Total ascent, 937m.
Total descent, 1192m.
Thursday, 10th August.
Total miles overall = 110.5
Average miles per day = 12.3
Total ascent overall = 10,618m (34,838ft)
Average ascent per day = 1180m (3871ft)
The meal last night was very good, especially as no polenta was involved for a change. What was more interesting was a group of 8 Frenchman dressed up as (low budget) Scotsmen; that's stereotypical Scotsmen of course. Many curtains must have been destroyed to make the 'authentic' outfits. They looked the part, they shouted, they sang (French equivalents), but sadly the cracks in their armour began to show. One by one they either went to bed or dozed off in their chairs. They had all retired by the time I left the restaurant... at 9:30. Not particularly Scottish then?!
I had the best sleep of the trip, with no worms or e-books involved. I also had a very infrequent bus to catch at the end of the walk so I set off early again so no rushing would be needed. This was no final day cakewalk, though it was only a single col (the third highest at 2511m). Ironically, though I didn't rush, I managed to climb the 900m ascent and descend 400m to a refuge (and therefore coffee) before I realised I hadn't stopped at all. Maybe I didn't trust the weather, purely on the basis of it being cloudy rather than sunny, or maybe that helped my progress.
The scenery was the usual (beautiful, dramatic, blah blah blah, views, blah, lakes, blah) so I didn't bother taking photos. Maybe I'm ready to go home now! Anyway rather than post more photos of 'the usual' I have decided to post a few of those that didn't make the cut earlier in the walk.
The caterpillar! Good job I didn't put the rucksack on.
A leaf hanging from a branch presumably by a spider's thread. It kept moving so I couldn't focus, the branch was a long way up!
Cute?! I'm not sure they were let out of there.
Ah, the coat hooks. Anybody fancy one of these?
There were quite a few people about again, and I realised how much busier the French side of the Alps (Mercantour Park) was than the Italian (Alpi Marittime Park), presumably because the French market their side more? It's prettier but has much less oomph (maybe people prefer less oomph!). The remainder of the day was like a 'cool down'. A long, easy 800m valley descent to a typical ending for one of my long distance treks. By typical I mean ugly. Okay so last year Jen and I finished in Aberdaron with a welcoming committee, but a bus stop next to a hydro-electric power station is far more my thing. To make things worse I couldn't find the bus stop (because there wasn't one). A lad sitting on a breeze block pointed down when I asked him where it was, he was waiting for the same bus. I sat on my own breeze block and shortly it arrived.
What a finish!
What followed was an almost identical journey to the one at the start of the walk, the only differences being that this time we were going downhill and that this road was 25 minutes of hairpin bends. Thankfully I was on the mountain side of the road again!
I had forgotten to do any sort of celebration at the end of the walk, and didn't bother when I arrived in St Dalmas de Tende either. My plan was to check into Le Prieuré, get cleaned up and have a wander into town. I was 10 minutes early for check-in so decided to wander first. By check-in time I'd seen all that St Dalmas had to offer, a bar, a baker and an ironmonger. The town may be past its best but Le Prieuré is lovely, and my room has three things that none of the others have had so far. Firstly wifi in the room, secondly a bath and thirdly a dead scorpion on the floor. Now I have a bit of a soft spot for scorpions, having kept one as a pet when I lived in Israel, so I was not going to complain to the hotel staff. However another scenario struck me as far more likely than it dying where it was. By the time I noticed it I had emptied my rucksack out completely for the first time in several days, so I strongly suspect I'd been carrying it!
My deceased friend. In a plastic cup just in case!
So safe in the knowledge that I won't be smuggling dead arachnids into Britain I will end the blog here, before dinner. I must though make two observations before I finish. Firstly I must congratulate both Italy and France for their hiking trails, which have been superb, well maintained and waymarked throughout. Secondly I've been relieved to see that children in Italy and France whinge just as much as those in Britain, they just do it at a higher altitude.
I have an exciting train journey in the morning (one of those that corkscrews its way through tunnels down to sea level) to Nice, followed by a tramp along the beach amongst the beautiful people and a flight home with EasyJet amongst the not-so-beautiful people.
Oh alright, I confess, this walk never happened. I've made the whole thing up and spent the last 11 days on a sun-lounger in Nice. I guess I was never going to be able to explain to Jen how I got this full body tan!
Stats Zone:
No comments:
Post a Comment