Tag: France
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Camino in France – Time Traveling
Day 10 – Saint-Côme-d’Olt to Estaing The incredibly picturesque village of Estaing was our destination today (Tuesday). We were stumped at what was a bit of modern technology in this ancient village. Have you ever seen anything like it? Reg made a stop in the pharmacy for some help with an achilles injury. The pharmacy…
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Camino in France -Mountains and Farmlands
Day 1 – Le Puy to Montbonnet That’s a glimpse of our first day. According to our guidebook: 9 miles. GPS tracked us at 13 miles. Whatever…it was all uphill! Day 2 – Montbonnet to Monistrol-d’Allier Day 2 was a tough day. Tomorrow starts with a massive climb. We’ll need a good night’s sleep.
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Camino in France – Bonjour Paris
It took us nearly an hour this evening (Wednesday) to find our way back to the charming little side street pictured above. Just when we had given up, there it was! Because every place was filled to overflowing with Wednesday night diners, we took a chance (and a table) at one of the restaurants with…
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Tour du Mont Blanc: Worth every step
The Tour du Mont Blanc is complete. As we sit in our Chamonix hotel lobby directly below western Europe’s tallest peak, some reflections: We knew the weather in the Alps was unpredictable, so we packed rain gear, a warm jacket and lightweight clothing designed for layering. We had two days of overcast and some rain…
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Tour du Mont Blanc: The final climb
It was our final ascent of the Tour du Mont Blanc, which we began July 13. The thick clouds and rain of Saturday afternoon had cleared Sunday when we completed nearly 33,000 feet of climbing and an equal amount of descent over 10 trekking days. As we reached the Col de Balme, Mont Blanc's…
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Tour du Mont Blanc: Weather threatens to halt trek
The blue skies of the past five days have gone and there has been a bit of rain, thunder and lightening today, a rest day in Champex, Switzerland. We met trekkers who had to turn back this morning from the next day's col due to lightening. They faced a 200€ taxi to the next town…
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Tour du Mont Blanc: Switzerland awaits
Today, our seventh day of walking and our eighth day on the Tour du Mont Blanc, the trail led us 8,300 feet up and over the Grand Col Ferret and down into Switzerland. It was quite a climb! Our first two hours of walking delivered us to Refugio Elena, strategically nestled into the hillside…
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Tour du Mont Blanc: Time to return to this amazing trail
It was “ciao” to Courmayeur, Italy today after a day of rest in the Alps resort city. The Tour du Mont Blanc has been more than challenging for us, so we needed the break. Walking into a new country was a new experience on Saturday. We heard “buon giorno” more often than “bonjour” almost…
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Tour du Mont Blanc: After struggle, the mountain rewards
From my bottom bunk looking out a small window in a wood-paneled room, I see a glacier and Alpine peaks high above. Our home for tonight, the Elizabetta hut in Italy, is at about 7,500 feet, two miles from the Italy-France border. The only way we could get to this place, as remote as…
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