I Hiked the Alps!

The Mount Blanc Trail or MBT to be precise. I’m still processing the experience and sometimes still can’t believe I did it! I have had the goal for a number of years and this was the year to check it off. I knew that it would be challenging and it was all that and more. Definitely an experience I will never forget and I’m so grateful to have had the chance. I did it with an adventure travel company called Mt Sobek and they have been around doing this kind of thing for decades. They surpassed my expectations - everything was super well organized, great guides, good hotels, wonderful food so all I had to provide was 100% effort every day.

I originally was going to try and post a bit each day with information and pics from that day. No way that could have happened unless I wanted to get even less sleep and we all know sleep is essential. I was up at 6:15 every morning to get ready for the hike, pack my suitcase and head to breakfast by 7AM. We were in a different hotel every night since we were hiking in France, Italy and Switzerland. Eat a good breakfast and pack your snacks for the day and be ready to leave by 7:45. Hike all day and get back around 5 or 5:30 for a quick shower and meeting at 6:45 to get the details for the hike the next day, dinner at 7 and bed. Get up and repeat.

In the 6 days we hiked we did over 65 miles and had ascents anywhere from 2300 to 4000 and equally steep descents. It seemed the hikes got more challenging each day which makes sense since we were gaining confidence. The trails were rocky, often covered with tree roots, and sometimes basically no trail at all. Just a huge rock face where you tried your best to find a toe hold and place to grab to pull yourself up. And sometimes pretty steep drop offs😱 (Just lean into the mountain they say. Uh ok?) My preparation served me well. I spent months doing all I could to prepare with 10 mile hikes, strength classes, the stair master, elliptical on hills, treadmill with an incline, and a hiking trip in July to Minnesota. We ended every day with lots of high fives and a real sense of accomplishment and also gratitude that we were alive😂 The views were spectacular every single minute.

We started and ended our hike in Chamonix France. Such a beautiful town! Night 2 in Les Contamines France, then Bourg-Saint-Maurice France, Courmayeur Italy, Champex Switzerland, Argentière France and back to Chamonix.

Here is our great hiking group of 15 plus our two guides Julian and Eric. Actually Eric is taking the picture so just Julian. At the official start of the MBT.

We hiked up to have a delicious lunch at a lake formed from a glacier.

Speaking of lunch it was so memorable and delicious every day. The guides would go early in the morning to the best boulangerie in town and get fresh bread, then delicious cheeses, meats, fruits, veggies and always some kind of dessert. Cookies or chocolate bars. Each hiker would put a part of the lunch in their day pack and then at lunch we would have a picnic and enjoy the well earned and needed food.

We hiked into Italy - no border control or passport necessary. It was super windy so the brim of my hat is totally flipped up😂

Notice the chain we are all using to pull ourselves up this part of the trail. This was on day one so I was a little freaked out about what I had gotten myself into. After that I just took everything in stride.

I found my new tiny home! So adorable up in the Alps. Julian said she’s actually a really mean lady and hates when hikers take pictures outside her house. Oops!

This was a tough ascent so we needed a victory pic.

We also hiked into Switzerland and it was very cold up there. We carried extra layers in our day packs and multiple times a day we would put things on and take them off. Add two, take off one, add three, take off two etc.

I think this was our highest ascent on the last day. Straight up for the first 4 hours. Julian said not switchbacks - Swiss backs which go straight up.

We hiked past flocks of sheep that totally ignored us. Much more interested in eating and close enough to touch.

Also cows. Wearing bells on collars that were huge! I loved hearing the sound of the bells as they moved to where the portable milking machines were waiting for them. The cows spend the summer up in the mountains and they bring the milking machines to them. They were starting to bring the cows back into the villages for the winter which is really like a cow parade through town. Notice the brown rings around the eyes of these cows. Their milk makes a delicious cheese called Beaufort. We had it at lunch one day and it was great.

One of my favorite pics❤️

Our amazing driver Ronny who met us every day with our bus and a cooler with cold local beer, wine or fruit juices. My favorite was the mango juice. So refreshing!

Our dinners were delicious. Sometimes we ate at the hotel or other nights we walked to a local restaurant in town. It was always a choice of appetizer, entree and dessert. One of my favorite meals was in Italy. I can’t remember what the appetizer was but this mushroom pasta was fantastic and an apple pie with gelato.

Another meal with a pizza appetizer and salad and fish with potatoes. Almost every night there was a fish option which was great with me.

Another fish and potatoes, pumpkin bisque soup and panna cotta for dessert.

Breakfasts were always lots of choices. Eggs, meats, cheeses, yogurt, fruit, pastries, my beloved croissants and great coffee options too. We were encouraged to eat hearty and I did my best. If you were lucky they would make you a fancy cappuccino!

I could keep posting pictures but hopefully this gives you a sample of how spectacular it was. We lucked out on weather as it never rained. Or snowed! Yes that is a possibility and actually snowed the week before our hike. We could see the fresh white stuff up high on the mountains.

This was the most physically challenging thing I have done in my life, and I really am proud of myself for accomplishing it. We can do hard things! Next up will be the exact opposite. One of the most relaxing things I have done in my life - a few days in Bellagio Italy. Check back soon🤗

Chamonix!

Wow this place is a picture postcard everywhere you look! Such a beautiful town set in the midst of these amazing Alps and a glacier right out my window. Luckily we will end the hike here and spend another night yippee!

We met up with our hiking group at the airport in Geneva and were driven the 90 miles to Chamonix France for the first night. The hike begins tomorrow morning and we will hike France, Italy and Switzerland. 15 total in our group, 2 guides and a driver that handles the luggage and many other important details. We have only known each other a few hours but everyone in the group seems very nice, fun and outgoing. And we all love to hike and are up for the challenge! 5 in the group are doctors….bonus! Hopefully we won’t need their skills. We had a couple of hours to explore this charming town before our information meeting and dinner. So many lovely shops, restaurants and hotels.

We had a fantastic dinner at a great restaurant called Rose du Pont. Wonderful food and a gorgeous interior. We had our choice of several options and I went with the grilled veggies and burrata appetizer, salmon with pesto pasta for the entree and their signature dessert - this raspberry mousse and chocolate adorable cuckoo clock. I thought it was going to be all looks and no taste and boy was I wrong. Every bite was heavenly and I had to force myself to stop before devouring every morsel.

Last picture - the sun setting on the glacier. It glowed gold!

That’s it for today! Big day tomorrow 🤗

Yvoire France

This will be a short post of a long fun day! It’s just seems that a trip to Geneva Switzerland isn’t complete without getting out onto the beautiful lake. They have these gorgeous ferries that go from town to town along the 45 miles of the lake since the early 20th century. Half of the lake is in France and half in Switzerland so we decided to take the ferry to visit one of the most beautiful small walled medieval towns in France called Yvoire. We got tickets and left in the morning for the hour and 40 minute ride stopping at a few towns along the way for people to board or depart.

This is the sweet town of Coppet and you can see how the piers all have these gorgeous flowers along them.

It was a pretty day with blue skies but still really windy. The boats are large so still a really smooth ride. Even saw the snow covered Alps in the distance. We are going to get a lot closer this week!

Our first view of the castle as we depart the ferry in Yvoire. Someone lives there so no entry unless you know them!

It’s a beautiful quite small town surrounded by a medieval wall and flowers everywhere. We got a large lunch at a sweet restaurant and the food as usual in France was delicious. Fresh perch, fries and a salad but an abundant amount.

We spent the bulk of the afternoon wandering and then took the ferry back arriving in Geneva at 6:30. I had made a reservation for our last night at an authentic Swiss restaurant where the fondue was said to be excellent. We headed right there and it didn’t disappoint. The Swiss are known for cheese and we are eating more than our fair share. Duey got a beer and they typically only come in one size. Large!

That’s it for Geneva. The leisure part is over and we are next heading to meet our hiking group and head to Chamonix France where the hike will begin. I’m super excited and can’t wait to post some pics and share the adventure with you all!

More Geneva!

Day two no rain but so windy! We moved the ferry ride to tomorrow hoping for less wind🤞🏻Took one of the great modern super clean trams to an area called Carouge that I had read had cute artisan shops and good food. You can get a transportation pass from your hotel that gives you free rides on the trams, buses, trains and even the water taxis so we are enjoying that perk. Carouge had a cool neighborhood feel to it and we walked through a farmers market that was packed and everything looked so good! To the left of the green beans are black beans but not what I typically think of when I hear black beans.

We browsed through the cute pedestrian streets and especially loved this sweet one that had flowers hanging above our heads.

If I decide to move here there is already a store with my name on it 😂

We found a cute square and since the wind was blocked joined everyone in eating outside. They had me at cauliflower and this was delicious!

Lots of fancy stores in Geneva so we window shopped a bit. No purchases were made….yet!

We found the Reformation Wall which is 330 feet long built in 1917 to commemorate the Protestant movement away from the Catholic Church and Calvinism began in Geneva. These carvings are right in the center of the wall and are of the 4 most influential men from this movement. It’s in a huge beautiful park where on a beautiful day like today was filled with families playing every sport imaginable.

They had about a dozen of these huge chess boards in the park and every single one had people playing on them.

Geneva is pretty much exactly as I pictured - especially these scenes on the water.

Another day closer to the hike beginning! Fun plans for our last day in Geneva tomorrow!🤗

Made it to Geneva Switzerland!

We have arrived! These will be pretty short posts as I’m going to try and write a bit each day and at least get some pictures posted. It was colder than we had anticipated and people were wearing winter coats! That wasn’t really necessary but we were glad to have our jackets. Sprinkled a little but then the sun would come back out. This is my first time to Geneva and my first impression is a good mix of old and new. On day one after flying through the night my goal is always just to power through the day and make it to 9PM before sleeping. We dropped our stuff at the hotel after taking a quick train ride from the airport (I love the trains in Europe!) and headed out to get our bearings. Here are some pictures of buildings that caught my eye as we were finding our way to the old town.

Geneva is right on Lake Geneva or as they call it here Lac Léman, and we are definitely going to take a ferry st some point. A number of pedestrian bridges to get across as the city is on both sides.

No trip to Europe is complete without visiting at least one church. The most popular one to visit in Geneva is Saint-Pierre Cathedral. It sits at a high spot in Geneva’s old town and was built in the 12th century. It is known as the home of the Protestant Calvinist movement.

This is kind of a cool picture of the outside of the church showing some of the different styles that were added to it over the years.

In spite of the slightly chilly temperature so many great outdoor cafes and lots of people sitting out enjoying the intermittent sunshine. We made a stop and had our first taste of the delicious fondue so famous in Switzerland. Someone has to keep stirring the cheese over the flame so it doesn’t burn. We had bread, potatoes and pickles to dip. I enjoyed them all.

On our walk back to the hotel we came across the famous Flower Clock. It’s in a beautiful English garden right by the water and of course Switzerland is considered the clock capital of the world.

That’s is for today! One day closer to the start of our hike in the Alps!