t's been sunny it's been brilliant and the rain storms that have been coming through have cooled the air down dramatically. With fewer people on the trails as well, it's felt really tranquil and quite comfortable to go on longer hikes, bigger climbs and generally expel more energy without the heat that has hung around the entire summer.
Although the town has become quieter, there have still been many parties and some great events to witness, like the Course des Garcons de Cafe which was held on Friday in Chamonix centre. A group of enthusiastic young waiters and waitresses have a race around the town carrying a tray of drinks which they must finish the race with intact. A very amusing event for those who came to watch and a bit of bad timing for the competitors, as soon as the race started a large down pour added to their obstacles.
Yesterday was a very cool but sunny day, so we decided to go on a long walk covering most of the length of the valley, starting from Montroc and getting on to the Grand Balcon Sud. A very easy path to follow and possible on a bike too. Once off the train at Montroc, you can get on to the footpath which starts right next to the tunnel entrance following signs on to the Grand Balcon Sud.
The path is a continuous up hill slog until you get on to the Grand Balcon and depending on how long you follow the path, it will go up and down somewhat, but mostly it's a nice gentle path once on the Balcon with some outstanding views all the way. It was great to be hiking up in much cooler conditions and seemed to give us a little more energy to haul ourselves up on to the path.
Once up on the trail, we followed it round to Flegere and started making our way across to Brevent area, where there are some fairly narrow rocky paths, maybe not so suitable on a bike. The path does go up and down a little in this section, but it's well worth it for the views.
You can also access these trails from the lift in Flegere or Brevent, picking your preferred direction and following the very well marked out signs. Once we entered the Brevent section, we decided to descend near to Le Cornu lift where there is a very easy to follow path all the way back down to Chamonix. Once back in the town we headed to La Terrasse bar in Chamonix for one of their famous burgers and couple of well deserved beers.
Well a good few days in Chamonix and really great with the cooler temperatures we have now. So if you like being able to do your chosen sport in more comfortable weather and with fewer people around making it a much more relaxing process, then you should really be looking at booking a trip over this month with many lifts, bars, restaurants open to accommodate through the inter-season.
Don't forget to keep an eye on our What's On Calendar for a full list of events taking place over the summer months.Author: --- please select author ---
