This summer we walked for 8 days from Le Buet (close to Chamonix) and "Lake Geneva", Lac Léman. Most of the time we followed GR5*, one of Europe's longest hiking trail system, running all the way from Holland/Luxembourg to Nice. Here is my description of the rather rainy, but good tour.
Photos from our tour, click HERE
* GR = Grande Randonnée, meaning a long distance hike.
More info about the GR5 is available on http://www.grande-traversee-alpes.com/en/gr5-alps
To open the French Map Service click in the map.
The 2014 Tour Team: Wenche and Rune
Kristín and Jon
Eli and Bjørn Lytskjold
Friday 4 July 2014
A travelling day...: Flying from home-sweet-home, to Genève. Swiss thunderstorms and heavy rain delay our flight 45 min. Luckily no lost luggage at GVA this time. We have train tickets booked on www.sbb.ch. Just have to rush down below the airport to catch our SBB train to Lausanne. It's dark and rainy outside. Hard to believ it is mid-summer? 45 minutes later we arrive Lausanne. Rainy, rainy Lausanne. I'm glad that I have brought some umbrellas and booked at Hotel du Boulevard (www.boulevard51.ch) close to the railway station. And even better: Across the street is Italian Café Milan. Goooood food. Superduper service.
Day 1 - Saturday 5 July 2014
Le Buet (1350) - Refuge de la Pierre à Bérard (1924)
7 km, 700m up. 4 hours.
Morning in Lausanne: Hotel du Boulevard is a simple place. No reception. No breakfast. But clean & good. Breakfast across the street. Payment: Credit card online. Weather is good now. Summer. Time to get transportation for the hills:
1) Train from Lausanne 9:20 - 10:09 Martigny (tickets bought on sbb.ch)
2) Shopping food and stuff in Martigny
3) Taxi Alpina (www.taxialpina.ch) booked from Martigny station at 11:00. For 160CHF (cash only) we head for our starting point just across the French border: Le Buet, just south of Vallorcine, north of Argentiere.
Then it is time to start our planned 8 days tour, more or less along the GR5 (Grande Randonnée 5), one of the longer national French Hiking Routes.
We starting our 8 days hike at Le Buet (1350), just across the French, border at 12:00. Good & well marked trail up Vallon de Bérard. After 15-20 minutes Cascade de Bérard offers food & drinks. We just enjoy the waterfall below the cafe, and move one through the forest. The mountains are waiting...Vallon de Bérard is a big and nice valley, lush and green now in July. Still remains of avalanches. We have a short walk today, so it is really no hurry, no hurry. Our lunch amongst the azaleas is Swiss-French goodies.
.JPG) |
Vallon de Bérard |
.JPG)
Refuge de la Pierre à Bérard (1924).JPG)
Bouquetin/ibex just behind the cabin
At 17:00 we arrive at Refuge de la Pierre à Bérard (1924), the tiny cabin sitting below the big boulder, the huge pierre! I have booked well in advance at +33 4 50 54 63 45). Phone to the cabin is +33 4 50 54 62 08. No email.
Friendly welcome by hut keeper Cecile Ancey. The sky is high and blue. We enjoy some beers on the terrace, before heading out for bouquetin/ibex safari behind the cabin. The evening is one of these good ones: Weekend, good weather, friendly staff, good group of hikers. The biggest group here tonight is "the Jura Hiking Club". The have planned well: Several bottles of pink champagne are carefully been brought high, chilled in the creek, the enjoyed before dinner. For dessert they serve us song after song, and good laughs and good smiles. What an evening. Of course the moon is there as well. Close to full.
Refuge Bérard: Price per head is € 40 for half board, cash only. Dormitories only, with rather thin blankets... No shower, but big outdoor sink. But yes: I will be back!
Day 2 - Sunday 6 July 2014
Refuge de la Pierre à Bérard (1924) - Refuge de Moëde Anterne (2002)
10 km, 900m up, 850m down. 7 hour.
Sunny, crisp, calm morning. And breakfast outside on the terrace. Simple French breakfast. Farwell to the "the Jura Hiking Club". They are heading for Mont du Buet (3096). Farwell to the good staff.
At 08:30 we start the steady climb up to Col de Saleton (2526), first on good trail, then it becomes a bit more rocky and unmarked closer to the col. In foggy weather this may be a little bit tricky. Close map studies needed. But it is newer steep or scary through the col/pass.
At the col we climb the small hill to the south (2574) to have a look south toward Massif du Mont Blanc. Yes, it is very white. Fresh snow up there.
From Col de Saleton we follow the good trail through a green and big landscape all the way to Refuge de Moëde Anterne. Lush and green and beautiful all the way. To the SE the big mountains around Mont Blanc give the scenery a very special touch.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
Refuge de Moëde Anterne (2002) (check link) is a rather big cabin. Waiting for our rooms the get ready we try out the local brew: La Brasserie du Mont Blanc. Yes, it works. Both La Blanche, La Blonde and La Rousse.
We get our rooms in the older building: Old fashion rooms and bed with quilts. Perfect. Rooms that smell like the Easter Holiday of my childhood, when my parents for years rented a summer farm in the mountains in Western Norway.
Dinner at is served at 18:30 at Refuge de Moëde Anterne. Very, very good.
Day 3 - Monday, 7 July 2014
Refuge de Moëde Anterne (2002) - Samoëns (700)
20km. 300m up, 1250m down. 8 hours.
New sunny morning in the Alps. The last one this week it proved...Up and ready for breakfast at 07:30. Like so often in France: Not big, but not too bad. After paying (cash only) we are ready at 08:30. We are on the real GR5 now - Grande Randonnée 5 - the long distant trail system running all the way from Holland/Luxembourg to Nice.
Our day starts with the climb up to Col d'Anterne (2257). From the col - the pass - we have a big view both towards Massif du Mont Blanc, but not to forget the big face just behind us, to the west: Rochers des Fiz with its highest point Tête à l’Âne (2804).
From Col d'Anterne it is a pleasant walk down to - and along - Lac d'Anterne, with the marmot playing in the sun. Yes, summer is finally here. From the lake we continue on good trail down to a true lunch stop pearl: Refuge d’Anterne Alfred Wills (1810) www.refuge-wills.com! We do get very involved with family matters - getting very handy - when helping out the owners to move a huuuuuge stove into their summer farm house. Salary: French wine.
At 08:30 we start the steady climb up to Col de Saleton (2526), first on good trail, then it becomes a bit more rocky and unmarked closer to the col. In foggy weather this may be a little bit tricky. Close map studies needed. But it is newer steep or scary through the col/pass.
At the col we climb the small hill to the south (2574) to have a look south toward Massif du Mont Blanc. Yes, it is very white. Fresh snow up there.
From Col de Saleton we follow the good trail through a green and big landscape all the way to Refuge de Moëde Anterne. Lush and green and beautiful all the way. To the SE the big mountains around Mont Blanc give the scenery a very special touch.
.JPG)
Posing above Col de Saleton with Massif du Mont Blanc in the back
.JPG)
Green and big landscape
.JPG)
Refuge de Moëde Anterne (2002)
Refuge de Moëde Anterne (2002) (check link) is a rather big cabin. Waiting for our rooms the get ready we try out the local brew: La Brasserie du Mont Blanc. Yes, it works. Both La Blanche, La Blonde and La Rousse.
We get our rooms in the older building: Old fashion rooms and bed with quilts. Perfect. Rooms that smell like the Easter Holiday of my childhood, when my parents for years rented a summer farm in the mountains in Western Norway.
Dinner at is served at 18:30 at Refuge de Moëde Anterne. Very, very good.
Day 3 - Monday, 7 July 2014
Refuge de Moëde Anterne (2002) - Samoëns (700)
20km. 300m up, 1250m down. 8 hours.
New sunny morning in the Alps. The last one this week it proved...Up and ready for breakfast at 07:30. Like so often in France: Not big, but not too bad. After paying (cash only) we are ready at 08:30. We are on the real GR5 now - Grande Randonnée 5 - the long distant trail system running all the way from Holland/Luxembourg to Nice.
Our day starts with the climb up to Col d'Anterne (2257). From the col - the pass - we have a big view both towards Massif du Mont Blanc, but not to forget the big face just behind us, to the west: Rochers des Fiz with its highest point Tête à l’Âne (2804).
From Col d'Anterne it is a pleasant walk down to - and along - Lac d'Anterne, with the marmot playing in the sun. Yes, summer is finally here. From the lake we continue on good trail down to a true lunch stop pearl: Refuge d’Anterne Alfred Wills (1810) www.refuge-wills.com! We do get very involved with family matters - getting very handy - when helping out the owners to move a huuuuuge stove into their summer farm house. Salary: French wine.
Next time this will be a place that I what to spend a night. Such a fantastic setting: Green fields. The big wall of Rochers des Fiz (2804). Friendly folks!
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
After the cheese and sausage and ham and beer lunch at Refuge Wills it's back on the GR5 again, continuing a few km to the NW though very nice terrain, before the trail gets steep and rougher, dropping down, down, down into the "Samoëns Valley". Big forest, big valley, big waterfalls. But the the rain and clouds are coming in now making our world a bit slippery, rather wet and with limited views. Somehow we end up walking all the way from Sixt to Samoëns, despite some mentioning: "We should find a bus stop now...!" And the "short cut" through Gorge des Tines was far more demanding then expected. And far more exotic. Anyhow: The rather long walk finally brings us to the nice village of Samoëns. Where the beer tastes very, very good. Where the booked Hôtel Le Gai Soleil (check here) is worth every penny. € 112 per double room.
.JPG)
In Col d'Anterne (2257) facing Rochers des Fiz (2804)
.JPG)
Marmot
.JPG)
Refuge d’Anterne Alfred Wills (1810)
Day 4 - Tuesday 8 July 2014
Taxi from Samoëns (700) to - Gîte d'Étape Chardonnière (1346)
Daytrip from Chardonnière to Col de la Golèse
Our friendly taxi driver (Raoul?) takes us nearly all the way to Gîte d'Étape Chardonnière, for €70, it's only a short and wet walk up to the cabin.
.JPG)
Umbrella testers
.JPG)
Gîte d'Étape Chardonnière (1346)
Weather is clearing up: We go for a daytrip to Col de la Golèse. May be it would have been a better choice to stay at the cabin up there: Refuge de la Golèse.
Day 5 - Wednesday 9 July 2014
Gîte d'Étape Chardonnière (1346) - Refuge de la Haute-Bise (1770)
20km, 1200m up, 780m down. 7 hours.
Wet and grey morning, there is a thin layer of snow on Tête de Bostan (2406) east and above Chardonnière,but: Today we will walk. Breakfast at 07:00. After paying (cash only) we are alle dressed up and ready - including umbrellas - starting the climb towards Col de Coux (1920). Weather is rather dry (!) in the start, but then the rain and fog take over. Short pause at the tiny building in the border pass, with a Swedish-Italian couple walking the other way. Then we leave France to spend a few very very wet and foggy hours in Switzerland. GR5 is partly following trails, party gravel roads here. Since weather is so wet we find gravel good. Giving sun it might have been a bit too "civilized" this. This area is a very popular ski resort. All over ski lifts are hanging around in fog waiting for more action...
Lunchtime is coming up. We trust the Swedish Col de Coux lady saying that the restaurant Buvette chez Yoyo et Jibi (+41 24 479 30 45) at Chaux Palin (1844) serves the best food in this part of the fogs. Long stop, while a good stove tries our stuff. And the chef make sure we don't leave too hungry. Leaving Chaux Palin the weather is much better, but we feel so. The GR5 now turns back towards France again, where it belongs after alll. But before crossing the border we pass tiny Lac Vert where the superduper charming Refuge de Chesery (www.lacvert.ch) is begging me (us?) to stay. I say to myself: Next time...
.JPG)
On the Swiss side: Lac Vert (1970)
.JPG)
Refuge de Chesery (www.lacvert.ch)
.JPG)
Refuge de la Haute-Bise/ Col de Bassachaux (1770)
Day 6 - Wednesday 10 July 2014
Refuge de la Haute-Bise (1790) – La Chapelle-d’Abondance (1000)
20km, 400m up, 1200m down. 6 hours.
French breakfast at Haute-Bise at 08:00. Outside it is wet, cold and grey, with snow on the hills above 1900m. After all it is mid-July in the low Alps... We pay (card or cash) and give our compliments for a fantastic stay. In our best French. Weather being so wet we skip parts of GR5 towards the next village La Chapelle-d’Abondance (1000): For the first 1-2km we follow the road and a side track before joining GR5. And since fog and fresh snow is sitting at the "Col les Mattes" ( ≈ 1900m) we choose a trail that goes lower, via les Quebales
to Châtel down in the main valley.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
If it is a much better choice than the GR5 I don't know: It becomes very, very muddy and slippery as we get lower thanks to cows and logging, and the rain! Long and a bit boring trail down the main valley, the last km along the main road. And: Our rooms for the night is not the very best on a wet wet wet day like this:
.JPG)
The Umbrella People at GR5, passing Lenlevay.
.JPG)
Sticky trail conditions thanks to logging, cows and rain.
On the side trail leading down towards Châtel.
On the side trail leading down towards Châtel.
.JPG)
Gîte Au Gai Solei, La Chapelle-d’Abondance. Simple, clean and cold...
If it is a much better choice than the GR5 I don't know: It becomes very, very muddy and slippery as we get lower thanks to cows and logging, and the rain! Long and a bit boring trail down the main valley, the last km along the main road. And: Our rooms for the night is not the very best on a wet wet wet day like this:
Gîte Au Gai Solei www.augaisolei.com is clean, but very simple and cold. We need to dry our gear... This gîte has no such facilities. Luckily the friendly owner accept that we cancel the booked standard "half-board-dinner", instead we upgrade dinner a bit (!) eating at Restaurant L'Ensoleillé. Spoiled, demanding tourists...
Day 7 - Friday 11 July 2014
La Chapelle-d’Abondance
(1000) - Novel (950)
17km, 1200m up, 1200m down. 8 hours.
Breakfast at 07:30 at Gîte Au Gai Soleil. While the rain is falling down outside... After paying (credit card) we shop some lunch and snacks, and some more umbrellas! Then we head for the green and wet and grey hills again.
NB! Umbrellas and touring: Never leave home without it! For us it was what made the many rainy days liveable. Even the best rain gear get damp and sweaty on days like this. Even a windproof jacket is too much when sweating up the hill when air humidity is 110% and temperature is 15-20C. Umbrella is the answer. And yes it exists, the Germen have (ofcourse) made Das Wandernregenschirm, check here.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
North of Col de Bise fog lifts a bit. Finally. We even spot some ibex on the ridge to the NW. We continue between the small houses at charming Chalets de Neuteu, before starting the very last and long on our hike. The trail is OK and good all the way, but steep. Soon we are down in the forest. At approx. 1200, a few km before reaching Novel, the GR5 partly follow the road partly an older path/dirt road. Novel is a small and very sleepy place. We were recommended to stay at Gîte Le Clozet in Novel... Well, well: It is only one thing to say about the rooms: Do not sleep there! 3 out of 6 got bug bites. The shower looked like a green house. The good side is that the restaurant is renovated and nice, serving good food (even though none of us really got what we ordered from the menu. Strange.)
Breakfast at Le Clozet, after a little bit forth and back. We pay with card and leave the place 09:30, not looking back. Weather is better today, no rain.
We have talked about walking a trail heading NW over Col de Blanchard towards the place we will stay tonight, Évian-les-Bains. But the hills are still hidden in the clouds, and we have seen enough cloud interior lately! Now we make it straight and aim directly for our final destination for this tour: The shoreline of Lac Léman, Lake Geneva. GR5 - and we - follow the nice old road down along the river. It's like a jungle down here. Humid & green.
.JPG)
Very wet in this part of the woods...
First part of GR5 out of La
Chapelle-d’Abondance follows the small tarmac road climbing north. Then
it is back up in the muddy - and cow shit bombed - terrain. The trail
is very good, the landscape very pleasant. But: After all these days of
rain it has all become very muddy and slippery now. Not a lot of people
our walking in conditions like this, but we meet a few sliding down the
opposite way. Highest point after La
Chapelle-d’Abondance is Pas de la Bosse (1816). Then the trail zig-zag
down to the 8-9 buildings at Bise (1500). Bise has an open CAF, Refuge
de Bise, http://chaletdebise.ffcam.fr/ (no guard/booking). But best of
all: Bise has le Petite Restauration "Les Cabrettes". The lunch we are served there will be very, very hard to
match. I guess we are a bit affected by finding such an oasis in the
middle of the thick fog... But still!
Hard to leave "Les Cabrettes". Hard, heavy and foggy. Slowly, slowly we climb the 400m waiting for us up to Col de Bise (1915). Between silent cows with very noisy cowbells. Poor animals, they must all get tinitus before the age of 3. .JPG)
Lunch of the year at "Les Cabrettes", Bise.
.JPG)
North of Col de Bise: Clearing up when approaching Chalets de Neuteu.
North of Col de Bise fog lifts a bit. Finally. We even spot some ibex on the ridge to the NW. We continue between the small houses at charming Chalets de Neuteu, before starting the very last and long on our hike. The trail is OK and good all the way, but steep. Soon we are down in the forest. At approx. 1200, a few km before reaching Novel, the GR5 partly follow the road partly an older path/dirt road. Novel is a small and very sleepy place. We were recommended to stay at Gîte Le Clozet in Novel... Well, well: It is only one thing to say about the rooms: Do not sleep there! 3 out of 6 got bug bites. The shower looked like a green house. The good side is that the restaurant is renovated and nice, serving good food (even though none of us really got what we ordered from the menu. Strange.)
Day 8 - Saturday 12 July 2014
Novel (950) - Saint Gingolph (380)
3km, 550m down. 1 hour.
Breakfast at Le Clozet, after a little bit forth and back. We pay with card and leave the place 09:30, not looking back. Weather is better today, no rain.
We have talked about walking a trail heading NW over Col de Blanchard towards the place we will stay tonight, Évian-les-Bains. But the hills are still hidden in the clouds, and we have seen enough cloud interior lately! Now we make it straight and aim directly for our final destination for this tour: The shoreline of Lac Léman, Lake Geneva. GR5 - and we - follow the nice old road down along the river. It's like a jungle down here. Humid & green.
.JPG)
Novel, we leave you and Le Clozet now...
.JPG)
Getting lower, getting greener as we head for "Lake Geneva".
Days of walking, hiking, trekking are over: Suddenly we are at Saint-Gingolph, the Swiss-French border town at the lake side. Like som many times before, I'm not enough prepared for moments like this. It's a strange mix of joy and sadness.
We
find a cafe as close as possible to the big lake, and order our last
beers while still feeling OK and comfortable in hiking clothes...
.JPG)
Umbrellas. Connecting people!
From Saint-Gingolph we take the bus to the nice town of Évian (famous for its mineral water)-les-Bains. I have booked a hotel in the very center, Hotel de France. For sure a good place to stay. We find our rooms, we find the showers, we find the cleanest clothes left in the pack. Outside sun is shining. It is time for a high quality lunch. We find Le Petit Lyon. Just perfect...The we go for a walk around Évian which has it all: Lakeside, funicular, shops, ice cream and bars.
.JPG)
.JPG)
Room view from Hotel de France, Évian-les-Bains,
Sunday 13 July 2014
Heading home, splitting up... But first a final French walk in Évian. .JPG)
The final GR5 2014 Group Photo: Kristín, Rune, Jon, Wenche, Bjørn, Eli
Kristín and Jon have an extra Évian day. Wenche, Rune, Eli and I take a boat across Lac Léman to Lausanne (unfortunately we missed the real steamer). For a lunch there. To find a train that heads for GVA. And then the plan home to la Norvège.
PS While we have struggled with rain and fog Scandinavia had struggled with the warmest July for 50-100 years. Oh la la, c'est la vie!
.JPG)
Au revoir Évian, au revoir France! Across Lac Léman bound for Swiss Lausanne.
