Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Day 21: Trient to Argentieres






We woke up at 7:40, ate breakfast, showered, and got on the road. Though our legs were very sore from yesterday, the hike started easy enough, through fields of wildflowers and cows. The cowbells sounded so beautiful, a perfect soundtrack for the mountains. Then, our ascent began in full. For the next few hours, we hiked up switchbacks through a pine forest. We took it slow, and finally left the forest for the meadows. The hike got easier from here, and we continued up through meadows for another hour or two. We stopped in Les Arbages, a herding settlement, with stone huts that were a perfect cool refuge from the sun. After our little break, we finished our uphill to a funky restaurant at the top. We ate some lunch with panoramic views of Mont Blanc.

Our descent began with a small uphill to a ski lift. It was not running, so we walked down next to it. This part was easy and beautiful. Naomi and I went ahead of my parents, a nice break for all. At the bottom of this part was another restaurant and a working lift, this one cabins. We ate ice cream bars, made sure the lift went to where we wanted to go this time, and got in. We passed over a huge herd of goats and sheep and a lot of cows before getting off in the skiing town of Le Tour. When we got off, it started to rain, and we were really glad that we had taken the ride instead of walking down the steep hill. We then got off our path a little, and headed down to Argentieres, where we are staying tonight. The thunder only made us walk faster; but the rain never really got bad. When we got here, our luggage was not here, so my dad and sister walked another kilometer through town to find our bags. I, on the other hand, slept. When the got back with the bags, we hung around the room, cleaning up, and working on my next steps. At seven, we went down to dinner.

Dinner began with escargots and local white wine. The escargots were hot and cooked in butter and pesto. Naomi got the courage to try one, and ended up eating three. We couldn't convince my mom to try any though. The main part of the meal, though, was the fondue. The cheese was incredible, and the liquor it was cooked with was perfect. Dipping the French bread in was heaven. Desert was amazing ice cream and sorbet. The perfect dinner in the alps.

After dinner, Naomi and I took a little walk to see the orange pink light on the glacier. We then headed into the room to work out next steps and write this blog. Now that it is finally dark, and this is finished, I'm going to sleep.

1 comment:

  1. Quite a blog you have here, dude. You've managed to create a withering vacuum of jealousy in the center of my being.

    Hello to all Roswells!

    The pictures from Switzerland are tugging at my heart strings; the south of Switzerland was maybe the highlight of my travels during my semester abroad.

    Much love to ya. Your blog is now inducted into my daily reading list.

    Love,
    Ben Gansky

    ReplyDelete