Day 6 - Chamonix to Le Pontet - The TMB and Trophy Tourism

The gite in Chamonix - Le Chamoniard Volant - was a mighty disappointment and we were very happy to leave it. It was clear but chilly - Mont Blanc casts a big shadow over the Chamonix valley in the morning. After yesterday's weather everyone was delighted to see the mountains above Chamonix - they really are spectacular. We rode the shuttle - full of expensively dressed outdoor types - to Les Houches and rejoined the hike.

Mountains - including Mont Blanc - above Chamonix

We had a fairly straight-forward day, climbing up the Col de Voza, then down to a wide, grassy valley which we followed past Contamines-Montjoie to our gite, in the camp-site at Le Pontet. All that, with ever changing views of Mont Blanc.

Today's route was common with the very popular TMB (Tour de Mont Blanc) hike and we saw a lot more hikers as a result. The TMB is a lot more accessible than the GR5 - it's shorter (7-10 days, instead of 30-40 days). As a result there is quite a TMB industry and hikers come from all over the world to do it. One of the parties in the gite was Chinese, with 8 walkers accompanied by a Chinese leader that spoke good French and also a qualified French leader to look after them in the mountains.