Hiking in the French Alps

July 4, Getting Ready to Hike

I traveled to Grenoble, France by way of Lyon, London, Houston, and Albuquerque. We started at the Hotel Des Alpes, two blocks from the train station. It was a hot and humid day and there was no cooling in the hotel room. Grenoble is a past host city of a Winter Olympics and had a gondola called the telepherique the went up to le fort de la Bastille, giving a good view of a nearby mountain called le Moucherotte. I explored this on the last day of the tour.

We were up at 6:40 the next morning for a continental breakfast of rolls and croissants with chocolate milk and juice. We left the hotel at 9:00 and drove east along route 91 to Bourg d' Oisons where we spent about 45 minutes looking around and buying food for lunch. The we went on to la Grave where there was a view of the Meije Glacier. We stayed for 20 minutes and then to the Alpin Jardin for lunch and to visit the Jardin which had mountain plants from around the world. Well done.

We continued on the road to Briancon, going over the Col de Lauteret at 2052 m, where we stayed at the Edelweiss Hotel, just down the hill from the old city walls. The distance from Grenoble to Briancon was about 120 km. We rested an hour until 4:30 then went into the old city. There is one main street with shops and a few side streets. Many people appear to live within the walls of the old city. The church had some displays on Africa for some reason.

I walked up high for a view of the town and saw that some of the roofs were fitted with logs to keep snow from avalanching off. Dinner was at the Fontaine restaurant in the old city. They had a buffet of salads and featured grilled meat. I had a pork chop with potatoes. No fireworks in France for Fourth of July. Hiking starts tomorrow.

July 5, Briancon France

We left at 9:15 for the Vallee de la Clairee, driving to the Refuge de Laval. This area is a little east and north or Briancon, near the Col de Montgenevre. We hiked for two hours to two lakes, then back down, finishing about 4:00, and back to the hotel at 5:00. I napped until 7:00 and then dinner at Passe Simple. I had ham with melted cheese and potatoes, with walnut ice cream. The weather was good during the hike but was windy at the lakes. I needed two layers. There was snow on parts of the trail. There were dangerous snow bridges where someone could have fallen through into a creek. I didn't see any wildlife.

There were many flowers along the trail, buttercups, geraniums, blue bells, rhododendrons, sedums, lilies, maybe some gentians. We saw one large herd of sheep and a few cows.

July 6, Briancon

We don't leave until after 9:00 because the stores that sell food for our lunch don't open until then. Today we went back to the west to Alpin Jardin area and a trail head into the Parc des Ecrins. We started hiking at 10:30. At 12:30 we stopped on a glacial moraine for lunch. Great views in all directions. We were at the junction of several valleys. There were several narrow spots in the trail with steep drop offs to the side. Some in our group were on the verge of freaking out at these narrow spots, but we made it past.

We were hiking around the Meije Glacier, moving in a counter clockwise direction. We left a vehicle at the village of Le Casset to shuttle us back to where we started. We arrived at the Col de Arsine at about 3:00 and it was downhill from there. In one section it was rocky, steep and dry like a southwestern canyon. We arrived at Le Casset about 5:00. There is a glacier visible from the village that is also called Casset. The weather was very good today. I started out in a blue wool sweater and was able to take it off in the dry canyon area.

We were back to the hotel at 6:00 and had dinner at Entrecote in the old city. They had good salads there, the Paysenne had bacon bits, potatoes and eggs on a big plate. Then steak and potatoes au gratin and a flottant. The flottant was custard sauce with two lumps of meringue. I like this format, mountain hiking followed by good food and a comfortable bed, and do it again tomorrow.

The hike was long today. I have some soreness in my lower legs and knees and there is a hole developing in one of my shoes.

July 7, St. Veran France

We left Briancon about 9:45 for St .Veran via the Col d'Izoard, 2360 m, which is one of the typical routes for the Tour de France Bike race. There was a statue of a bike racer at the crest. I bought some candy there for 90 francs, more than I thought it was going to be. At 11:30 we hiked to Lac Souliers. The trail was labeled GR 58. We arrived there about 12:30 and stayed until 2:00, then returned to the car at 2:40 and traveled to St. Veran to stay at the Grande Tetras Hotel. Today's hike was short because yesterday's was long.

St. Veran is touted as the highest village in Europe, It is perched on a green hillside where herders work in among the tourists. We noticed a lot of sundials in this town. There seemed to be on every corner. Dinner was served family style with salad that included some fish and potatoes, along with the lettuce, and a lot of string beans. The entre was lamb brochettes and turnips, then a cheese course and ice cream for dessert.

July 8, St. Veran

Left the hotel at 9:10 and drove to a large parking area where we caught a shuttle to take us uphill about four miles to a trail head. This area is called the Parc du Queyras. We got going hiking at 10:20 and climbed up the valley to the Col de Veran which is on the border with Italy. We had arrived there at 11:50 and stayed until 1:00. There were clouds on the Italy side so no view in that direction. We were in sight of Mount Viso, 3841 m, and Col Noir also.

We could see the peaks of the Parc des Ecrins from the col. The Parc des Ecrins is 230,000 acres of Alpine terrain centered around the massif de Pelvaux. Weather was good again. We took a slightly different route back past Lac Blanc and a refuge. I was two marmots today, no birds, lots of flowers but mostly the same ones we've been seeing.

We got back to the shuttle point about 3:00 and back to the hotel about 4:00. For dinner we started with melon rather than salad, then veal with potatoes and leeks, cheese and a cake with plums in it.

July 9, St. Veran

We hiked in the valley just to the north of where we were yesterday, still in the Parc du Queyras. The hike was on a road as the regular trail was closed due to water damage. The road was smooth and led up the valley to a belvedere, which is an open area. Most of the hike was through larch forest. At the end of the road was a trail leading to a refuge.

We stopped in the open area for lunch and had a good view of Mt. Viso across in Italy. Same as yesterday, there were clouds swirling around the mountain so that it went in and out of view. A swift stream was nearby. Everything was here, mountains, snow, streams, forests, wildflower, a fine place for a hike.

We had left the hotel at 9:30. hiking by 10:30, lunch at 12:30, start back at 4:30. and back to the hotel by 6:30. Our lunches were tasty, usually some kind of sandwich with cheese and fruit. We were having fun using the french words like fromage and moutarde during lunch. Raccourci means shortcut, we'd see small signs saying that along some trails. Stationnemant genant means parking here would be annoying...it's not forbidden but you are a jerk if you do so. Epuissee means exhausted, I liked to use this one when someone asks Ca va.

The hotel was more crowded today than yesterday. The heel of my cheap shoe is about to fall off but only two hikes to go. On the way to this trail there was a lot of activity in the towns, rafters, kayaks, tennis, pizza, fun stuff.

Dinner started with a slice of ham and that's all, sort of an unusual salad. The main course was chicken and green beans followed by cheese and ice cream.

July 10, Ailefroid

We left the hotel at 10:45 for Ailefroid. This is on the way back toward Briancon with a turn off to the west. On the way we were in the peleton of a bike race. The race goes on despite traffic. On down hill sections the bikes pass the cars and get passed on the up hill sections. It was as if we were racing also. The riders must be fearless as the roads were narrow and the traffic was heavy in both directions. it was scary to watch.

I noticed that the rural French style of small building construction was the same as I saw in Cameroon during my Peace Corps tour. They use concrete blocks with concrete plaster on the outside walls, a ring beam around the top, the same rebar column arrangement, and the same corrugated aluminum or iron roofs.

We arrived in Ailefroid, a sort of mountain resort village about 1:45. Walking around I saw two groceries, and several souvenir and sports shops. Rock climbing is available here. The geology is granite rather than sedimentary and is better for climbers. There is a very steep wall about 1000 ft. high. No hike today, more of a rest day

For dinner we started with jambon duo, which was two slices of ham that were different colors. The French like to make up confusing names for food. Who could guess what jambon duo was. Then we had lamb chops with fried potatoes. The chops were called agneu carre. Dessert was cygne au chantilly. a swan shaped pastry with whipped cream. This was the second night in a row that we started with a ham slice. After dinner I saw a few bat flying around. It's unusual to see any animals here, even birds.

July 11, Ailefroid

Left the hotel at 9:30 and drove up the valley to the south part of the Parc des Ecrins. There were dozens of cars here, the most crowded place we've been. We hiked steeply uphill for 2.5 hours to the refuge du Glacier Blanc. This was the most uphill we've done. Many of the other hikers were carrying crampons, ice axes, ropes, and special boots for crossing the glacier. We could also see ice school classes practicing on the ice.

This was the first refuge that had a chance to look into. It was packed with people dining and drinking. It was like a small dormitory hotel/restaurant in the middle of a wilderness, and was perched on the edge of cliff. Great view but I wonder how they got all the materials up here. The French Alpine Club builds these. Their system provides more convenience than ours does.

There is another refuge 2.5 hours up the trail and many hikers were headed up there. The view from the refuge was sensational, the glacier to the right and snow capped peaks to the left. Our climb was about 3000 feet. We left the refuge at 2:00 and got to the bottom at 3:30 and to the hotel at 4:00. I did this hike with my left hiking shoe but substituted my low cut hiking shoe for the right foot, so I had an unmatched pair. It didn't seem to make any difference, both feet are tired.

There were a lot of black birds called couchards hanging around the refuge looking for free food. I saw one fly off with an apple slice. Our dinner started off with a pizza slice, and then trout.
July 12, 1994 Ailefroid

The last hike of the trip, in another valley near Ailefroid. Yesterday it was the west valley, today the south. We drove only about one mile through campgrounds before starting at 9:50. We hiked uphill until 12:10, then stopped on a flat rocky outcrop for lunch. Along the way, on the east side we saw about a dozen chamois, a brown deer like animal with short horns. They have been restocked in this area. The valley slopes were very steep with rocky cliffs and snow fields.

The chamois were on the green sloping areas and also on the snowfields. Along the trail was the site of a cemetery where Huguenot-French Protestants- were massacred by Catholics at some point. A refuge was further up the trail, in view, but it would have taken us another 1.5 hours to get there. We didn't have the energy to climb much further.

We started down about 1:30 and finished about 3:00. At this hotel I've seen the French habit of bringing dogs into restaurants and having them sit quietly under the tables. They seem very well trained but don't seem to want to be petted. We completed all our hikes without catching any rain, so I didn't need to use my new Gore-Tex rain pants. Dinner started with ham again, then the main dish was chicken and eggplant covered with an Italian sauce.

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