Tour dates: 20 Jul to 03 Aug 2006.
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Our first walking day started at Champex and ended here...
Hotel Edelweiss at la Fouly.
The dortoir seemed spacious
after the Hotel Plein Air in Champex
This year we climbed the valley wall above la Fouly.
The path proved to be a gem! It avoids the dull tarmac road in the valley.
It leads direct to la Peule.
We enjoyed a stop there in the sunshine.
Here we are later, at the Swiss/Italian border, admiring some of the French mountains!
Later still, enjoying a drink at the Rifugio Elena.
Travelling from the Rifugio Elena to the Rifugio Bertone.
Here we are on our way towards the Rifugio Walter Bonatti, which is a pleasant stop for refreshments.
The open southern flank of the Val Veni
Rifugio Elisabetta Soldini
Glacier de la Lee Blanche in background
Rifugio Elisabetta Soldini to Refuge de la Croix de Bonhomme.
Photo taken at the Col de Fours on 15 July 2006.
We arrived at the Refuge de la Croix de Bonhomme in good time.
During the evening a hailstorm whitened the mountains....
...and produced some fine rainbows.
This was a free day.
Charlie inspects the hailstones around the hut in the morning.
Bill tries alternative wear, since he had washed his trousers.
Washing hangs on the hut clothes lines.
Another group of TMB travellers, with donkeys to carry their baggage, prepare to depart.
Lunch after a morning walking the ridge opposite the hut.
[Photo of ridge as "white mountains" photo above]
In the evening, the hut warden's son played the fiddle....
....and the whole of the two wardens' families joined in.
We set off via the Col de Bonhomme.
(Which has this safety shelter on the col)
Down via some small snowfields towards les Contamines.
Passing the peaceful cows at la Balme on the way.
Where we stopped for drinks.
And where we were told by the young lady that "sacrebleu!" is "just like your English 'What the ∫uck!'".....
....It says "struth!" or "confound it!" in my dictionary.
In les Contamines, we went up that innocuous-looking path beside the church....
...and eventually we reached the Auberge du Truc, with its strange assortment of tables which fit together like a jigsaw at dinner time.
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TMB 2005 tour