When we did the Tour du Mont Blanc (the 110 mile trek around the massif) in 2005, bad weather on the Italian side and some other circumstances prevented us from seeing some of the most remarkable Alpine sights. So we resolved to fix this by returning to beautiful Courmayeur, camping there for a few days, and piecing together what we had missed in 2005.
Alas, emerging from the Tunnel on the Italian side, we missed the Courmayeur/Val Veny/Val du Ferret signs, and continued along on the autostrada, 30k through more tunnels and bridges until the next exit. By that time we had decided to continue on another score of kilometers or so, well into the Val d'Aosta and through Aosta itself, to the Valtouranche, and up, up, up, to its end, the village of Breuil.
In mountainering history Breuil is as storied as Zermatt. It was from Breuil that the earliest attempts on the Matterhorn were made, including, I think, four of Whymper's seven attempts. Breuil sits at the very foot of Monte Cervino--what the Italians call the Matterhorn--and from the town one can examine the difficulties of the routes and appreciate why the mountain is so seldom climbed from the Italian side. On the Swiss side, one parks at Tasch, rides the train to Zermatt, and then is still some distance from the mountain and its relatively easy Hornli Ridge.
For me, it was a bit of a fulfilling experience. We've been to Zermatt two or three times, even climbed most of the Matterhorn, but I never thought I'd see Monte Cervino.
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At the motorhome aire in Breuil
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One for Roadtrek
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The skateboard track, just below the nearly as famous
Dent d'Herens
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And golf
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Glacier below Dent d'Herens
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Orange cat-fight
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View from the beautiful little village of
Breuil, now a ski resort
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Looking toward the summit
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Driving back to Courmayeur, one of the 70 castles in the
Val d'Aosta
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