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Day Three – Les Chapieux to Courmayeur

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(19kms…6 hours)

Another great start to the day, with a breakfast of muesli, the freshest croissants ever, home made yoghurt, and a multitude of different breads and fruits.

We had time for a quick wander around town and a team photo by a wonderful two story stone barn before being bused up the narrow winding lane to our start.

We had a slow steady climb in the morning which was meant to provide stunning views of Mont Blanc for the first time but with the weather slowly deteriorating we lost our views and discovered the variables of weather in the alps as the rain slowly built.

After three false starts on whether to put on the wet weather gear or not, we were finally kitted out but not before a few of us got wet with our indecision, lesson learnt. With weather gear on, we continued up the hill till we reached a saddle in the mountain which was the border between France and Italy.

Luckily the rain dissipated and we were able to see two countries side by side, a novelty for an Aussie.

Happy snap time, then back down the valley to have our packed lunch overlooking the beautiful vista, but the best laid plans…

The rain persisted, persistently, and any thoughts of eating in it went out the door and the decision was made to keep walking to the bus stop which was taking us into Courmayeur.

With the bus due at 1:40pm we had an hour and a half to get it so it was full steam ahead as we marched stoically on, wet weather gear being tested to the max, following the raging river down hill, mainly on narrow roads, making it to the bus stop with five minutes to spare.

Evidently we weren’t the only trekkers who had arrived at the decision we had, as the queue to board was both long, and pushy! Welcome to Italy.

Got to love Italy, just cram them on and hope for the best, as about 60 hot, wet and sweaty trekkers clambered aboard for the 30 minute drive into town.

Probably not the most scenic venue for a baguette, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Our accommodation for the next three nights is the Hotel Crampons, a lovely, typical, alpine style hotel, all balconies and bright flower boxes.

The hotel is wonderful, the staff tremendous and the rooms well appointed, roomy and comfortable.

Strangely, we found the bar pretty quickly for a beer or two, then a wander around town before dinner at a small Italian bistro.

Lots of laughs, especially when Kate vanished into the kitchen, winning new admirers left, right and centre.

With a rest day tomorrow, maybe time for a post meal drink or two back at the hotel, making plenty of noise and keeping the hotel staff most amused.

Mmmm, looks like the loud Aussies have taken over!

Day Two – Les Contamines to Les Chapieux

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(8.5 hours…21km’s)

After a restful nights sleep, weary aching joints staggered down to a great breakfast, before heading off at 8am.

Ismael claims today to be the most difficult day of the walk with over 1200 metres of ascent, and 900 metres of descent, food for thought as the body warms up.

The Mont Blanc circuit is essentially 10 days of climbing from the valley up over mountain passes, and back towards the valley each day. Total ascent is about 10,000 metres, and the same descent.

Basically we are going up and down big hills as we sort of circle the Mont Blanc Massif, the group of glacier fields surrounding Mont Blanc itself.

From Les Contamines at 1170m we climbed slowly and steadily up to Croix du Bonhomme at 2443m, through beautiful pine forest, into low covered flooring all with breathtaking scenery to elevate the aches and groans of protesting muscles and joints.

The path we are taking this morning is an old Roman road and the highlight of the morning was crossing an ancient Roman bridge, a magnificent stony arched structure which has stood the test of time admirably.

We stopped for lunch high up in the Alps, munching on baguettes of ham and cheese, or salad, marveling at the vista confronting us.

Tony went so far as to say it was the best lunch of his life! Certainly hard to argue with.

Refreshed, we spent the next three hours slowly winding our way down the valley to our destination at Les Chapieux 1549m, a tiny village comprising of only a handful of stone cottages and two small hotels.

Ours, Les Chambres du Soleil, was a wonderful family run two story hotel/pension with a great patio to enjoy a beer or wine, and a freezing stream out the back which some prevailed upon to ease out the soreness in tired limbs, with a beer in hand of course.

Day One – Chamonix to Les Contamines

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Day One – (7 hours…16 km approx)

Finally the day we start walking arrives, after two years in the making and many training sessions up and down hills, stairs and ramps!

An early start with breakfast at 7.30, and on our way at 8am to Les Houches by mini bus, and the cable car to our much anticipated start at La Chalette, but not before plenty of photos to commemorate the moment.

The morning was a mix of beautiful pine forest trails, short steep climbs and descents: fields of low shrubs with wild blueberry bushes carpeting the floor.

A cable bridge crossing at the Passerelle du Glacier was a highlight, especially for Kate and Rach who may not like heights!

More up and down, then a great lunch of potato omelette and green salad at the beautiful Refuge de Miage.

Most agreed that the morning had been tougher than expected, with legs taking time to acclimatize to the steep terrain.

The weather was mild to warm, producing buckets of sweat, as glutes hammies and quads got reminded of what all the training had been about.

Another nasty climb was just the ticket with a full stomach, followed by a steep windy descent, taking a couple of hours, until finally arriving at our destination for the night in the small township of Les Contamines.

Our accommodation for the night is at Chalet Hotel La Chemenaz, which had excellent modern room plus if you’re keen a pool, sauna and spa.

For Tony and I, a serious match of table tennis to sweep away some stiffness!

Dinner was demolished, and everyone was tucked in by about 9pm.

A most satisfying, if slightly shocked first day.

Annecy to Chamonix

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We left stunning Annecy in mid afternoon by bus, arriving in Chamonix at about 5.30.

We were met by a few of our crew and hiked out to our hotel which is a little out of town, as the biggest endurance event in Europe climaxes today. The UTMB ultra endurance races around the Mont Blanc region, including a 160km run around the same route we will be taking. Our walk takes 10 days, the winner of the ultra marathon took 20 hours!

Lots of undernourished, skinny people staggering around town as our crew chowd down on pizza/pasta/hamburger & and or steak at a restaurant in the centre of the village.

Chamonix is quite a large town, with a vibrant shopping/restaurant/cafe strip, and a typical holiday vibe.

It was great to finally be all together, as we rounded out our walking crew with Gemma & Liz, who have been in Italy for a few days, and Denise & Dan straight from Oz.

After a busy evening we only have one full day in Chamonix, spent wandering the streets, doing a bit of shopping, maybe partaking in a pre lunch G&T, and have a birthday lunch with Rachel who is spending her first birthday away from her family.

Some went up the chairlift, but not the most famous, the Aiguille du Midi, as it is closed for repairs. Something about frayed cables, or some such!

Pretty important to the machinations of cable cars to have fit and healthy cables, non?

The Aiguille du Midi is the second most visited attraction in France, after the Eiffel Tower, and the closure is costing approx 1 million Euros per day!

More window shopping, a beer or wine and a 6pm briefing with our guide Ishmael.

Afterwards we had a welcome dinner which turned into a small birthday celebration for Rachel, with Champagne (thanks Specks) and a cake courtesy of our hotel.

Berlin to, Annecy via Geneva

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A very early start today, courtesy of a 7am flight to Geneva. Up at 4.30, taxi out the front at 5, airport by 5.30.

Diabolical coffee and stale croisants had us reminiscing already of the great coffee culture Berlin has.

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That and a wonderful U-Bahn system, funky culture and a love of drinking beer…everywhere and anytime!

Berlin has been great, too short, but tremendously interesting.

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We got Geneva at 8.30 and met Rachael’s brother, Declan, or universally know as Specks, and went down to the lake to have breakfast, with another weird coffee concoction.

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Our bus was 40 minutes late, and border passport checks caught out one miscreant, further delaying us another 30 mins, so we were very pleased to finally get to Annecy at about 3.30.

Time to meet up with another of our trekking group, Cards, and a quick beer before our apartment was ready, and what a place it is. Right on the canal in the middle of the old town.

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Brownie points galore for moi!

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The girls, Kate, Rachel, Maddy and Lucy arrived at 6. 

We were now 8!

Then 12 when Leeanne, Tony, Amanda & Paul lobbed at about 9.30, direct from Melbourne.

Look out Annecy, it could get loud!

One more dash around Berlin

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How quickly it rushes by, before you know it your time is almost up in Berlin!

We’re re-covering a bit of territory today, and hoping to just wander a bit.

First call is coffee and breakfast, then by U-Bahn to our first drop, Topographie des Terrors, which tells the story, in all its chilling detail, of the rise of the Nazi Party.

Housed on the block where Nazi Germany’s most feared instituions – the security services, the Gestapo and the SS once stood, it is a sobering reminder of what can happen when democracy does astray.

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The remains of the former torture cells are used to mount an exhibition chronicling Nazi war crimes, especially against the Jews.

Somber stuff, the whole place is jam packed with information, quite overwhelming in its detail.

Pretty essential viewing!

Keeping the theme going, we traveled to the mainly Jewish centre, formerly Spandauer Vorstadt,  just north of centre. Walking the streets we passed the Grosse Hamburger Memorial to concentration victims, right outside the rusty gates to the old Jewish Cemetery, which is now a park.

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Walking along the streets are many brass plaques mounted in the cobblestones, memorializing victims who lived there before being transported to evil!

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Lets lighten the mood shall we?

Coffee, anyone?

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Off next to Hackesche Hofe, a very interesting area filled with cool (expensive) shops through little laneways within an outer building.

Great spot, and a welcome relief.

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We strolled the fancy boutique laden streets back to the U-Bain, and back to Kreuzberg for a last wander around, and a gelato.

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Yep, we’re not always drinking beer!

Dinner down the road at a German restaurant and bed early, as we have a 4.30 kick off tomorrow down to Geneva and on to Annecy 

Potsdam

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Time for a small detour out of Berlin today, some 30kms away to Potsdam, summer vacation jaunt for the Royals of days gone by.

But first one must fuel the fire, so another cafe for breakfast, and a ripper at that. We are quickly discovering Berlin’s love for coffee, and have found another beauty just up the road from home. Plus, parked out the front has to be the crappiest car in Germany.

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It fair dinkum looks like its just been pulled from the river, covered in mold, grit and grime. Remarkably, it still drives, evidently! We didn’t witness this miracle, but the staff assured me it does in fact start! There’s an article about it on the counter inside, but our waitress was Dutch and couldn’t read it, or explain this wonder of modern mechanics!

Anyway, breakfast was fabulous, so much so the wasps attacked in number. Germany is in the grip of drought and wasps are in plague proportions, dive bombing anything sweet.

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Evidently they dont like croissants, which is reassuring!

Fueled, we hit the trains to Potsdam, about 45mins away, only having to change lines once on the way, plus catch a replacement bus from the station before Potsdam due to line repairs.

Potsdam is filled to the brim with magnificent parks, gardens, palaces and museums; way too many to do justice to in such a fleeting visit, so we limited ourselves to the Park Sanssouci pass, if for no other reason than it was walk-able in a day.

After yesterday our legs are beat!!

Park Sanssouci houses some of the more impressive palaces, and the gardens are quite grand as well.

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First stop, St Nicholas Church, a lovely Protestant shack, with great views from the tower, and a tremendous church organ.

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We walked through the old town, got a little lost, asked for directions and finally found the park and proceeded to walk, and walk, and walk.

Man this park is big!!

We had a 2.20 time slot for our tour of the most famous (popular), Sanssouci Palace, so staggered to the end of the park and Neues Palace, summer playground of the rich and famous.

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I’m not really sure why I bother with all these Royal palace joints, the displays of wealth and poor interior decorating choices leaves me a little cold, and this place didn’t disappoint!

The main reception room was decorated as a marine grotto, for god’s sake!!

Rooms for dressing, entertaining…farting!!

Next!

The gardens are nice.

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Actually, so was Sanssouci Palace, a modest abode, summer house to Frederick the Great. Fred was the grand poo-baa back in the 18th century, from all accounts quite the leader of man (and woman!).

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Decorating was understated, for the time, and the whole thing was rather pleasant, small and restrained. Bravo Fred!

Before..

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and after!

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Official duties over, we walked back through town, window shopping as we went…dreaming of cold beer and raised feet, finally getting to the train station to catch our replacement bus…waiting…watching…pacing!

No bus for 30 minutes, so caught a cab to the nest station, only to discover the line works had finished, and we could have jumped on a train at Potsdam.

Hhhmmm!

First thing we did when we got back to Kreuzberg was grab a beer…and chips.

Dinner was had at a very nice cafe with great pasta and wine, chosen because it was 70 metres from home.

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So much for a light day on the legs, we walked over 20km today. Our Mont Blanc training is complete…surely?

Berlin, time to get arty!

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A great sleep in was rewarded with a run! Yeah I know, go figure!

After 6km’s huffing and puffing around the canal next to us we finally quit and had breakfast at a great little cafe in the posh part of Kreuzberg.

Coffee and healthy stuff like muesli…and croissants.

We are quickly discovering Berlin has caught the coffee bug.

Today is planned around a bit of culture, mainly on Museum Island, called as such because most of the significant museums in Berlin are on an Island on the river Spree.

Island is probably a bit of a stretch, as you wouldn’t know it as you arrive over a bridge, its just another block in town which happens to have a bit of water around it!

We did the abridged version yesterday, today we attack!!

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The main museums of interest are the Neues (new) and Pergamon, which both specialise in antiquities.

The queue to the Neue was shorter, so we joined that and shuffled to the ticket booth, bought a museum island pass, and walked straight into the museum.

The Neue is world famous for its collection of stolen, umm I mean, collected Egyptian antiquities, the most famous of which is the bust of Nefertiti, regarded as one of the most beautiful women of all time.

Not a patch on the missus, but not bad!!

Actually, the whole thing was pretty bloody good, and the Nefertiti bust was certainly a highlight.

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Another highlight was the zealous protection of the ‘no photo’ rule the staff put in to preserving sales of Nefertiti memorabilia in the gift shop. Sneaky staff everywhere preventing wily would be Nefertiti photographers from obtaining the, seemingly, impossible paparazzi shot!

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After a good Egyptian hour we burst into the sunlight to find the queue to the Pergamon Museum about 2 hours long….forget it, off to get some snaps at checkpoint Charlie, plus a visit to the museum which is meant to be pretty good.

Of course, we walked to see Charlie again and along the way passed by a curious souvenir shop selling of all things, memorabilia to a traffic light symbol.

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People, meet Ampelmann the soviet working green/red traffic man! This little guy was the Easts symbol of the man heading off to work, with his flat hat sitting at a jaunty angle. When Germany reunified he was slowly replaced as he symbolised the bad old days of communism, but the people revolted, they wanted Ampelmann back.

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and so it was…capitalism at its best, reinstates old soviet logo, and turns him into a tourist attraction!

You can actually buy traffic lights, including pole, if you like. Excess baggage costs might be a killer though

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Digression over, we get to Checkpoint Charlie, Rachael hams it up with the fake soldiers and we head to lunch then the museum.

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Lunch was good!

Actually, the museum was interesting, if crowded to the point of overkill with information about segregation, the wall and attempts to escape. Plus a very thorough history lesson.

Phew…back to museum island to check the queue at The Pergamon, which no longer exists (yeah, a win for us) and head straight in.

Pretty impressive collection of middle eastern artifacts, none more so than the Ishtar Gate of Babylon which smacks you between the eyes as soon as you enter.

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Hugely impressive.

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Finished up there, contemplated the choice between another museum or beer and chips back home, and…

The beer was delicious!!

Takeaway pizza for tea, and bed early as we have covered over 22km’s on foot today, and we are stuffed.

Oh, one last thing. I think I’ve found my next set of wheels. This little beauty was built in 1960 (perfect, my birth year), has done limited kilometres (600!), and would look great parked outside a cafe in Mount Martha!?

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Berlin Day 2 Fat Tire City Bike Tour

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Well rested after another great nights sleep, we headed into town via coffee & breakfast, jumping off the train at Alexanderplatz and finding Fat Tires office almost straight away.

We have used them before in Paris, bike tours being a great way to see the sights and gain orientation of the city, all whilst learning a bit of history along the way.

Our tour goes for about five hours, covering off most of the important landmarks and sites of historical significance.

We meet our tour guide dude Randall, who hails from Brisbane, get kitted up, and away we go.

Most of the ride covers the old Eastern side of Berlin, which seems to have more interest, starting with a great example of how not to marry up buildings which survived the bombings of WW2…soviet style styling!!

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Down to the Bebelplatz, site of the Nazi book-burning madness of 1933…

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Through Potsdamer Platz,

And on to probably the most significant site of the Cold War, Checkpoint Charlie. Even though the checkpoint is only a replica, the real one housed in the museum, its still a pretty impressive monument to the madness of the times. Trying to image the wall, the death strip, and the paranoia is a little surreal today, but must have been horrendous in its day.

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From there to a section of the wall still standing, with the Topography of Terror memorial site just behind, which we will visit on Thursday.

We passed an old lookout tower on the old wall from which guards were instructed to ‘shot to kill’ and brave soul attempting to cross the wall from East to west.

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Then on a lighter note we stopped in the car park of a block of flats, a block which was meant to highlight the might of the East in all its architectural sophistication, but in reality is an ugly, drab mass of concrete and asbestos.

However, that wasn’t why we were there. We were standing on top of Hitlers bunker, and the site of his suicide and cremation, as well as most of his senior staff, including that most charming of men, Joseph Goebbels, Propaganda Minister and all round  arsehole

The site of the death of one of the most infamous people in history is now an ugly car park!

Ironically, our next stop was the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, a huge site the size of a city block, made up of rows and columns of concrete blocks of various heights, with cobbled pathways meandering within. It’s quite disorienting, which I guess is its intention. We’ll come back on Thursday and spend more time here, and at the museum.

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So…on to the Brandenburg Gate, Germany’s most famous monument,

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Then through the massive Tiergarten Park to a beer garden for lunch…and a beer, natch!

Refreshed, we checked out the Victory column, 

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Passed the presidents official residence, which was actually very nice, and the flag means el presidento is home.

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On to the Reichstag building, home to Germany’s parliament.

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Then…museum island, home to probably  the most famous galleries in town, and a UNESCO world heritage site. We are planning to spend more time here tomorrow.

Finally…finished. Phew, a long tour, but excellent!

 

Time to go home, refresh and head out for a lovely Sicilian dinner a block away, to celebrate some old farts birthday!