We arrived in Geneva early this morning, went through passport control very quickly, collected our luggage and met up with Grant, our shuttle driver, and after a mostly scenic ride we arrived at our hotel in the charming village of Chamonix.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamonix

The street of this quaint town were filled with hundreds of very healthy looking people buzzing around getting ready for “Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc”- the most difficult foot races in Europe, and one of the largest – which was to start, to our surprise, at 6 pm today (yes, they are running all night).  We were told that about 2,300 runners were participating in this race which covers a distance of 103 miles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-Trail_du_Mont-Blanc

The trail is practically the same as what we will be taking but rather than 20-40 hours (average time for these runners) we will be taking 10-14 days (and if need be more) to enjoy every minute of our time touring the mountain.

We will be in Chamonix until Monday morning taking short hikes to acclimate to elevation and the mountain air and will begin our hike at the trail head, in the village of Les Houches, a 10 minute bus ride from Chamonix.

Here are a few of photos taken today:

Nice to find our hotel in Chamonix!

Our first walk to the village!

Majestic mountains!

The first group of runners are cheered on!

Local church near the starting point of the race!