The Medieval village of Conflans, high above Albertville, is not among les plus beaux villages, but it does offer a large shaded parking lot, with several spaces designated for overnight camping. After dinner, we took a stroll through the old town.
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| Truly flying buttresses |
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| St. Stephen's, we guess |
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| Main square, now mostly bars and bistros |
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| Outside the old forge; or possibly the Medieval torture museum |
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| Overlooking Albertville |
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| Atop the walls |
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| Beautiful gardens |
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| Another chateau |
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| Chateaux city |
The Route of the Grand Alps is a patchwork of scenic drives from the south of France, near Nice, then north, to Lake Geneva, crossing all the highest passes in France. We drove bits of it in 2010 (here, here, and here), but Vicki wanted to see more. This despite her well-known fear of heights, depths, motion, speed, volume, space, time, etc. It was an act of extreme gallantry on her part. She distracts herself en route by taking pictures, lots of pictures, most of which are eventually deleted, but some of which will appear below and in the subsequent posts. After departing Chamonix, June 23rd, we gained the Route from somewhere down the valley, our initial goal being the Col de l'Iseran, the highest of all the passes, at 2,764m.
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| Climbing |
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| Action shot |
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| Nice reservoir and chapel |
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| Hidden waterfall |
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| Parasail landing field |
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| Pop-up fromage store, way out in the middle... |
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| Excellent signage |
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| Portable milking station; seriously |
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| Lots of pre-fromage up here |
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| Among the hundreds of hairpin curves we negotiated on this and the next day; many of them very exposed; on some the guardrail consisted of the electrified line that keeps the cows from wandering off |
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| White water |
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| Tres dangereux |
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| But we carried on despite the risks |
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| Until this sign informed us that the road to the Col de l'Iseran was closed due to landslide |
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| So we drove back down the mountain |
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| To Albertville, former Olympic site |
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| And still outdoor sports center...to spend the night at the nearby Medieval village of Conflans |
The Grand Balcon Sud is a trail along the Aiguilles Rouges range, facing the Mont-Blanc massif, a popular day hike from Chamonix we've done several times. One takes the La Flegere tele-cabin to Praz and then walks the 4-5 miles along the trail to Plan Praz, where another tele-cabin takes you back down to Chamonix. On a good day, the views of the Mont-Blanc massif are stupendous; on a lesser day, like this one, they're still impressive.
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| The camping rules haven't changed since we did the Tour du Mont- Blanc in 2005; tents only between sunset and sunrise; in Italy, only above 6,000 feet; in Switzerland, no way, no how... |
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| There is trail signage, but not always where you need it, nor completely unambiguous |
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| Forcing smiles as we embark |
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| The flowers, particularly the azaleas, at their height |
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| Across the valley, the Chamonix Aiguilles |
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| As much as we would see of Mont-Blanc that day; the foehn was blowing... |
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| Click to enlarge and see the cables... |
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| Ever in search of greater thrills, the French have invented new ways to hike the Alps |
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| Evettes, they're called, cables between outcrops you walk across...here, two persons together; hopefully clipped on to the cable |
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| Eastern end of the Chamonix Aiguilles |
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| Dru (the pointy thing) |
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| A hiker behind us took a tumble and required a heli-evacuation (so we later learned) |
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| A few snowy patches to cross near the end |
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| Smiling after another great Chamonix hike |
