A bit of a groggy wake-up & Breakfast but who cares we had an easy day ahead. Early on we looked at the forecast & could see that rain was due on Monday night & early Tuesday making (today was Sunday) an easy decision, we would leave a day earlier than planned & head to a campsite we’d used before near Troyes, roughly halfway between here & Calais. So this would be our last full

One thing I forgot to mention in the 2nd blog was that when we got down to the hut after climbing Gran Paradiso my right boot zip malfunctioned so I’d made a mental note that when we got back to the car I’d need to test it to see if it would work in Switzerland. It failed that test so our hectic turnaround later that evening would also mean a visit to Chamonix & more

Day 1 No need for an early start as todays objective was simply to drive through the Mont Blanc tunnel, make our way to the village of Pont in the Savarenche valley to park up & walk up to our home for the next 3 days, the Refuge Vittorio Emanuele, named after the Italian King who’s hunting grounds had long since been re-classified as The Gran Paradiso National Park. Gran Paradiso, the mountain is the

Having booked my more-or-less annual Summer sojourn to The Alps to team up with ‘my’ guide, Tim Blakemore, I was told by my most recent climbing partner, Judy, ‘I can’t make those dates Paul as they overlap with my cycling trip with ‘The Belles”. Plan B was an instant thought ‘could Dorina take Judy’s place now that we have a quieter Cafe?’. Dorina………..? ‘Yes please my Darling’ came her enthusiastic reply. This was going to

So you are still with me, really? Early on the ascent of the Rhyd Ddu having passed a family group as well as a middle aged woman (probably my age so maybe that should be an old woman) whom I gave reassurance to that the path did also lead to the South Ridge my next memory is that of seeing the concerned faces of Maggie & Alwyn Oliver as they opened the first gate for