Courmayeur, 2013

The last time we did the Mt. Blanc tunnel transit, it was Courmayeur that had the awful weather and Chamonix that was sunny and dry. Just the opposite this time. But the same in one respect: Courmayeur too is shutting down. Already no bus service up to the Val Veny where we'd planned to do some hiking. Rifugio Elisabeta closes this weekend. None of the lifts is working. Well, the Funivia is, but it's not for hiking. Bus service up the Val Ferret only goes as far as Planpincieux. There are still a number of tourists around, but they are all indies, quite a few on foot doing the TMB or some stretch of it. On a hike up to Rifugio Bertone we met a couple from Alaska doing the TMB who had already had a few surprises about diminished or closed facilities. No other camping-cars at all in Courmayeur.

View from our "campsite," Parcheggio Il Forges, about 300m
from the TI and station in Coumayeur (pictured later)

Us at the trailhead to Rifugio Bertone in the Val Ferret...a new
and much better route for us

Monte Bianco from Val Ferret

Grand Jorasses

Looking up the Val Veny, the Miage Glacier and its moraine

Lots of construction going on on the Italian side; I think
this is going to rival the Aiguilles du Midi telepherique and
provide a shorter and more direct route to the summit

From the Val Ferret trail we actually had to drop down a few
hundred feet to Rifugio Bertone...where we lunched, had a
glass of wine, watched a couple of toddlers play...

In the center there is our camper, at Parcheggio Il Forges,
which on Wednesdays becomes the city market

Still blooming here and there, and a few raspberries remain,
but the leaves on the birches are starting to turn, and there
is a distinct chill on the air; people are splitting and chopping
firewood all around

Last view of Monte Bianco this year

Friday night we celebrated the 50th anniversary of our
relationship...teenage flirting at a church camp in
Miami...with an Aostan repast at our favorite Courmayeur
restaurant; above, the crepes Mont Blanc  

A sweet occasion