Total descent, 1053m.
Wednesday, 29th July.
Down down down.
Plan B is in effect. It only took a glance out of the hut window this morning to decide. Plan A had been a long walk today leading to the best views of Mont Blanc, a stay in a hut, then a final 4 hour stretch tomorrow into Courmayeur. However two things made me move onto Plan B. Firstly the weather is supposed to be much better tomorrow, meaning that I might just get those Mont Blanc views (rather than none at all today), and secondly the Swiss lady over dinner last night was telling me about the horrors of staying in my intended hut. The problem with it is that my route meets the much more famous and popular 'Tour du Mont Blanc' there (the Ibiza of Alpine treks, if you like), so it is always full, and as opposed to Vittorio Sella earlier in my walk manages to cram three storeys of adjacent mattresses into its rooms.
So the decision to move to Plan B was an easy one. Today became the easy walk down into La Thuile, and tomorrow I start early and walk to the end of the Alta Via 2 at Courmayeur. It gives the walk a bit more of a climax, but also gives me a deadline as I have a bus to catch back to the very start of the walk at Pont Saint Martin, which is booked for 5pm.
The walk down was straightforward and I had plenty of time to watch the high altitude frogs and, for the first time, giant snails. I've been doing a bit of research on the wildlife and apparently many of these frogs spend their winters 'suspended' in ice in frozen lakes, then are thawed back to normality each spring. And some of the plants have natural anti-freeze on their leaves to survive the (8 or 9 months of) snow.
La Thuile is a pretty town for a stopover. I'm much more into skiing territory now, which can make some of the resorts look quite grotty in summer, but it's all pretty low key here. I went for several coffees, then to the library to get some free internet access and found a good hotel for the night, which I booked online and arrived at 10 minutes later. The owner was ready for me.
After the shower I was desperate for last night but couldn't have (the hut didn't have any, which I forgot about after a couple of beers and once the sweat had dried!) I wandered into town for supplies for tomorrow and for a meal. I needed to buy some breakfast as well as lunch because I'll be away in the morning before breakfast has started at the hotel.
After a couple of drinks in a very friendly bar I wasn't actually hungry because with each beer the barman had brought over a selection of snacks, however I needed the correct food groups prior to my long walk tomorrow. That'll be a pizza then!
The local pizzeria was rated as the number 2 restaurant in La Thuile out of quite a lot, so I headed there. As I walked in it was bustling but there were a number of tables free. The waitress looked at me, nodded for me to follow her and ushered me all the way through the front room to an empty room at the back. As I sat and munched my way through a pizza Napoli, served incredibly quickly and with an extremely small glass of wine, I contemplated my appearance in relation to the remainder of the clientele (from memory because I couldn't actually see anybody).
I decided to start at the bottom and work up:
Shoes - I have a lightweight pair of sandals which are the only things I wear apart from my heavy, leather boots. They are not as comfortable as the boots and rub my feet, unless I'm wearing.....
Socks - this is not a good look, I know, but the Germans would be impressed.
White ring on lower leg - between where the top of my socks are now and where the top of my socks are when walking with boots on; ie the non-tanned bits of leg.
Tanned legs - fine in my opinion.
Shorts / shirt - neither have been worn for walking so other than a dubious colour clash there's nothing offensive.
Tanned arms - very impressive!
Two carrier bags at end of one arm - these do make me look like a wino, but it's these or the massive rucksack. I usually only have one but the other is full of my meals for tomorrow. As I said, a wino!
Umbrella at end of other arm - it's an enormous, bright green golf umbrella which the owner of the hotel gave me to come into town with once the rain started in earnest, but it definitely adds eccentricity to the general look.
Beard - this could have a lot to do with it. I usually shave it once a week so it's on a roll at the moment. When I looked in the mirror earlier I thought I resembled the lovechild of Roy Keane and Kenny Rogers. Am I going to hug you, or am I going to take you out studs first? You decide.
Peeling forehead - I've tried really hard to keep lotioned up but that sun is so strong. At the moment I only have to turn my head and bits fall off me.
Hair - although clean it's developed horns which I'm struggling to control. Alongside the beard and forehead it can look slightly alarming.
All in all I think they put me in the right place.
-- Posted from Kev's iPhone
Roflmao a vision of Roy Keane wearing a devil suit springs to mind.
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