We’re off to Europe on Monday. We’ll begin with a five-week walk in France on the GR5. Our journey starts in Thonon-les-Bains on the South shore of Lake Geneva and roughly follows the Swiss and Italian border to the Mediterranean. We first did this walk in 2011 and we’ve been back several times since for … more
A week ago tomorrow we caught a flight to Geneva from Amsterdam, followed by a 1-hour bus ride to Thonon-les-Bains on the south shore of Lake Geneva. From there we started the GR5 the next day. On the flight and bus we noticed a guy with a backpack, also headed to Thonon. Turns out, he … more
Time flies! We are almost half way though our journey to the Mediterranean, staying in Modane tonight, a small town in a valley, after spending last night in a refuge at 2474 m, crossing Col de Chavière at 2796 m this morning and descending 1750 m today. We are glad to have a hotel room … more
We are in the old touristy town of Briançon today taking a full day off. After the long, hard, sunny descent into Modane last Sunday, we set out on a (surprise!) long hard ascent on Monday morning in rain and fog. The fog and showers stayed with us until early afternoon but the weather cleared … more
Another day off after an excellent but tiring week of hiking. This week we have spent most nights in valley towns. Each day has been a climb over one or two cols and an afternoon descending as much as 1100 m. The trails are rocky, steep and sometimes exposed. It may seem odd if you … more