TMB (Jul 2024)
P1.
We could neither check in online for the second segment from Munich to Geneva, nor at Changi Airport SQ counter, even though the check-in luggage can be checked-in all the way to Geneva directly. When we reach Munich Airport at 7am (the plane was initially projected to be late by 10 minutes to reach at 710am, somehow made it on time), we had only 45 minutes to connect to the Geneva flight operated by Air Dolomiti (a subsidiary of Lufthansa). The crew changed our seats to the front after breakfasts so that we got to disembark first. We walked briskly to the Lufthansa transfer counter, hoping to check in and receive our boarding passes, but the counter lady said our flight time was too close to the departure time, we had to go straight to the boarding gate to obtain the boarding passes. By the time we reach the immigration counter, there was already a queue formed, and we were nowhere near the front. R quickly shoved us to the front, and begged people to let us go first. Luckily the travellers were understanding and gave way to us. When the immigration officer returned our passports, it was already 725am. Lucky the boarding gate was near the immigration counter, we did not have to take the train to connect between terminals. We could see that there were already queues of passengers, waiting to board the plane. There was only one gate agent handling the crowd. The gate agent was surprised that we have not checked in and didn't have our boarding passes, but agreed to sort them out for us after he sorted out the boarding for the crowd. After he made some calls with Lufthansa, he printed out boarding passes for us, as well as for the Japanese couple that were behind us, from the same SQ flight. The six of us were the last to board the bus to the plane, which was parked remotely. The crew only served water and a small piece of biscuit on board.
P2. Seen on the plane
While we made it to the plane, one of R's luggage didn't. When we reached Geneva Airport, the airtag of his luggage still showed that the luggage was in Munich Airport. He went to the lost baggage office and there was a long queue. While filling up an online form, he continue to queue and finally he got to sit down with the officer. After the report was obtained, the pre-booked taxi driver threatened to leave if we still did not go out to the arrival hall and meet him, as he had to pay for parking while waiting for us (which was already 1 hour late). So we left R and his wife to wait for the luggage (which might appear on the next Air Dolomiti flight plying this route) while the 4 of us went to Chamonix with the driver to his 7-seater van.
Driver Nicholas was originally from Argentina, holding an Italy passport. Somehow he settled down in Chamonix, and enjoy the adventure life there while driving to earn some money. The ride from Geneva to Chamonix was about 1.5 hour (88km), and if one is lucky, one can see Mont Blanc on the way, but that day Mont Blanc was shrouded in clouds. We reach Chamonix at 1230pm. The driver had to press a button at the traffic light that bar normal traffic into the town, in order to send us to the hotel. The helpful hotel receptionist told us we could check in, as our rooms were ready ahead of check-in time. The lift was very tiny, can barely fit two persons with luggage. A and J happened to stay at another wing of the hotel, with no lift. There was a free drink dispensing machine with coffee and tea, but hot chocolate ran out. There was also a water dispenser to fill up our bottles.
Y and I went out to buy cable car tickets to Aiguille du Midi, but the queue was long for the weekend. Our boarding time will be 1.5 hour from the point when we bought the tickets from the ticketing machine, so we might as well walk around town and get some lunch. First we went to see the chapel near the town square. There happened to be a climbing competition (Climbing World Cup) on going in the other end of the town, and many people were watching and cheering. We also took the opportunity to check out the outdoor equipment shops.
P3. Chamonix and Mont Blanc.
P4. Gelato was a welcomed respite in the hot summer days.
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P8.Climbing competition.
We went back to the cable car station around 245pm, just in time for boarding. The large cable car can fit many passengers at one go, and we will change to another cable car midway. After that the second cable car brought us to the top of Aguille di Midi. The whole cable car trip (2 segments) took us around 30 minutes, and we were now at 3842m. We were each given a paper slip that has our batch number for descending later, as well as the latest time to leave the platform to board the cable car, in our case 5pm. From there, we had another short queue to board the lift to the outdoor platform. Even though it was misty at the cable car mid-way station, once we were at the outdoor platform, the view of Mont Blanc (4810m) was so clear! We could see many climbers below us, trudging on snow plain, either doing climbing or getting ready.
P9. The cable car started ascending.
We went to queue for the famous attraction - The Aiguille du Midi Skywalk, "Step into the Void", to step on the glass void to have our pictures taken against the backdrop of Mont Blanc. The “Step into the Void” is a glass room with a glass floor, situated off the uppermost terrace of the Aiguille du Midi at an altitude of 3842 metres. Three glass walls, the glass floor and glass ceiling panels, allows one a unique experience enhanced by 1000 meters of free air directly under their feet, in total safety. One can look around and admire the highest peaks in Western Europe, and view the Bossons Glacier - with the greatest descent in Europe (4810m - 1440m), from a dramatic perspective. That queue took around 20 minutes, which we didn't mind cos' outside was freezing cold, at least we were warm indoor. We got to slip our shoes or boots into giant furry slippers to avoid sctaching the glass bottom. we could not bring in our bags or cameras, but we could pass out phones to the staff, and they would help us take the pictures. The lady was super helpful, she took 30 over pictures of me and Y while we were standing in the Void. A and J went on another day, the male staff didn't take as many pictures for them compared to ours. It really matters which staff was stationed at the Void on the day of your visit.
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After that, we went out to take pictures of Mont Blanc. One guy even took off his shirt and asked people help him take a shirtless picture with Mont Blanc behind him. We could see Chamonix and the many mountain peaks in 360 degrees from where we stood.
P12. Mont Blanc at 4810m. Do click on the picture to see it in bigger size.
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P14. The climbers.
P15. The lower outdoor platform, and Chamonix town below.
We took the lift down, and walked inside a corridor to another outdoor platform. There was ice tunnel that we could go through in this lower platform. There were pictures that showed the history of the cable car building lining the indoor cooridor. The idea of building a cable car was originally proposed around 1909, but did not come into operation until 1955 when it held the title of the world's highest cable car for about two decades.
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V1: Video taken at the outdoor platform:
Even though we still had time to walk around the platform, we had taken all the pictures that we needed and could not wait to go down. It seemed like we were not the only ones who wanted to go down ahead of our scheduled time, many families were eagerly waiting near the boarding area too. The staff were willing to let us go down earlier so long as there was space in the cable car, but priority was given to those who held the slip that match the current batch number displayed. The prices of food in the cafeteria near the boarding area was quite reasonable.
During the squeezy cable car ride, the passengers made a ooh-ahh sound whenever the cable car passed through the pylons and took a dip. The couple next to me were tickling each other in a very crowded space. I saw a mammot when nearing the cable car midway station. There was a rifugio/bar near the midway station as well. One could walk out of midway station and walked the trail to see the towns wedged in the Chamonix Valley from the edge of the hill.
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After we bought the groceries from the supermarket next door, we met up with the guys for dinner. A and J ordered a pot of mussles and it was quite a big pot. I ordered pork, portion was ok. The food and wine turned out quite well. The sunset view of Mont Blanc with the clouds gone were totally mesmerising. The sun set at around 9pm.
VA1: Toasting for our day of arrival.
P25. Mont blanc and the moon.
V2: Chamonix in the morning.
The next morning, I went out to take pictures of the town in total quietness, while A and J went to eat the breakfasts served by hotel (15 euro per person). We put all our luggage in R's room for the next 3 days.
P26. The view from our hotel room.
P27. The chapel.
P28. A and J having breakfasts.
P29. A shop that we bought sandwiches and patries from.
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At 830am, Chris turned up and sent us to our starting point at Notre Dame de la Gorge, a small chapel. On the way, we passed by an old dynamite factory that was set up during WW2, and was turned into other type of factory now.
This starting point (Notre Dame de la Gorge) was near the supposed starting point of Stage 2 of TMB at Les Contamines, but we shaved 3.8km of roadside walking by starting from the chapel.
P31. The chapel at Notre Dame de la Gorge.
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P33. The hikers were ready to start the 3D2N journey on TMB.
PA1: Starting the hike.
VA2. Starting the hike.
The first rifugio we passed by was Refuge de Nant Borrant . There was a public toilet after around 2 hours of trekking, followed by Balme Refuge. and these two were the last water refilling points, before reaching the next rifugio 3 hours later. We passed by some beautiful mountain pastures. One dog came to my carrier bag and tried to chew on my packed sandwich, before the owner managed to stop it.
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There was a trail junction that could be confusing to hikers, as quite a number of hikers will turn left, even though we should turn right towards Col du Bonhomme, and onwards to Les Chapieux from there. We continue hiking towards Col du Bonhomme, and reached a windy flat plain still some distance below the col around 12pm, and had our lunch there. Many hikers took a rest at this plain. A and J were way behind, cos J's boots gave way. A had to help her carrying her bag as well. I had to ration my water, as the bottles were emptying fast.
P37. Hiking up towards the flat plain, still some distance below Col du Bonhomme.
We went up further towards Col du Bonhomme (2329m) by crossing some narrow snow trail. One missed foot was all it took for one to fall down the slope. Plus there were hikers coming down as well, and I was wobbly in the slippery snow.
P39. The trail on the right side of this picture, heading up the col, had narrow snowy trails that I was nervous about.
P40. The view from the col.
P41. Throngs of hikers walking up towards the col.
P42. Feel free to click the panorama and see the whole view.
P43. Col du Bonhomme (2329m).
After reaching Refuge du Col de la Croix du Bonhomme, nestled at an altitude of almost 2500m, we had some drinks and pastries before descending to Les Chapieux. There was a very thin melting snow bridge covering a stream that we gingerly crossed, fearing that we might fell into it had we exerted too much weight. (A and J told us the next day that one of the Taiwanese purposedly poke the snow bridge to stress-test it before walking on it, and fell into the stream with his hand cut. To what end this hiker was trying to do with his due diligence, we had no idea.)
P44. Refuge du Col de la Croix du Bonhomme at the centre of the photo.
P45. Marmot
P46. Sheeps seen while descending towards Les Chapieux.
We reached Les Chapieux around 5pm and the Visitors Centre was already closed for the day, so we could only buy the bus tickets to La Ville des Glaciers on the navette (shuttle bus) tomorrow. There was no free wifi in Les Chapieux, so Y bought 30 minutes of internet from the shop in order to find out where A and J were. Apparently A and J just reached Refuge du Col de la Croix du Bonhomme and were exhausted. We told them to stay there for the night if they have availability (which they had, different from what they told us when we made enquiry casually during the break, they told us they were full), and only come to Les Chapieux the next morning. We managed to send out the texts to A and J, got some drinks and took the 620pm navette (shuttle bus) to Bourg Saint Maurice Train Station (20 minute ride to a nearby town from Les Chapieux).
After reaching the train station, some helpful souls in an outdoor shop opposite the station pointed us the general direction to the supermarket as well as our hotel. We bought some groceries before the supermarket was closed for the day. It was by sheer dumb luck that we managed to check in at the hotel we booked, as the owner was about to leave the hotel for the day. She could not reach me by phone as my phone was off. We had 17.5km of trekking that day, the longest in our 3 days of trekking.
Most of the restaurants in town were closed as it was Sunday, so we decided to order pizza from a pizza truck. The staff who took orders told us the waiting time was 1 hour, as there was a soccer match that evening, and he was swarmed with take-away orders. While we were having our pizza outside the hotel, one sparrow tried to poke pizza away from y's hand, much to his shock. I was more on water parade than eating the pizza, as I was really thirsty due to the relentless sun in the day.
The hotel was totally quiet. No air cond, but I really didn't mind. After a much-needed hot-water shower, I was totally unconcious within 5 minutes after lying on the bed, while Y was still packing with the lights on.
The next morning we woke up early, and went to the Train Station to take the same shuttle at 645am back to Les Chapieux. I left my carrier bag near the garden we took pictures and quickly went back to retrieve it, and lucky the bag was still there. The cafe in the train station was already opened, we bought breakfasts sets (pastries/sandwiches with hot drink combo, got discounts) as well as suitable sandwiches for packed lunch later. The shuttle bus driver that took us yesterday was there to buy breakfasts too. Instead of buying tickets on the bus today, he showed us a counter in the train station where we could buy our tickets.
P47. The town of Bourg Saint Maurice in the morning.
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P49. The train and bus station of Bourg Saint Maurice.
There were two shuttle buses, and both were heading to Les Chapieux to pick up more passengers before heading slightly different directions, one to La Ville des Glaciers (our starting point for the day) and another to the Rifugio Les Mottets parking. We boarded the same bus as yesterday and reached Les Chapieux around 710am.
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There were already hikers waiting for the bus. The camp site was bustling with campers visiting the toilets for their business. More hikers boarded our bus, until some had to stand. We reached Ville des Glaciers around 8am, and there was a public toilet before we set off.
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P52. Rif. de La Nova, one of the two accommodations in Les Chapieux.
P53. Camp sites at Les Chapieux for hikers who brought their own camping euqipment.
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We made a brief stop at Rifugio Les Mottets, which was the last water refilling point. The staff that handled the kitchen orders was an Asian.
P55. La Ville des Glaciers (our starting point for the day).
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P60. Col de la Seigne at 2516m.
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V4: Crossing the stream.
V5: Clear water in the stream
From the pass, the trail continues down the valley to the right side of center, with a number of trail branches that eventually come together to the Casermetta, an old customs building repurposed as an environmental education center. Y and I saw a marmot near the trail before it ran off.
P62. Had to cross the snow patches.
P63. Casermetta, an old customs building repurposed as an environmental education center.
P64. Marmot.
P65. Clear glacial water in the stream.
From there, we crossed the stream a few times, down to the marshy meadows at Lex Blanche, where we saw the impressive, tumbling Lex Blanche glacier. Sometimes the trail merged with the stream and we had to hike in shallow water. In just a few minutes more, a short uphill and we reached the popular Rifugio Elisabetta, Now I know why the rifugio was so popular. It was near a glacier, and could be done as the destination for a day hike from Courmayeur. When we arrived at 1pm, the rifugio was bursting with lunch crowd, and check in could only be done around 330pm. Today we hiked for 13.8km, shorter than yesterday. The rifugio was managed by the Italians.
Rifugio Elisabetta had the geographical advantage - it was magnificently perched on a spur of the Pyramides Calcaires, with not one, but two glaciers (Glacier d'Estellette and Glacier de la Lée Blanche) spilling down behind it, almost within reaching distance.
P66a. We had to hike up to Rif Elisabetta.
P67. Rifugio Elisabetta was magnificently perched on a spur of the Pyramides Calcaires, with not one, but two glaciers (Glacier d'Estellette and Glacier de la Lée Blanche) spilling down behind it, almost within reaching distance.
P68. The cake that I ordered, before eating pastas.
V6: The view from Rif. Elisabetta.
We had lunch and drink while admiring the glacier. At 330pm, we checked into our room, and the room slept 5, just nice for our group size. A and J still have not arrived yet. We bought tokens to do hot water shower, 17 litres for 3 euros, which was enough for Y and I, so we took hot shower one after another to make full use of the 17 litres. There was a token box right outside the shower cubicle. Turn on the tap on the left and insert the tokens and voila, you have some hot water comfort.
The mattresses were damp, so we use our think blankets or sleeping bag liners to act as a cushion in between. The wind was strong, so i hung my towel outside and it dried in no time. From far, I could see A and J slowly made it up to the rifugio and the 5 of us were reunited.
VA3: A and J reached Rif. Elisabetta!!
PA2: A's record for the day.
Apparently J managed to get some cable tie to tie his boots together yesterday, and even luckier to find some fitting new boots in the very same shop that Y bought his wifi from at Les Chapieux yesterday, after some advice from fellow hikers who saw her boots conditions near Les Chapieux.
During dinner, we were seated next to a young couple from the UK, and A and R being our ambassadors, were chatting with them. The young chap quitted his job to do a 6-month tripwith his gf who was in Medical School.
We were first served rissoto, and refill was possible. This was followed by main course (pork slices) and then dessert. I asked for risotto refill, and was given a generous refill portion. We added on a bottle of wine. A and J had their instant noodles fix and were happily slurping away, much to our jealousy.
PA3: Risotto was the first course. The UK couple were seated with us in the same table.
The snoring symphony in the room was in full force that night. Y told me the next day that there was a strong gust of wind blowing into the room before the thunderstorm, and the window pane closed with a slam shut after. The poor horse was in the rain throughout the night. The rain only stopped around 830am the next day. We could see the stream that flowed out of the glacier swelled as a result of the rain.
P69. From the window of our room.
V7: After the rain.
A took some photos of us in the room, before we went for breakfasts.
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Breakfasts were quite interesting, there was a pot of coffee on the table, but we could also go to the kitchen and asked for a pot of tea if we wanted, or asked for hot chocolate from the counter. There were biscuits, breads, jams etc on the table. We were in the same table as the young couple.
The rain stopped just as the 3 of us (R, Y and I) were to set out to Courmayeur. A and J wanted to take the bus to Courmayeur instead. They walked an hour on flat road to the village of La Visaille. From here there they took the free bus service straight to Courmayeur.
PA8: A taking farewell picture with the UK couple.
P70. Sunshine after the rain.
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The ponds were so still that we could see the reflections of the mountains. Birds were chirping. Colourful wild flowers were booming thanks to the rain.
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After an hour walk from Elisabetta along an ancient, arrow straight Roman road, the trail climbs up the side of the V shaped, moat like Val Veni to the highest point of the day, the Mont Favre spur (2430m). With every step along the high balcony path, the sheer southern flanks of the imposing Mont Blanc Massif range rising on the opposite side, took our breaths away.
P74. The veiw of Val Veni from Mont Favre spur (2430m).
P75. Glacier Miage as seen from Mont Favre spur.
P76. Cabane Combal as seen from Mont Favre spur.
V8: Mont Favre spur (2430m)
We trekked on and reached Rifugio Maison Vielle (1956m) on Col Cecrouit around 11am. After the rest room break, R took the chair lift down to Courmayeur, and Y and I decided to walk down.
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P78. Do you know the message written?
P79. Rifugio Maison Vielle was within sight. From there, one can take a chair lift followed by a cable car down to the small town of Dolonne, which is next to Courmayeur. Please feel free to click on the picture to see the panorama.
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We met in a pizza restaurant at Courmayeur around 1pm. The supermarket was closed from 1pm to 315pm, so Y and I spent the time outside the Tourists Office while waiting for the 3pm pick up by the pre-arranged taxi. Courmayeur in Italy was like Chamonix in France.
Chris picked us all up at 3pm and told us he was nearly late due to the massive jam from France entering Italy through the Mont Blanc tunnel (11.6km, one lane each direction, shortened the journey between Chamonix and Courmayeur by much). On the way to Chamonix, the traffic was clear on our side, but was choked on the opposite lane. We could see miles of traffic lining up, waiting to enter the tunnel.
We checked into the same hotel, but at a different room this time. The receptionist told me there were 3 rooms booked, and I explained to her that one of the rooms were cancelled and showed her the cancellation email. She requested that I send her the mail so that she could take it up with Booking.com.
There were singings heard in the room, and Y and I showered and changed, walked straight to the town square in front of the church to see the concert. Apparently Electric Youth from Boston came to Europe to do tour-concerts, and they happened to be in Chamonix that very afternoon. I thoroughly enjoyed their concert, as the songs were all in English. I wondered if the French really enjoy the show, but the crowd stayed on. The performance ended at around 7pm, much to the annoyance of Y and he was hungry and English songs were not really up his alley. After I got my autographs from the young performers, Y and I went for dinner by the river. There was also storm in Chamonix the day before, so the river was flowing furiously near where our dining garden.
P83. Electric Youth from Boston performing in a concert at Chamonix.
The next day, we went to the other cable car station - Brevent Cable Car Station to start our trek at the mid-way station at Plan Praz towards Tre le Champ. (part of Stage 10 and Stage 11 of TMB). The cable car started its service at 815am, and many paragliders were queuing with us. There was this guy from the UK, he had his own paraglider set that he was bringning up to Plan Praz for his flying today. The paraglider cost him 5000 UK pounds, and he took up lessons to learn how to fly. Normally it will take a week for someone to be comfortable in flying solo.
P84. Foggy morning at Plan Praz (2000m).
We saw a chamois near Plan Praz, which was a rare sighting. Many paragliders launched and flew into the sky. It must be an incredible experience. A and J tried it in the afternoon (afternoon draft was stronger, so A got to play stunts with his coach by paying extra) and were completely thrilled by the experience. The gopro videos captured the exciting journey.
P86. R and Y noticed a Chamois galloping across the trail.
V11: Chamois
We met a Singaporean duo who trekked all 11 stages of TMB and were close to completing the last stage. We told them we only did selected stages due to time constraints.
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P88. Please click on the picture to see the panorama.
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V12 and V13: Mont Blanc as seen from the trail.
There were ladder sections and via ferrata sections in these stages, we onl had a taste of a short section of ladder. We could not do the via ferrata stages, as we would need to have helmet and harness. We reached Rifugio de La Flégère (1877m), which was near another cable car station for our snack break.
P92. Outside Rifugio de La Flégère.
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P94. Inside Rifugio de La Flégère.
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The walk down to Argentiere was very scary to me, as they were not many hikers and the trail was therefore less trodden. Going down was always a stressful time as one misstep was all it took.
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P97. Train station at Argentiere. Many school kids were having summer excursion.
We reached the town of Argentiere in time to catch the hourly train back to Chamonix. The train was full, and without air condition. We were sweating profusely but it was a short ride back to the city.
VA4: A and J went to Aiguille du Mini in the morning, and captured the climbers in action.
VA5: A and J did paragliding at 340pm afternoon.
The next day, Y and I took a morning walk around the cable car station.
P98. Sunrays in the morning.
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V14: Paraglider
Y and I had our breafasts at a cafe near the chapel, at least we got to sit down in this cafe. When we reached the hotel, A and J were about to walk to the bus station to take the early bus to Milan. Y and I took a slightly later bus to Geneva. R and his wife will be going to Switzerland the next day. Y and I reached the bus station, and the staff told us the bus might be late by 1 hour, which match the notification shown on the app. The reality was the bus was on time. I went out to the platform, and saw the green Flixbus waiting at the platform, the number match my tickets (Bus 479 to Paris). I quickly called Y to board the bus. When Y checked the app again, the late notification was gone.
The lady next to me was so surpised when I told her that I was from Singapore, as she studied in Singapore for a few years before doing her undergrad study in Uni of Milan. Since the seat next to Y was empty, I moved over to sit next to Y, so that she could work on the bus.
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We reached Geneva on time before noon. The walk to the hotel took us 20 minutes with luggage. The room was ready and we managed to check in. We quickly walked to the lake of Geneva and admire the Jet d'Eau, a large fountain in the lake of Geneva, and is one of the city's most famous landmarks.
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P103. The Rhône originates in the Swiss Alps, upstream from Lake Geneva.
P104. See how clear the water was!
The Pont du Mont-Blanc (Mont Blanc Bridge), is a major bridge in Geneva. It connect the quarters of the left banks of the Rhône to those of the right banks. The bridge is about 250 metre-long. The bridge is named after Mont Blanc, the highest massif in the Alps, well visible from Geneva. The bridge notably marks the transition between Lake Geneva, in particular the Geneva Harbor (Rade de Genève), and the Rhône.
P105. Flags on the Pont du Mont Blanc bridge. t's the bridge separating the Rhône River and Lake Geneva.
P106. Famous brands of Swiss watches adorned the roof of the building. Mouettes (yellow shuttle boats in the picture), are Geneva's public transport boats operated on Lake Geneva Lake, between 4 harbours in the city center. Mouettes provide convenient way for locals to cross the lake and very interesting and beautiful way to experience the Lake. With free transport card from hotel, one can travel for free.
Lake Geneva (French: Léman) is a deep fresh water lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland (60%) and France (40%). It is one of the largest lakes (580 km2) in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. While the exact origins of the name are unknown, the name Lacus Lemanus was in use during the time of Julius Caesar. The were fish swimming in the crystal clear water. Swans and ducks were swimming near the steamer and the shore, hoping to get food.
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P111. What the fish!
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The Jet d'Eau is being featured on the city's official tourism web site and on the official logo for Geneva's hosting of group stage matches at UEFA Euro 2008. Five hundred litres of water per second are jetted to an altitude of 140 metres by two 500 kW pumps, operating at 2,400 V, consuming one megawatt of electricity and costing 510,000 CHF per year.
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The English Garden (Jardin Anglais) is one of the most beautiful places to walk by the lake shore, and one of the liveliest parks in Geneva. Its paths are the perfect place for an idyllic stroll in the centre of the city. In the centre of the park, a giant bronze fountain offers refreshingly cool water to young and old. Just a few metres from the lake shore is one of Switzerland’s most-photographed attractions: the famous Flower Clock. Its motifs and floral arrangements change according to the season, to the delight of its visitors. Aside from its decorative value, the Flower Clock is also a symbol of Swiss accuracy, with the time being kept in sync by radio. One more important detail: at a length of 2.5 metres, its second hand is the longest in the world.
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Lunch was at a Thai restaurant which served delicious Thai food, many locals patronised.
Near the train station.
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P122. Gasp!!
We managed to escape the afternoon heat in the historic Old Town area. Following the pedestrian cobble-stone path up the hill, we came across many galleries and cafes with reading corner.
Saint Pierre Cathedral was definitely the highlight in the Old Town area. This is the principal church of the Reformed Protestant Church of Geneva. Previously it was a Roman Catholic cathedral, having been converted in 1535. It is known as the adopted home church of John Calvin, one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation. Inside the church is a wooden chair used by Calvin. At the time of the Reformation, the interior of the large, cruciform, late-gothic church was stripped of its rood screen, side chapels, and all decorative works of art, except the stained glass, leaving a vast, plain interior that contrasts sharply with the interior of surviving medieval churches that remain Roman Catholic. A Neo-Classical main façade was added in the 18th century. In the 1890s, Genevans redecorated a large, side chapel adjacent to the cathedral's man doors in a polychrome, gothic revival style. One can climb the 157 steps to the top of the towers to view an amazing 360° panorama of the city and the lake, but Y and I reached the Cathedral too late to climb. On certain nights of the full moon (4 times in a year), the cathedral sponsors "The Nocturnes de St-Pierre", an opportunity to access the towers for a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside by moonlight.
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P126. Inside Saint Pierre Cathedral.
L'ancien arsenal, also known as the Old Arsenal, is a historic site. It's an old armory dating back to the 15th century.
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P128. Many shops here were related to arts and fashion.
P129. A sign!!
There was a book in the hotel that showed the scenes after the winter snow storm in 2012. Lake Geneva was frozen solid, and people did ice climbing practice in the iced pillars, very hilarious. Sleep was quite difficult as we only had a noisy fan, and there was constantly some roaring motorcycles and ambulance sirens that woke us up.
P130.
P131. Lol!
The next morning, we took the 450am train from Geneva Cornavin railway station to the airport. While we were waiting in the hall, one shirtless man came to beg for money.
The train took only 6 minutes to reach the airport. The flight to Zurich by Swiss Air was on time. We were served a bottle of water and a piece of chocolate.
P132.
P133.
P134.
While waiting at Zurich Airport, there were fighter jets doing stunts rehearsal near the airport.
P135.
The plane from Zurich to Singapore was slightly delay, possibly due to overbooking and also the Crowdstrike incident. The plane ended up delayed by 1 hour.
Notes:
1. Even if the tickets were bought from SQ, and 45 min transit was allowed by the ticketing platform, the transit time could be very tight as we are not EU citizens and hence could not use the auto-gate for fast clearance. Also there will be no one at the gate to assist to bring the passengers to the next gate. Plus online check in was not allowed, resulting in us not having our onward boarding passes. Do take this into account when we book tickets the next time, as any delay in the first segment might jeapardize the onward journey.
Air Dolomiti cancelled my return segment from Geneva to Munich, months before the actualy journey. I worked with the online assist in SQ website to help scout for alternative return flight. In the end, the agent managed to get me and Y to return through Zurich, one day earlier than original schedule.
2. Geneva is probably the closest international airport to Chamonix. There is no direct train from Geneva to Chamonix. Buses and shared/private transfers are good options to travel between Geneva Airport and Chamonix. You can pre-book for seats prior to arrival or departure. Lost luggage office in Geneva Airport can see really long queue and airtags for luggage were definitely useful.
3. Hotels in Chamonix will issue each traveller a free transport card that allows free travel on train, and 1-euro fare on buses. Please enquire with the receptionist when checking in. As for hotels in Geneva, the hotels will send you a mail with a link for QR code registration. The QR code allows free tram, bus and train travels in Geneva.
3. Switzerland uses Swiss Franc, so if you use Euro and the merchants accept Euro, the change will be in Swiss Franc.
4. Do not trust the punctuality notifications in the Flixbus app. Always check on-site to see if the bus was already at the platform. It was by a fluke of luck that I noticed the bus route was the same as the one I booked and quickly alerted Y.
5. You can buy the cable car tickets for Aiguille du Midi or others online, or through ticketing machines, instead of at the manned counters, to save unnecessary queuing time. Also you can consider buying multi-day passes, to take advantage of the cheaper pricing, and inclusion of many different cable car routes and attractions, if the passes are worth the price. You had to do the math in this case. For the paragliders who need to take the cable car often, the passes are worth it.
6. I asked Chris (the driver who drove us to Notre Dame de La Gorge), how much is the landed wooden house with land for Garden about 30 minutes to one hour away from Chamonix. He said 600,000 euro thereabout. I was pleasantly surprised, as I thought it will cost 2-3 million euro. Chamonix is not a cheap area for purchasing proerty to start with.
7. The service attitudes of some of the French and Italians were ... let's just say I would rather spend my money elsehwhere honestly.
8. Hikers were friendly on the trail. We normally greeted each other good day, good morning in French/Italian and with a smil if possible.
9. The Tour du Mont Blanc (in short TMB) is a 170 km trekking trail through France, Italy and Switzerland. Circumnavigating Western Europe’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc, it is one of the world’s classic multi day treks. The Tour du Mont Blanc trail, starting in Chamonix in the French Alps, is broken up into 11 stages that folks can tackle any which way they want. Whilst the entire circuit takes 10-11 days, the flexibility of having numerous start points on the trail enables hikers to enjoy the trail for any number of days from just a one day hike, a long weekend or a week. Some hikers sprinted through the trek by combining stages to shorten the trek duration, while some added in rest days and hence stretch the whole duration longer but more bearable. There are many variant routes introduced by the hikers that not in the classic routes, these variants routes might be more scenic, more challenging and see less hikers compared to the classic route. Most hikers hike anti-clockwise so that the views of Mont Blanc are always in front of them.
Based on online articles, we selected the more picturesque continuous stages for this trip (Stage 2, 3 and 4, followed by a day trip to part of the Stages 10 and 11), with the aid of pre-arranged taxi rides as well as navettes (shuttle buses) to shorten the trekking on the paved roads, and focusing on the trails.
The hiking is longer and more technical compared to the Dolomiti hiking we did a year before.
July turned out to be a good time, as we could foresee that it will be much warmer in August.
10. The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) is a mountain ultramarathon race, first held in 2003, that follows the route of the Tour du Mont Blanc (170km). It has been regarded as the most competitive trail ultramarathon in the world. Renamed in 2023 as UTMB World Series Finals, it is the final event of the UTMB World Series qualification races held throughout the world. The race takes place once a year on either the last weekend in August or the first weekend of September. Total elevation gain of around 10,040 metres. It is widely regarded as one of the most difficult foot races in the world, and one of the largest with more than 2,500 starters. It is one of several races during a week-long festival based around Chamonix in France, and is a race of the Ultra-Trail World Tour. The races have strict entry and qualification requirements attained by accumulating enough race points through qualifying trail races over the previous two-year period. In 2016 and 2017, 42% and 35% of runners did not finish the UTMB race. While the best runners complete the loop in slightly more than 20 hours, most runners take 32 to 46 hours to reach the finish line. Most runners will have to run through two nights to complete the race.
11. Hotels in Chamonix and Geneva normally do not have air conditoners, and fans were sometimes found in the rooms. We had a hard time sleeping in due to the noise from outside when we open the window.
12. No boots were allowed in the rifugios. One has to put the boots in the boots room and changed to crocs/slippers. There were crocs and slippers around that you could change into, or use your own.
13. Cell networks were sketchy at some of the rifugios. Credit cards sometimes do not work in rifugios with poor cell receptions. Cash is still the widely accepted mode of payment.
14. Public transports in Chamonix and at other towns/rifugios can be packed full, be careful when standing to avoid losing balance. Take note of the schedules when taking trains in Chamonix, as the frequency can be sparse. The trains can change platform nearer to the departure time at last minute, always check the display on the patform or using the app.
15. The queues at the supermarket in Chamonix can be longer during 5pm - 7pm time. If you can, shop before or after to avoid long queues at the check-out counters.
16. Sun protection is important during trekking as there were little shades from the sun. Water replenishment and purification pills were equally important as well. Energy bars and trail mix offer you easy source of energy on the trail. Two hiking poles were useful when crossing streams and snow fields.
17. When I went to settle the bill at Rif. Elisabetta, the owner asked me how come only 5 turned up when i booked for 7. I told him I only booked 6, and already emailed them about the 6th person not able to come some weeks back. He said it cant be, as the deposit I paid was 30 euro per person, and the deposit total of 210 euro was for 7 persons. I told him that the deposit requested was 35 euro per person, multiplied by 6 gave 210 euro as well, coincidentally. The daughter tried to explain to him in Italian, but he was clearly in a grouchy mood. I had seen similar arguments of him with some other hikers earlier on, so I was cool about it. Imagine the amoutn of stress they had to face daily, so I took no offense at all. Either bring email printout or show him the email print screen on the phones, as there was no wifi to load the mails.
18. There is normally a game/reading room in the hotels in Europe, which I found it incredibly comforting.
19. There might be less than enough charging points available in rifugios or older hotels.
20. Some staff are more helpful than the others, you can tell the difference. While some will say yes, some will say no for the same requests without even checking. Some will give you wrong information that they themselves are not sure, and caused you anxieties. Do not take their words, always double check.
One example: I was asking the lady at Rifugio De La Nova whether there will be a navette (shuttle bus) to Bourg Saint Maurice at 620pm, and she said no, the last bus already left at 6pm. The truth was, and I found it out by waving at the shuttle bus driver when he was driving through near the rifugio and asked him directly, whether we were still in time for the 620pm navette to Bourg Saint Maurice. His answer was yes, just hop on at the bus stop about 100m away, he will turnaround and stop there to pick up passengers.
Another example: The gate agent in Air Dolomiti single handedly handled the check in crowd for the whole flight, at the same time called Lufthansa office to obtain assistance to help us check in and printed out our boarding passes for the flight. If he didn't do it, we would have to take the next available flight.
21. On hindsight, we probably would not book private transfer for the trip from Geneva Airport to Chamonix, and opted for shared transfers instead. That way, we had the flexbility of taking any vans that were about to leave the airport for Chamonix.
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