Town Days & Tourist Time

We had so much fun in Annecy for two full rest days! The town sits on the shores on a beautiful mountain lake and has a system of crystal clear canals that run from the lake through town. The town is full of flowers and colorful buildings and is really just so cute and quaint!

We fell into some really nice routines during our time here. J was feeling a bit under the weather so we took things chill and did lots of resting but also made sure explore the city and do some fun things. Highlights include getting to do our laundry in a real laundry machine with real soap, walking around town exploring side streets and flower lined bridges, trying new ice cream flavors at a shop with fantastic portions, trying different treats from different boulangeries, and exploring a morning farmers market that we stumbled into the second morning.

Each afternoon we walked with ice cream to take an afternoon swim at a rocky beach on the lake with a slide. Swimming during breaks in the storm was really such a treat. We had really good Thai takeout one night and I somehow managed to make a full sized huckleberry pie in our Airbnb’s Microwave! The recipe for the pie I got from my friend Abby and I made it for the first time last summer, but she’s had the recipe in her family for a lot longer, and the photo I have of it is from a 1999 email chain!

Our Airbnb was the type of place that was totally trying to make an extra buck off us - no trash bags, dish soap, xtra TP, shower soap, anything like that, and somehow we were expected to take the trash out and do the dishes. All small things but frustrating when you’re traveling so light and one of the reasons we have been trying to book Airbnbs over hotels is to be in a place we can fully decompress and feel like we’re in a home! We’ve been really enjoying cooking, baking, cleaning our gear and having craft time during rest days - and this was probably the first place we paid to stay in that we were frustrated with during the whole trip so far!

With an absolutely miserable 10-day forecast ahead of us we had been feeling a bit or uncertainty about what to do next and what we’d want to do after we finish the GR5.

During our afternoon swim on the first day I floated the idea that instead of getting right back on trail we could stay in Annecy until the storm passes, book a campground and keep doing all of our Annecy things - rest, boulangerie, ice cream, swim, repeat.

We were both sitting with the idea of what it would feel like to stay in Annecy but something about it didn’t feel quite right. We both love the town and I would even love to spend more time here someday but I’m not sure if either one of us is good at fully leaning into anything when we just want to be back on trail. We could stay but it might feel like we’re just in a holding tank until the weather turns up. It has been so discouraging to see storm after storm roll through the alps with no end in sight. We can hike in the rain for sure, we are okay being uncomfortable, but sometimes days of rain when you don’t get to see anything, and are nervous to cross high passes or get too cold are just no fun.

So when we got back to our Airbnb and I caught Jenevieve looking on google flights to find the cheapest flights from “Geneva to Anywhere” I thought she could just be onto something. Flights to Portugal leaving in 2 days were cheap. Jenevieve did a couple important google searches - is Portugal cheap? Gay friendly? Have good weather? Portugal said yes to every single question. We did some quick maths to see if timing wise we could afford to go and still finish the GR5 - and if we could $$$ afford to go. Somehow she managed to find a rental car for 6 days for less than $50. It was late at night and I felt a little delirious so we slept on it and after waking up and having a small moment of stress / uncertainty / exhaustion, but then coming to terms with what it would feel like to go on a vacation we bought flights to Portugal!

We didn’t think too hard about this one but in the end we decided that it feels better to capitalize on the fact we are in Europe and can make last minute travel plans to places we know nothing about but are so excited to visit than it does to sit and wait and feel sorry for ourselves when it’s raining outside and we can’t hike.

So we have plane tickets to Portugal for two days from now… a holiday from the hiking holiday - and we both can’t wait.

For now though: a couple days ago we decided to treat ourselves do a special occasion touristy thing and take a gondola way up into the mountains instead of using our legs! The gondola to Aguille du Midi was at the time of construction the highest gondola in the world, and today is used as access as a common start to climb Mont Blanc, or just for sightseeing.

Unfortunately; there was only doom and gloom in the forecast for the day we booked, and we had non-refundable tickets and couldn’t change our date. So we woke up early in Annecy, took a rainy bus back to Chamonix and sat at the boulangerie, debating whether going to altitude was going to be a bad idea for the sick Jenevieve has been fighting off (just a little cold nothing big to worry about here). Because we already spent the money we decided to do it, with low expectations and also probably low stoke.

We boarded a tram around noon and took off towards a mid station in the clouds, where we transferred cars for the trip to the summit. About three quarters of the way up we got a peek of huge glacial crevasses and seracs beneath us through clouds And then some light poking through the sky above. Everyone gasped when we crested above the cloud layer and could see clear blue skies and Mont Blanc in front of us. By the time the tram stopped we were completely above a thick layer of clouds that obscured the valley beneath us. It was incredible! From the valley floor at 3,400 feet we gained over 9,000 feet on the tram ride to the summit; which is over double the height from Teton Village to the top of the tram at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort!!!

Indescribable joy to take a risk on this on a rainy day and be rewarded with clear skies and perfect views. It felt even more special that we weren’t expecting anything from today and got rewarded with such special views.

Aiguille du Midi is a twin summit with a network of tunnels that go through solid granite rock and staircases that flank its sides winding up to viewpoints on all sides I truly didn’t quite understand the immense heights, exposure, and complexity of this place until we were there. This map shows the layout and network of paths and staircases to the different viewpoints.

I thought the structures were almost as cool as the views! At 12,600 feet we were surrounded by steep glaciers, and icy rock faces and felt like we were on top of the world. We both felt pretty whipped by the elevation in comparison to where we’ve been around 3,000 to 7,000 feet on average. I was quite out of breath after climbing short staircases and we were both feeling a little off balance.

All the summits were just barely poking above the cloud layer but Mont Blanc stretched high above, pure white, covered in new snow from the weekend.

One of the tourist things you can do up here is called “step into the void” where you can stand in a glass box that overhangs a vertical cliff with glaciers below. You have to put your shoes in these huge slippers and wait in line for your turn and to take photos. I didn’t think I’d be freaked at all but my stomach totally dropped stepping out onto clear glass above nothing but air.

There is also a small museum of alpine climbing to explore and lots of interpretative signage on the history. J and I of course ran around to see every viewpoint and every staircase, having so much fun and taking it all in.

We ate my pie from a Ziploc bag (what a special treat to bring my pie up here) and after a couple hours of poking around we snapped a few more photos and took the gondolas back to Chamonix.

We pitched camp at a campsite near the bus station and had a relaxing afternoon walking around town, and watching UTMB racers triumphantly cross the finish line after around 20 something hours of the race. We got to see the woman who was coming in third! There was so much energy in the air and I was finding myself getting all emotional about the accomplishments of these strangers I know nothing about! After getting to pace my friend Caeley on a hundred mile race (for 6 cruisy miles - I’m not that crazy) in the fall a few years ago I think I have a much more appreciation for what folks go through on a race like this, running for days and through the night on crazy mountain passes and through the terrible weather we decided to skip. It’s so emotional for the runners and for the support crews and I was totally feeling all of that today and missing my crazy running buds.

(map below shows all the different races happening this week around Mont Blanc. Racers today are finishing the red route - essentially the same route as we are hiking, although much quicker than us)

This was a really lovely way to spend a couple dreary days - it really felt like we were in the right place at the right time and got to capitalize on lots of lovely moments capped with a truly perfect day in the mountains on the tram.

Tonight we rest - tomorrow we Portugal. Thank you Jenevieve for this crazy crazy idea.

So far: 55 days + 470.78 miles + 156,695 feet of gain + 29 baguettes

Thanks for being along for the ride:)

M