Chamonix, France: the first weekend adventure

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Scenery just above the hut

We always new that we were arriving in Chamonix at an odd time of year, at the tail end of the summer hiking and trail running season, and before the winter sports season.  And so it was that one of the last remaining open refuges had its final weekend the day after we arrived.  We gambled on the weather, booked a night, and won!  Big time.  This is one of the most spectacular mountain environments anywhere, and I simply cannot imagine better weather than we had.  Cool, clear air, and wall to wall sunshine.  I will let the pictures tell that story.

The little red train that pulls you 1000m up the mountain

One of my favourite pictures of the year: Felicity loves hiking and is really strong

The glacier

It wasn't all smiles, but there were plenty


At the top of the Le Signal, 2204m

Grand balcon nord, hugging the southern wall of the valley

Grand balcon nord with hiker (Crystal)

Arriving at the hut

The hut is 1000m above Chamonix town and we knew we would be tired from travel and acclimatising to the altitude, so we gave ourselves a fighting chance by taking the little red train up to Montenvers before carrying on up to Le Signal so that we could enjoy the Grand Balcon Nord, as it contours along the valley wall at 2200m, to the Refuge de Plan de l'Aiguille.  It was breathtakingly beautiful.  

We knew that the hut would be full although we were the first to arrive at 4pm.  We celebrated with hot chocolate and coffee looking over the valley, and met Belle, the refuge dog.  Before dinner we hiked a little way up towards the cable car station, built rock towers and soaked up the perfect day.  The dining room is a cozy spot hanging right over the valley, and with 35 people squeezed in it had the classic congeniality of a mountain hut, full of people high on fresh air, altitude and perhaps a few bottles of vin rouge.  Dining was an extravaganza of soup, bread, cheese, gateaux de pomme de terre, baked tomatoes, beef stew, and tart.

Our home for the night, 2207m

A good old bowl of choc chaud

Table with a view

Dining room with a view

After a not particularly restful night we drank up more troughs of hot chocolate and coffee before starting the hike straight down the mountain and back to Chamonix, taking in a quick detour to check out the kids new school before they start tomorrow.  There will be some sore legs in the coming days.  

Sunrise looking down the valley towards Argentiere

We were trying to recreate a picture of Felicity playing in a water trough in Switerland when she was 18 months old, but it was much colder here!

Saying good bye to Belle. The kids make friends with dogs really quickly; I guess we all do

Refuge de Plan de l'Aiguille

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