Tour du Mont Blanc Trek(July 17-July 26, 2024)
The iconic Tour du Mont Blanc trek has mesmerizing view of Alps, Mont Blanc Massif, lush green meadows, beautiful wildflowers and endless streams with crystal clear water, grandeur panoramas of glaciers, high-altitude lakes with blue glaciel water, mountain pastures, and waterfalls.
Even though it is not a high altitude trek, dont't take it lightly as it has some heavy climbing and steep downhill with somewhat technical climb using ladders and ropes!
I was glad to do this iconic trek with my old gang with whom I had done my previous treks and bonus was my son also accompanied me on this adventure!
We booked this trek with a tour company 'Compagnie Des Guides' who did all the required bookings for us and provided us with one guide and luggage transfer facility, which means we only carried our backpacks with light snack, water and jackets. The package also included 3 meals for the day and snacks during hikes.
Trek Statistics
- Total Days-: 10(July 17, 2024- July 26, 2024)
- Total Distance-: 100 miles
- Total Elevation Gain-: 31,641 feet
- Countries Travelled-: 3(France, Italy and Switzerland)
Trek Map
Map picture taken from besttravels.org
Team
Day 0(Arrival in Chamonix)
All the team members started arriving on July 16th in Chamonix, where we were going to start our trek next day. Chamonix is a very beautiful mountain town in France. It attracts tourists, hikers and is a heaven for skiers during winter season with lots of ski resorts. 
Me, Neel, Sagar, Anu, Samir arrived in Chamonix around 3:30 PM
The town was bustling with tourists. Chamonix has lot of cute restaurants and shops and there were colorful flowers everywhere. It was a picture perfect town. We all roamed around the town, had fresh orange juice which was perfect to beat the heat. 
Beautiful Town of Chamonix
Pretty street with church and mountains in the background
Restaurant 'Rose du Pont' with pretty pink shade
Pretty flowers everywhere in town
We statyed at hotel Cosmiques in Chamonix. Our guide Ben came to meet all of us at our hotel to give preview of our trek and answer all our questions. After meeting we went to tour company office where he showed us a model of TMB route. We were very lucky with Ben, he was very knowledgeable and experienced and knew all the nooks and crannies of TMB. 
After the meeting we all went to have dinner at Indian restaurant(we never thought there will be an Indian restaurant in this town!) called Annapurna. Food was quite decent. After dinner we all came to hotel and called it a night. Packed our backpacks and rest of the luggage was packed and ready to transfer to our next stop.
Day 1(July 17, 2024 Chamonix to Les Houches)
We woke up at 6, our breakfast was at 7:15 Am and left hotel and took our luggage for transfer at the tour guide office. 
Everyone was ready and excited to start the day. Thanks to Anu who got done custom T-shirts for the whole team from Pune
We started walking from Chamonix center to the base of the cable car which took us to the top of Plan Praz where we started our hike. The cable car carried us from 2,952 feet to 4,921 feet! 
Cable car ride
From inside the cable car, we saw could see some people walking up the steep switch backs.
View from inside the cable car.
After reaching the top we could certainly feel the temperature difference, it was little chillier at the top. Ben had given us idea that it will be somewhat technical day with lot of rock scrambling. First day, initial climb, my legs could definitely feel it. There were lot of clouds in the begining, not rain clouds but just enough to block the sun. Climb started gradually to the Brevent Pass.
Me climbing up
After some climbing we stopped on the way for some hot tea, Ben had carried some hot water and tea packets for us.
Everyone enjoying hot tea which felt refreshing
There were still patches of snow on the trail which we had to walk through.
Walk in the snow
Ben gave us tips to walk through the snow which helped a lot. Snow was somewhat slushy so there was chance of slipping. 
Ben was guiding everyone on this snow path
Walk through muddy snow
After initial snow traversing came the rock scrambling section. There was an option of ladders or simple rock scrambling. 
Rock scrambling
Some of us climbed on ladders
As we got higher up the views got more and more amazing.
Beautiful Views
Finally we made it to the Brevent Pass and views from up there were breathtaking!
Neel and Me at the top of Brevent Pass
We spent some time up there and took pictures. Jai and Rohan did hand and head stand up there :)
Jai and Rohan doing hand stand and head stand
Sagar, Samir, Anu, Me and Neel at the pass
We started descending, and Ben found this wonderful spot for lunch. He had got vegetarian baguette sandwiches which were super yummy! 
Enjoying tasty sandwich
Mont Blanc revealed itself in full glory from up here, it was just mesmerizing!
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This beautiful picture was captured by Jai, who was carrying 5 different cameras!
There were lot of paragliders.
I am sure the paragliders must get amazing views from up there!
After lunch we started descending more, the path was laden with Azalea like flowers which looked really pretty.
Descent through valley of flowers
Towards the end of the descent, we entered the forest and ended our first day’s hike at 3.30 pm at a shuttle bus stop. We took the shuttle bus to Les Houches bus stop from where we walked another 5-7 minutes to our hotel 'Les Campanules Chalet Hotel'
Hotel Les Campanules
Our quaint little hotel was super nice and comfortable. Views were amazing from our room.
Seating area
Decor was really pretty inside
Kids enjoying hot chocolate and coffee in the hotel. Neel had great company of Yashvi and Rohan(Jai's Kids)
View from our room!
Our dinner was served in the hotel garden, which added an amazing ambience!
Dinner was served outside in the garden
Three course dinner, Tabbouleh Salad, Pasta and Chocolate Mousse!
The day begins everyday with breakfast which usually starts at 7:30 AM at most hotels. Breakfast was always same, crossaints, yogurt, granola, cereals, fruits, cakes, coffee, pies etc. After eating good breakfast we head out around 8/8:15.
Our day started today with walking from hotel to the cable car which would take us to Bellevue.
To take the cable car we walked through the town of Les Houches, all these small mountain towns were amazingly pretty, donned with colorful flowers everywhere you go. Walking down the streets felt so good!
Pretty flowers
Street of Les Houches
Many people start their trek from Les Houches. 
Map of Tour du Mont Blanc
We walked about 40/45 min to cable car. The cable car took us from 2,952 feet to 5,905 feet and then our actual day started on trail. We crossed a railway line and got on trail. The view offers a panorama of the Mont-Blanc massif, the Aiguilles Rouges, the Fiz, and the Aravis.
A little about The Aiguilles Rouges, Aiguilles Rouges meaning "Red Needles" are a crystalline mountainous massif of the French Prealps, opposite the Mont Blanc Massif.
First hour was gradual up and down trail in forest.
Roots of old trees on the trail
We were soaked in greenery around us, it was beautiful.
Beautiful greenery
Later we came to suspended bridge crossing over the Bionnassay torrent, the bridge was vibrating while walking and water was gushing loudly beneath us.
From then on it was all climb up to Col Du Tricot, the mountain pass. We stopped on way to apply some sunblock to protect from blazing sun.
Sagar is pointing to the mountain pass that we have to cross in this picture.
There were 2 paths to climb the pass one was short but much steeper and other one was longer but smaller gradient. We took the longer one, glad that we took this path as it had some amazing views along the way.
Me and Preeti were walking together and took our time to take pictures.
Me and Preeti
Perfect picture with perfect background
Finally we reached the top, took some pictures, had a small snack and started descending. 
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We descended 1500 feet.
The descent from Col Du Tricot.
We could see the Refuge de Miage(where we were going to eat our lunch) while descending.
Refuge at the bottom, our lunch place for the day.
After descending we were greeted with these beautiful field of lavendar flowers and roaring stream of water which was absolutely stunning. Everyone soaked their feet in cold stream before we headed for lunch at the Refuge.
Monica, Priti and Me
Soaking your feet in cold water felt so therapeutic. I was not only soaking my feet but also my soul in this beautiful nature!
Food was super delicious. There was soup, salad and sandwiches. I had ordered sandwich and Anu had ordered salad but her salad came with boiled eggs on the top so we just switched our plates as she doesn't eat eggs, but the salad turned out to be scrumptious.
Salad topped with boiled egg and roasted potatoes!
After spending about an hour for lunch we filled our water bottles ahead of another climb. Thankfully the trail was fully covered so the climb was not that bad, it took about 45 minutes or so to climb. We found this place on the trail which sold ice cream but we were so full with lunch that even icecream didn't appeal us. The views never disappoint you no matter where you are on this trek. We could see cows or rather hear cow bells from distance before seeing them roaming around.
Sagar and Me
Saw this great reflection of mountain in this small pond
We started our descend to the village of Les Contamines in the Val Montjoie, it was a long walk after descending to our dormitory where we will spend the night in Chalet du Caf. Our guide Ben went shopping in village to buy next day lunch items. The village was small but quite busy with shops and restaurants and local bazaar. There was even a music concert happening that evening. We went and checked out the beautiful church down the road before we headed to the dormitory.
Walking to the village of Les Contamines
The name of our hotel today sounded so fancy and our expectations were quite high after yesterday's beautiful hotel. When we reached at Chalet Du Caf we were disappointed initially. Firstly it was NOT a hotel but dormitory where we shared room with others, secondly we were not allowed to take our bags or shoes inside the dormitory. They had this area at the entrance where we had to leave all our luggage and take our belongings, just what we needed for the night in a small crate to our room. The room at the entrance was so small that there was not enough space to open our bags, some of us took our bags outside and took out the stuff that was needed for the night and stored our luggage back on the rack.
Showers and toilets were common, so just one toilet and 2 showers on each of the two floors. We took quick shower and then sat outside talking and stretching and drying our clothes on the rack on the side of the dormitory. It was a different experience. It somewhat reminded me of my backpacking trip 3 years ago on John Muir Trail.
This was our sleeping place tonight
After everyone was settled the arrangement was not that bad. The dining area was upstaris and food was quite decent that night. There was just one person running the whole show in this hotel. He cooked chole(chickpeas) curry with rice which tasted really good. We called it a night after dinner, couldn't really sleep well on those bunk beds, the mattress was wrapped in plastic so it was very uncomfortable and hot. Somehow made it through the night, woke up early, got ready and went for breakfast upstairs. Breakfast was as usual, not a big spread but was enough to fill our tummies. The usuals of toast, bread, jams, coffee, yogurt, granola and cereals.
Day 3(July 19, Les Contamines to Le Chapieux)
After breakfast we left the dormitory and walked for an hour or so through the village of Les Contamines until we entered the Natural Reserve area. We stopped for a quick bathroom break.
We were following the trail today to the the Col du Bonhomme (7,641ft). The climb started very hard with steep gradient, there was no respite from climb. There was stream flowing on either side of the trail. The force of the water was so fierce that it had cut through the rock giving it a cave like structure.
The trail became somewhat flat after climbing for nearly one and half hour. On our way we saw lots of cows grazing around. It was pleasant to walk on flat after that steep climb.
We stopped to refill our water, ate a small snack, used bathroom. Kids were enjoying this break time and hopping on big boulders nearby.
There use to be bread cutting, melon cutting, along with veggies like cucumber, zucchini and variety of spreads like pesto variety, guacamole, cheese variety and of course chocolates and hazelnut cookies for dessert.
There were endless wildflowers where we had lunch.
There still was some climb left so after lunch we started to climb again, another small pass. Saw this beautiful lake far away with blue water, it was breathtaking.
Waterfall Crossing
We started long descend after crossing the waterfall. It was about 3,300 feet gradual descend. There was big muddy patch on the trail with no way to go around it. I tried to go around and slipped and fell, what a muddy mess it was 😄 but all good fun.
After reaching the bottom a private shuttle took us to a town called Bourg Saint Maurice. There we stayed at newly built dormitories called Hotel Base Camp Lodge.
9 of us shared this room and 3 others shared another room. After getting freshened up we went for dinner at he hotel restaurant where we had prefixed 3 course dinner. Falafel for appetizer, Pasta for main course and Flan for dessert. Food presentation was really good but taste was ok nothing great.
Some of us went for walk after dinner, the sky had shades of golden hue because of sunsest. Sunset happens quite late at 9 so it is quite bright at 9.
Sunset View
Day4(July 20, 2024: Ville de Glaciers, France to Courmayeur, Italy)
We left hotel after breakfast, shuttle drove us to the village of Ville des Glaciers which means Village of Glaciers.
Village of glaciers
Visit to cheese makers is a must in this village, Beaufort cheese is quite famous from this region. We saw the cheese making process, Ben bought some beaufort cheese for lunch that day. It was quite interesting to see the whole process of cheese making, we went inside the storage where they store prepared cheese, it smelled really bad in there, me and Anu got out of the the room right away.
Process of heating the milk at certain temperature 
Storage room of prepared cheese.
Cheese Tasting
We left the village shortly after visit to cheese makers to climb towards Col de la Seigne, a high mountain pass that divides France and Italy, so basically we were going to cross the border today.
Walk along the wildflowers!
When you have been climbing for some time and look back, it gives immense pleasure to see how far you have climbed! I could see the Ville des Glaciers village miniature version from where I was right now, it feels really good.
Neel and me at the border in different frames :)
Inside the bunker
We had our usual lunch of sandwich and fruits here.
Our bread cutter Rohan and melon cutter Yashvi
It was 2:45 Pm at this point. I was very much skeptical about this decision, there was climb up ahead with 2,000 ft elevation gain plus 1,800 ft descent. We reached the top at 4:00 PM and followed the splendid balcony trail facing the most famous peaks in mountaineering history: Noire de Peuterey, Dent du Géant, Grandes Jorasses, and more. We took pictures quickly as we had to descent to get to the chairlift, the chairlift was going to take us further down to courmayeur before the service is closed at 5:30 PM, that means we had only an hour and 30 minutes.
Me and Neel at the balcony trail
Group pic with all the magnificient peaks in the background
We quickly started descending after this pic. The whole team gave their 200% I feel during this crunch time. All of us were literally running downhill, because no one wanted to miss that chairlift and walk extra 5K downhill on ski slopes to Courmayeur. We passed 2 lakes while going down, which I saw only with the corner of my eye as I was so busy focusing on the road that didn't admire or take any pictures. I think couple of people took quick pictures of that lake.
Made it in time to the chairlift
Ahhh it felt so good
Finally we reached Courmayeur, Italy!
We worked so hard to get here, we have earned a rest day since we did 2 day hikes in one day! We were going to stay three nights in Courmayeur in same hotel, so everyone was kind of relaxed! To celebrate today's achievement we went to Pizza place for dinner that night.
Well deserved Pizza!
Day5(Sunday, July 21 Rest Day)
Today felt good, there was no rush to pack, eat breakfast and head out. Though I was enjoying each day but after yesterday today's break was more welcoming!
Enjoyed late breakfast, then some went for a small hike and some of us just explored Courmayeur. It was a happening town, plenty of restaurants, designer shops, souvenir shops, church, gelato place, grocery store, you name it and it was there!
I loved courmayeur, view from our room was amzing, the whole town was decked with flowers.
View from our room.
Some pictures from rest day.
Pasta with burrata cheese and tomatoes and tiramisu for dessert(which was not that good)
Day6(Monday, July 22-: Courmayeur to Arp Nueva)
Our daily routine was quite set by now, after eating breakfast we head out and started walking towards Arp Nueva via Italian Alp Ferret balcony trail.
Just before the climb, group pic in front of the waterfall
There was continuous climb with an elevation gain of 2,624 feet. At the start the trail was shaded so it felt good.
Ben was my pacer today, he gave some good tips for climbing that were very helpful
After stopping for quick snack we started to climb some more and then continued on impressive balcony trail offering exceptional views of the most beautiful peaks of the Mont-Blanc Massif. Loved the balcony trail days, it offers fantastic views all along.
There was no shortage of wildflowers! Just amazing how they were adding a pop to the already amazing views!
Spectacular views from balcony
Panorama View
Around 12:30 we stopped for lunch, again off the trail in a peaceful area where this big stream was flowing, and cows were grazing nearby.
Lunch was usual, bread, veggies, different kind of spreads, avocado, fruit etc. We usually use to assemble ourselves sandwiches using all the ingredients.
Cows grazing behind the fenced area area
Took lot of pictures here, we were getting used to eating lunch at beautiful spots such as these!
After crossing the stream we continued on the balcony trail enjoying more beautiful views and then gradual descent into Arp Nuva.
Walking on this small bridge to cross the stream
Continuing our hike post lunch
Amazing spot for a picture
Group pic at Rifugio Bonnati
We continued downhill, there were wildflowers on both sides of the trail.
Monika on the trail
We reached Arp Nuva bus stop at 4:20 PM, the bus stop was located along the stream. We missed the bus by just a minute so had to wait another 10 minutes but no one complained as the location was just perfect!
End of day 6
Our bus arrived shortly and took us back to Courmayeur, some of us went straight to gelato place to enjoy some creamy gelatos!
We had 3 course dinner at a nice restaurant, Tiramisu here tasted perfect!
Starting from Courmayer, we went to Arp nouva, the same place where we ended our hike yesterday. The trail takes us to the Grand Col Ferret (8,316ft), marking the border between Italy and Switzerland.
Waiting for the bus at Courmayeur to take us to Arnuva
It was chilly to start the day, we did some warmup before starting the climb.
Team doing warmup exercises
Refugio Elena
Beautiful view from up there
Our climb continued until we reach the border between Italy and Switzerland.
Me and Neel at the border, it was very windy
We then took a detour, a side route that is less trafficked with better views.
Neel had become expert in taking landscape pictures by now, he clicked some beautiful pics throughout just like the above
We saw some Ibex up on the mountain nearby.
Walked some more to our lunch spot.
Walking off the trail to lunch spot
We were getting used to eat lunch at pituresque spot like these
Had a long relaxing lunch. Jai flew his drone, some people took naps. It was just perfect!
Relaxing post lunch
After lunch, we started gradual descent to La Fouly in the Swiss Val Ferret.
We walked downhill through a farm, saw lots of cows. After descending we came across a stream which we couldn't cross so retraced our steps and took a different route to reach La Fouly. We waited for our shuttle to arrive, Samir got us all ice cream in the mean time. The shuttle took us to our next Refugio 'Le Plein Air' where we had dorm style rooms with shared bathroom. Rooms were not that great but at least we could bring our bags inside the room.
After taking a quick shower some of us headed out to the lake nearby.
Lake in Champex Village
Champex was a small village with very few restaurants and one grocery store.
Champex Village
We had dinner at dining area in our hotel. Dinner was not that great, had salad, roasted potatoes and boiled spinach. Priti and Ben had fondue, that too with potatoes.
Roasted Potato and Boiled Spinach
The dining room was very crowded
Day 8(Wed, july 24 Champex, Switzerland to Trient, Switzerland)
Our day began after eating breakfast, we started walking from our hotel. It was a foggy morning but not cold. Initial part was quite flat walking along the stream, enjoying swiss views. Later we entered a forest with up and down trail, there were blueberry bushes so we enjoyed some blueberries.
Blueberry bushes, blueberries were very sweet
Beautiful houses along the way with mountain views
House with swiss flag colors
Reached the top
Break time
Reached our lunch place in the village called Bovine. We had amazing lunch of Rosti(crispy potatoes and cheese) a swiss dish and nice Apricot juice. Good food along with good views.
Rosti with cheese
Beautiful Views
Me and Neel
Beautiful place for lunch
There was a small climb after lunch followed by a balcony trail with spectacular views!
Climb after Lunch
Witnessed some amazing views of Martigny town which has 8 valleys intersecting here, therefore, a very important place.
Overlooking the town of Martingy
There were beautiful purple flowers on both sides of the trail.
Neel petting this cute farm dog
Herens Cows greeting us with cowbells
We descended to Col de Forclaz quite early, a transfer was picking us up at 5 PM from Trient so we had plenty of time on our hand. Kids enjoyed coffee in a restaurant, some checked the souvenir shop but didn't buy anything as everything was expensive. 
Ben showed us another interesting piece of history, yes another bunker here in Forclaz, Switzerland.
Forclaz is a mountain pass that is used as a defensive position between France and Switzerland. In World War II, Switzerland had built bunkers to defend this road. They had bunkers camouflaged as village houses. Impossible to spot. They also had a plan to flood the valley by blowing up the dams if the Nazis invaded.
Bunker entrance and camouflaged house above it
Gun positioned inside the bunker
We left Forclaz and descended another 30 minutes to the Village called Trient. There was a short iron bridge balcony from where we got beautiful views of Trient.
View from Iron Bride of Trient
We reached Trient and waited for our Shuttle which took us back to France, we arrived at Chalet Alpin du Tour. It was a dormitory style hotel where we shared rooms and bathrooms. Dinner was decent with salad, pasta and cake. Post lunch we went for walk. It is a quaint little town with beautiful houses, church and flowers everywhere. There was this beautiful house with flowers all around it, next day Ben told us it is the house of an Alpinist, his picture was on the wall of the house. 
House of the Alpinist
Flower Studded street of the Village
Our dormitory nestled among mountains
Day 9(Thursday July 25, 2024: Le Tour to Argentiere)
Kids were very excited about today's hike, Ben was going to bring his dog Snow for today's hike. Snow was a Swiss Shepherd dog, pure white in color, she was very friendly.
Start of day 9 from our dormitory
We started climbing immediately, there was cable car from the town of Le Tour we walked right under it for sometime. It was a long climb, but the views were amazing. We could see Mt Blanc in it's full glory. 
Initial climb under skilift
Me climbing up, snowcapped Mt Blanc in the background
Met a old couple while climbing, they were hiking up the mountain pass for a concert. Apparently there was a concert happening at a restaurant at the top. I was amazed by their enthusiasm, at that age they were very athletic!
Concert set up at the top
We reached Col de Balme (7,186ft) a famous border between Switzerland and France. From the pass, the view of Mont-Blanc and the Aiguilles Rouges is breathtaking. We didn't cross the border but just traversed it.
The views from up here were simply breathtaking.
Group Picture
We took a traverse after that and saw Mont Blanc up close! Ben took a slight detour from the trail to show us this dam and backwater reservoir lake from far away. 
Dam and reservoir with blue water
We walked some more and stopped for lunch at this perfect spot with Mont Blanc right in front of us. Ben had brought vegetarian baguette sandwiches prepared from a baker's shop near his house. Spent almost 45 minutes there and had relaxed lunch.
Ben lived in Argentiere, his house was few meters away from our hotel. Dinner was at Bellevue Restaurant which was right across our hotel. It was 3 course meal with Leek Soup, Spinach Lasagna and Hot Chocolate Brownie with Rasberry Sorbet.
Went for short walk post dinner and then called it a night. Tomorrow was last day of our trek, everyone was looking forward as it was coming to an end.
Day10(Friday, Jul 26, 2024: Argentieres -> Le Flegere -> Le Praz)
According to our original itinerary it was a short day as we were going to ascend via the Grand Balcon Sud trail to the Chéserys Lakes but we also planned to do Lake Blanc additionally. Lake Blanc is an iconic lake which famous for it's glaciel blue water!
We started at 8:05 AM from our hotel, a short walk through the town lead us to the forest where the climb begin immediately. The trail was very rugged with big rocks and boulders and tree roots. It was very tough but enjoyed every bit of this trail.
Trail through forest
After this climb we came to a point from where the technical part started with ladders, which were in 3 parts. We stopped here for some time to take pictures and rest and get ready to tackle the next technical part of the trail.
Me, Neel and Anu
We started to climb the ladders.
First part of ladder climbing
Switchbacks
There were ladders in 3 sections. We reached Cheserys Lakes it was beautiful. Usually you can see the reflection of Mont Blanc in the lake but today there was slight breeze so water was not still so didn't get good reflection. We took lot of pictures though.
Loved this picture of Kids
You can see some reflection of Mont Blanc here, this beautiful picture was clicked by Jai
Neel posing
It was more climb and rock scrambling after Lake Cheserys until Refuge at Lake Blanc.
More climb and rock scrambling and ladders
We reached the top at Lake Blanc, Ben had made reservation for lunch at restaurant here. Lake Blanc is a very popular day hike so it was quite crowded. Because so many people come here, swimming is prohibited in lake Cheserys and Lake Blanc and that's why the water is very clear and clean. There was one more lake behind Lake Blanc, it was very pretty too. The glaciel water makes the lake looks magical! There was a one euro charge to use bathroom up here which is ok because it is hard to maintaing such facilities so high up. Bathrooms were kept very clean.
There was a Nepali server at this restaurant who served us. There was dal chawal and quiche option for lunch. It felt so good to eat lunch at this place.
Beautiful lunch setting
We saw Ibex on the mountain across the restaurant where there snow. 
Me and Anu
Group picture was a must at this iconic lake on Tour du Mont Blanc.
We left after taking pictures and started our descent to the cable car lift at Le Flegere. It was a gradual descent with a lot of scree, that means there was a chance of slipping and falling. While we were descending one person came running from behind us and he just slipped and fell over cliff but he quickly recovered and pulled himself up, he had scratches on knee and was bleeding. But I think he was a regular hiker/runner so he just got up and left, thankfully he was ok.
The descent
We reached the cable car lift at 3:30 PM. There was celebration as each team member was reaching the end point. Ben and Kids reached first so they were kind of cheering for everyone who was coming. It was fun!
Last group pic with our guide Ben
We took the cable car and were were at Le Praz, near Chamonix at around 3.45 pm. We then took the Line 1 bus to Chamonix and reach around 4.00 pm.We were taken to the office of the Companies des Guides which had arranged our trip. Our luggage was brought there. Ben filled out our certificates and handed the certificates to us. We gave him a 600 Euro tip.
We then took our luggage and walked for about 10 mins to the Lykke hotel near the Chamonix train station. We reached the hotel around 5 pm. Finally all of us got private rooms of our own. Some went to the hotel spa, where they enjoyed Sauna and Jaccuzi.
Dinner reservations was at 7 PM at Annapurna Indian restaurant. Everyone was starving and it felt so good to enjoy Indian food after 10 days. Me, Anu and Sagar went for walk after dinner and bought a TMB magnet and car bumper sticker from a souvenir shop. Came back to our hotel room and packed for next day.
Day11(Sat, July 27, Departure)
Everyone was flying back to their own destination. Me and Neel had flight out from Geneva at 12:30 PM so we had booked Alpy Transfer bus service from Chamonix to Geneva airport. Jai with his kids had also booked the same bus as they were going to spend 2 days in Geneva. Monica and Srinivas had booked a different bus for their destination to Annecy. Sagar was going to travel to Paris by train where his family was going to join him to enjoy another week of vacation. Arun and Preeti were also flying out same day to Seattle from Geneva airport but they had booked Mountain Drop Off.
Anu and Samir had flight late afternoon from Geneva to Jeddah and then to Mumbai, India.
Everyone dispersed with wonderful memories of this trek! I just love this group of fellow trekkers, Neel had a good time too since he had company of Yashvi and Rohan. Overall what an amazing experience we had with lifetime memories!
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