Tour du Mont Blanc, Day 0: Briefing and Dinner in Chamonix

Mont Blanc and the Bossons glacier over the rooftops of Chamonix, the evening before the start
Mont Blanc and the Bossons glacier over the rooftops of Chamonix, the evening before the start

Friday, July 31: a pack check, a briefing, and tartiflette

No hiking today. Day 0 is the night before: the official briefing with our guide, the group coming together for the first time, and a first dinner in Chamonix. This is the first of the day-by-day Tour du Mont Blanc posts; the overview and the all-days map are in the trip summary post.

Settling in

Got into a friend's flat in town and spent a while figuring out how to turn the electricity on, which is a great way to feel competent right before a mountain trek. Then groceries, and a first proper look up at the massif from the middle of town. It is right there. It is enormous.

The Aiguilles de Chamonix from the valley floor
The Aiguilles de Chamonix from the valley floor

The briefing

Over to the Maison de la Montagne on Place de l'Église for the official briefing from the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix. Our guide is a very experienced trekking guide and a senior figure at the Compagnie, and she does not waste time. She went through the route, the huts, the weather, and then everybody's packs. A couple of them were judged too small for ten days and sent straight back out to rent something bigger in town.

She frightened me a little at first, but as the trip unfolded, we new we were in very good hands.

The group trickled in over the afternoon. One friend had a flat tire on the drive over and got in late, but by dinner everyone had made it.

Le Monchu

Dinner outside at Le Monchu, in a bit of rain, with a couple of the group's family members who'd come along to see us off. Tartiflette for me, which is the correct way to start a walk in Savoie: potatoes, Reblochon, lardons, onions, and no pretense of being light. ("Monchu" is Savoyard for "monsieur," what the locals used to call the wealthy Parisians who came up for the mountain air. I like that the restaurant kept the name.)

Dessert at Le Monchu
Dessert at Le Monchu

Back to the flat and turned in. Tomorrow, up.

Tips for the night before

  1. Bring the pack you'll actually carry to the briefing. The guide will check it, and Chamonix has plenty of places to rent a bigger one.
  2. Arrive at least a day early. You want one evening in Chamonix with nothing to do but eat, sleep and look up.

Next: Day 1, the Planpraz gondola and Le Brévent cable car, then mostly downhill to Les Houches.

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