared behind the granite. So, we drove on through, electing to spend the night way up high beside a reservoir (water again…..it’s a theme!) after a steep switchback ascent along a previous Tour de France mountain climb route. We’d been planning this visit anyway as we hoped that this would give us the best view of the Mount Blanc mountain range, so set off on a hike the following day to another, much higher, reservoir. The unexpected cosy refuge once there provided a very welcome cup of coffee and an especially welcome rest for our legs! The clouds were still with us but at least the rain had cleared, leaving peaks covered in the first snow of the summer….

Lac Emosson is Switzerland’s third highest dam and is a joint venture with the French as the power plant is on French soil. The dam wall is absolutely huge, due to the ravine carved out by the original river. The vertiginous height guarantees a great thrill – so when I saw that there was a zip line across it…….well, you can guess the rest!……

Tonight’s nightstop was dictated by the TMB trekkers – it seemed too good an opportunity to catch up with them all and hear how they were coping with the huge ascents and the chilly rain. I could kid myself that they were keen to meet up with us too, but it’s more likely that the offer of a big hot bowl of chilli along with cold beer was the actual draw! Cooking for six in Skye is eminently possible, however, there was the inevitable “mum, can three more join us?!”, so now we were nine. Travelling with a man who eats like a horse, our food supplies were more than adequate, but our pan situation was definitely not – luckily my food-loving man has also got spades of initiative and came back from a local restaurant with two huge pans. Apparently, he left his credit card there as collateral……which is better than when he’d gone for a haircut while I was away and needed to find an ATM and he left Sandie as collateral!!!!!! So, the priority of food preparation was sorted, now it was up to me to find nine seats; with our regular chairs, beach chairs, camping chairs and cool box, we were up to seven. Where to seat the final two? On an inflatable sofa, of course! Bought in London on my previous trip and transported all the way to India and back, I hadn’t imagined that it would come in useful so soon!

The meal went down a storm and it was wonderful to experience a small part of this memorable feat they were undertaking and to absorb some of the youthful excitement and energy radiating from this intrepid pack. Hiking the TMB is no easy feat as it takes in 10 mountain passes, equivalent to climbing Everest, and is the reason why it is on every serious hiker’s bucket list – is that another one for our Maybe pile?! Maybe, but for now we were content to take in the morning by the glorious Champex-Lac and go for a swim in its icy waters; ‘bracing’ and ‘invigorating’ were words that could only be used once we warm and dry again!

Our plan that afternoon, now that the sun was back and views of Mont Blanc were to be had, was to head to Chamonix to get lifted up to 3842m in the famous Aiguille du Midi, the highest cable car in France and the closest we’d ever get to the summit of Mount Blanc without actually climbing it. Just before setting off, my Skye Adventure man had a brainwave; let’s take it in turns to bike down the hairpin switchback road……great idea, any excuse to get back on the bike and pretend I’m on the Tour du France! Once at the bottom, we reunited in the car park of Gorges du Durnand, so decided to check them out (discovering random gems being a constant roadtrippers’ delight). Seemingly endless wooden steps took us up past 14 thundering waterfalls falling through a sharp ravine – absolutely spectacular, although totally lost on the terrified Sandie who had to be carried over the bridges (which were somewhat see-through….. I can see her point!).

Our next detour was at a pretty Swiss village (aren’t they all?) with an unusual pink church, so we pulled in for a quick cuppa and walk. The local map showed the TMB trail passed nearby so, despite thinking our trekkers would be long past this point, we decided it would be fun to walk a portion of the trail. Imagine our Sa as sA\% then, when we encountered them setting up their tents; apparently the lure of the local bar had overcome their worry about tackling one of the hardest climbs of the week the following morning……we know, as we biked up a bit, before having to ditch the bikes and continue on foot! It was a wonderful, completely random meet-up, but we didn’t stay for too long as we had decided to tackle the switchback up to Lac d’Emosson again to get that long-awaited view of Mont Blanc. Finally! The photos don’t do it justice, but witnessing the 🏍️ setting sun casting its pink light on this breathtaking snow-clad majestic beauty was a real sight to behold.

Part 3 was nearly over and we still hadn’t visited Chamonix (having heard about it all from a dear Algarve friend, we just had to see it!). So, we made sure we left our mountain top with enough time to have an amble around this busy town, picking up on its cool vibe and enjoying a cup of coffee and croissant by the gushing river that runs through its centre. Next thing, unexpectedly, two rafting boats came along……can we put that on the list to do next time??!