After a night and day’s rest in Courmayeur we realized that we were not able to secure a place to stay until we reach the end of stage 6 (La Fouly) so we had to make alternative plans. We decided to skip stage 5 and do a partial roundtrip day hike from Challet Val Ferret (1780m) to Refuge Elena (2060m) a wonderful ascent up the mountain and a relaxing and gentle descend mainly along the river. The wind was quite strong as we approached the refuge, a beautiful modern building with a great coffee and tea bar and squat toilets (not so easy with stiff knees 😳)

It was great to run in to our young refuge mates from Yale and others from Idaho, Northern Ireland and Norway and meet new hikers, a family from Israel who where camping along the way.

We had a wonderful lunch along the river and made our way back to the bus to Courmayeur.

I don’t think I have written about the variety and colors of the many many wild flowers along the way. We both agree that the scenery, beauty and variety of these mountains, valleys, villages and towns is the best that we have experienced, so far.

As we write this blog we are on the bus from Coumayeur to La Fouly. We crossed from France to Italy when we reached Col Du Seigne in stage 3 and we will now cross the boarder from Italy to Switzerland in about an hour.

We will be spending the night in a dorm and resume our hike (stage 7) tomorrow.

Our 3 nights in Courmayeur, including our 8 hour day hike to Refuge Elena, was filled with so many wonderful memories. Our hotel ( hotel croix??) was in great location (2 minute walk from the bus station, post office and 5 minute walk to the main section of town with quaint restaurants, shops and almost everything one needs.) We were lucky to be there for the street fair ( our second one along TMB.)

We found a wonderful bakery and met a friendly staff who happened to be going to Monterey, California in a couple of days. While visiting we mentioned that we would like to get some polenta. She recommended a cozy restaurant outside of the city (about 10 miles) that she believed served the best polenta. She was right. The polenta was great but the soup of spinach, local cheese, toasted bread in a broth was even better🤓 We also accidentally found a tiny little cafe that served the best savory crepes we had ever had.

Courmayeur is a beautiful village. Skiing is its main reason for existence. One thing you notice is the slate roofs. Apparently many of the building in the region have them. In Courmayeur it was required until recently. Great tourist area both summer and winter. I’m a Pokemon Go player and found many Pokestops here.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courmayeur

If you would like a relaxing place to experience an authentic Italian village, Courmayeur is the place🤓🤓

Today we took a glass enclosed cable car type thing (which holds 75 people and it rotates as it climbs the mints in from Courmayeur (1224meters) to the observation deck at 3,466meters (11,371 feet).

Once at the top one the 360 degree views are breathtaking.

Here is a link to the skyway’s website: http://www.montebianco.com