6 LEAVING LES GORGES DU VERDON AND EXPLORING THE ALPS

Honestly, it’s becoming more and more difficult to remember each day as we are cramming so much in. I simply cannot believe that when this is released, I’ll be in my seventh week. It’s going so fast. Too fast!

Anyway… Still in the Verdon Natural Regional Park, we began this week with a walk in the town of Castellane. This small hike took us up a very steep path, directly to Le Roc au Serre et la chapelle Notre-Dame du Roc (a little church on the side of a cliff). It was a beautiful day which only helped show how amazing the views were. The town of Castellane was also very nice, so bear it in mind if you are ever heading to the Gorges!

We soon left Castellane as we had quite a drive ahead of us towards the Alps. The drive was very scenic but also extremely sweaty. Bert does not have aircon, which, during a long 4-hour drive, can be tough. So, to cool-off, we stopped to swim in a lake in the town of Embrun. After a quick dip, we headed to our final destination of the day: Briançon. Having camped near Briançon a few years ago, I was pleased to know that it was still as nice as I had remembered. We parked up in a public carpark near the base of the fort which towers over the town. Also, with a boulangerie just opposite, it ended up being a very nice spot to stay the night (despite finding a needle in the public toilets). Following a regretful stroll around the town (we were unprepared for the hilliness), we made fajitas and watched the Darkest Hour. We do love Gary Oldman.

The next morning, we had a great time hunting down the skateparks Cam had recommended. Google had told us that it was over an hour quicker to reach the parks if we used a toll route. Therefore, we decided to sacrifice some money so that we could get to the parks before it was too hot. Unfortunately, when we reached the toll (after driving for an hour already), the card machine displayed €69.80. Upon learning this information, we did what most sensible people would do and the obvious choice - we drove for 3 hours through the Italian Alpes to reach the skateparks in France, to avoid paying the €70. I think as a result of the frustration I felt, I had a mental block for the duration of the drive because I can barely remember it.

Once we reached the first park, we were already quite exhausted. Then, the midday heat hit and it was just too hot to be skating. It was so unbearable that I literally cried trying a trick – or maybe it was a result of pure dedication to the cause. Either way, it’s hilarious to reflect on. The park itself was really cool but in my expert opinion (…), I don’t think it was well thought through by the local park builders. Cam agreed and said it had “really good potential.” After an exhausting and hot couple of hours there, we ditched the idea of going to another park and went to a local outdoor pool (with slides!) to cool off and more importantly, make use of their showers. Now that our body temperatures had returned to below 50 degrees Celsius, we headed to our camp spot for the evening - which also happened to be the starting point of a hike we were doing the following day. The spot had the most incredible view of the valley and was also home to two very friendly farm dogs, who later became dinner guests as we managed to drop half our food on the floor.

We began our hike up la Dent de Cons at 8am the next morning to avoid the thunderstorm that was forecasted for 12pm. I’d say the first hour of the hike was tough due to a combination of two things: the mountain’s sheer steepness and the fact our fitness levels had not acclimatised to the task ahead. Regardless, we got up and down the mountain, which summits at 2063m, in around 3h30m. The views were well worth the struggle and thankfully the rain only began as we reached Bert.

Although shattered from our early hike, we drove to the very charming city of Annecy to relax by the lake. That we did, before heading into the centre to have what soon became a less relaxing time. I had decided to treat myself to a crepe after our big walk. We found a place, sat down, and ordered with a waitress who, fair play, must’ve been on a trial shift because she was writing down each and every word of our order on her pad. Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, she got my order wrong and brought out the filling of my order (vanilla ice-cream with a chocolate sauce) with no crepe. Already tired from the walk and bitterly disappointed by the mishap (which somehow, I got overcharged by €2), things became a little more interesting when we were told that contactless was not accepted. Neither Cam nor I had any physical cards on us, nor did we have cash and the car was a 25 minute walk each way. So, since it had been a bit of a sham anyway and since they had failed to inform us of this dis-crepe-ancy (I’m sorry) prior to ordering, I saw it as an opportunity to get a free mediocre crepe. I urged Cam to leave, but he insisted on being a good Samaritan and paying. I left and went to a book shop, frustrated that I was paying for terrible service and melted ice-cream on an over-buttered crepe. Cam stayed for twenty minutes (!) sorting it – I don’t even think they cared at that point – but underneath all my anger towards him for paying, it was very sweet and shows his good nature (ish).

Both absolutely knackered, we reached our camp spot for the evening following an hour long drive down some very narrow countryside lanes. It was on top of a hill with magnificent views of the mountains (not sure which ones) and Geneva.

Having woke up in the morning to wind and rain, we decided to have a lie-in and relax until we were bored of tik tok - a rare occasion on this trip! Unfortunately, this happened fairly quickly, so, we left for Switzerland. We drove along Lake Geneva to Lausanne. In Lausanne, Cam went to the Olympic Museum and I chilled at the museum café because my interest in the Olympics does not exceed €15. We then searched for somewhere to have lunch, but without success as we couldn’t find anything that was below our entire weekly budget. Thankfully, baguettes were reasonably priced so with lunch sorted, we moved on to Montreux. Unfortunately, Cam and I weren’t feeling great at this point (possibly something to do with the water we’ve been drinking for the past week from taps next to public toilets), so we made a mutual decision to head straight to the camping spot for the night, which was once again, the starting point of our walk the following day.

We had decided to walk up Le Grammont, a mountain in the Swiss Alps overlooking Lake Geneva. Having started at 8:30am, it was a little tougher than the previous walk but once again, we made it up at a good pace, completing it in just under four hours. The walk took us past the very beautiful Lac de Taney, which was a gem on our descent when we were in need of a lake to cool down in. And that it certainly did. In fact, it was freezing; so cold I could barely stay in for more than a minute. I don’t think I had been that cold this entire trip. After drying off in the sun for a bit, we treated ourselves to some frites from a restaurant in the valley (I say treat because it cost us 10 Swiss Franc!). We then returned to the lake for some sun once more, before leaving to drive to Chamonix.

Arriving in Chamonix, there was a real buzz. It turns out it was the Marathon du Mont-Blanc where competitors trail-run from between 10km and 80km depending on the race. So impressive.

Our camping spot was a public car park full of fellow campers, so there was once again a nice atmosphere. We drank some wine whilst waiting until later to go out for food (things generally don’t open until after 7). A little tipsy, we ended up at an Indian called Annapurna (named after the infamous Nepalese mountain – the tenth highest mountain in the world). I then proceeded to have the best curry of my life. On a serious note, no words can describe how tasty it was. It was the best €22 euro I have spent on this trip and I wish I could say I was joking. We then went to a bar, where a couple joined us and we chatted. It was a little awkward when we discovered that they were not a couple as we had previously assumed given the circumstance. In fact, he was 16-years-old and she was 24. We therefore asked how they became friends, to which they replied “at a drug party.” An unlikely pairing, we chatted about life in Chamonix but to be honest, I don’t think they were the best example of the local crowd, so we soon left.

We woke up early the next morning to go paragliding! Unfortunately, once we arrived at the meeting point, we were told that it was too windy and it was therefore rescheduled for the following day. Although disappointed, we decided to make the most of the incredibly clear day and plan a hike instead. In the end, we decided to hike up the Bossons Glacier. It was a relentless 7km up 1600m, making it by far the longest and hardest route we’d done so far. In fact, I’d argue that the last hour of the climb up was genuinely unenjoyable. However, once we’d reached the top, my mood changed significantly. The views were some of the most picturesque I have, and likely will, ever see. The summit of our walk also emphasised the sheer size of the Mont Blanc, which was an additional 2200 meters on our puny achievement at 2600m. The walk down seemed endless and by the time we reached Bert – seven hours later – we were exhausted.

Despite his fatigue, Cam somehow managed to make us burgers which were so appreciated given today’s activity. However, almost the minute we finished eating, Cam suddenly and quite severely needed the toilet. Initially, there was no problem with this as the carpark we were camping in hosted its own public toilets. Unfortunately, they were having a bit of a sewage issue so Cam had no option (time was not on his side) but to use a bin bag in Bert. This was fine… to start with. Though, Cam soon realised (and made me well aware after missing the bin bag spectacularly) that it was more of an issue than we had thought. He really was not feeling well. So, at 9pm we began a hunt for a hotel so that Cam was able to use a toilet at his pleasure. We visited and called around 10 hotels, all of which were fully booked with marathon runners and supporters. In the end, at around 10pm, we made it to a campsite who reluctantly let us in and Cam could spend some time not pooing all over Bert. I was also able to have a shower so it was a win-win situation.

The following morning, Cam was feeling better but not 100%. This was less than ideal as our activity of the morning involved getting motion sickness at 2000m; yes, that’s right, we were finally going paragliding. Arriving at the Brévent ski lift, both Cam and I were nervous but for two very different reasons. I was worried about falling out of the sky and Cam was concerned for his bowel movements. Regardless, we met our instructors and headed up in the ski lift with all our paragliding equipment. My instructor was a lady named Caroline Brille. She was so incredibly humble, telling me within the first few minutes that she was a multiple paragliding world cup winner (whatever that means) and was the first woman to land on Mont Blanc. Anyway, the experience was very straight and to the point (like Caroline) because within 5 minutes of getting out of the ski lift, she was telling me to run off the side of a cliff. By telling me, I mean she was shouting at me to the point that during the take-off, she said my technique was “really quite dangerous”. Despite this, it was one of the most surreal experiences and I couldn’t recommend it more. We were super lucky with the weather; the sky was so clear we were able to get an uninterrupted view of the Mont Blanc range and the Chamonix valley itself. It really was amazing. For someone who hates flying, I was surprisingly content in the air with my expert instructor Caroline. Cam had taken off straight after us, so our paraglides met and we shared a wholesome moment in the sky. Once we landed (very smoothly might I add) and the entertainment had finished, I realised how ill I felt from motion sickness.

Regardless, we returned to Bert and drove to a laundromat. Whilst our clothes washed and dried, we visited some shops in Chamonix (including a pharmacy for Cam) and had the best burger from Poco Loco (thank you Adrian for the recommendation!). Sadly, it was time to leave Chamonix and begin our journey to Italy. However, we discovered a good camping spot along the Simplon Pass in the Pennine Alps, so we camped there that evening. Once again, we had an amazing view of the mountains - a lovely spot to end our week in the Alps.

SUMMARY

Week 6 was certainly a test of our fitness levels. The Alps humbled me massively (and Cam too - though he doesn’t like to admit it). We saw some unforgettable views and I think I can speak for both of us when we say we will definitely be returning to Chamonix. Hopefully next time Cam will feel a little better! Join us next week in Italy where we visit Lake Garda, Venice and the Dolomites! Once again, appreciate the support :)