Cogne ... more of the same, and all of it great

We had no idea Cogne was ever more than a sleepy town ... until we were here during Italian school holidays. Thankfully, the vans have now all packed up and gone home - but as this is the spot for good ice in Europe at the moment, we still need to start very early to beat the rush of ice climbers and be first on the route.

Crowds or no crowds, the hot chocolate in this part of the world is still the best. Their secret? Potato. Yep, it's really just chocolate flavoured, creamy mash. Knowing this does not deplete its deliciousness.

We've splashed out and stayed in a studio apartment for a few nights, to dry everything out - and take a break from our normal cuisine to have something from the oven: roast beef, roast potatoes and one night, stuffed capsicum.

 

Jen on Pattinaggio artistico ...

... enjoying a great day out climbing.

And Mark on the easier (and drier!) second pitch of Tuborg - another fun route.

Christmas Cheer

We were joined by Jen's family for the week before Christmas, and celebrated the week away in this fabulous gite in Le Laus, a tiny hameau near Cervieres, which is up the road from Briancon ... somewhere in the southern French Alps. The weather obliged by providing the area with a cover of white, making it the perfect location for a winter Christmas.

... and the fire kept roaring!

Of course, much champagne was drunk ... 

The table set for dinner on Christmas Eve - roast chook!

One night, we caught skidoos up to Refuge Napoleon on the Col de l'Izoard to have tartiflette for dinner - yum! Jen and Mark then toboggan'd the 7km back down again ... if only the road was a bit steeper, we could have gotten enough speed to beat the skidoos down.

Mum and Dad braved the snow and cold to walk around the area and the fortified city of Briancon too ... 

... Steph headed out to Serre Chevalier to learn to ski, impressing Jen and Mark who joined her for a day or two on the slopes ...

... and whilst Mark and Jen didn't quite get ice-climbing ...

... it's a beautiful part of the world just to be out and about in.
What a week! 

A birthday in Saint Jeannet

What a birthday!


Saint Jeannet, a small medieval village in the hills above Nice, was the location for a small party to celebrate the end of Jen's 20's. With Steph flying from Oxford, Evelyn and Emily from Amsterdam and Rho from Munich, as well as a special bottle of champagne and loads of food and drink, it was going to be a very special weekend.

We found a quirky but perfect "gite" in the village, called "The Studio of the Artist" - obviously because it is frequently inhabited by a local painter and sculptor and is still inhabited by his works, which cover every available space. At the top of an old building in the town and facing south, it caught all the sunshine going - providing much needed vitamin D for the northerners.

Some people had some work to do, some read books, others lazed in the sun or went for walks or runs around the village or up the hill behind it. Jen really enjoyed catching up with her sister and friends; it could only have been better by being longer.

Everyone helped cook (and clean up after!) the numerous meals consumed - proper English bacon for breakfast, a Morroccan inspired banquet for dinner, and no shortage of French cheeses and saussison inbetween.

One highlight has to have been the gift of new ice tools for Jen from Mark - Petzl Nomics, to be precise ... can't wait to try them out on the ice this winter!

And that special bottle? A 1990 vintage Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin, purchased from the cave in Rheims a while ago and carefully kept for this very day. Whether it was the company, the location, the occasion or even the anticipation - it was by far the best champagne Jen has ever tasted, and the whole experience was unforgettable.

A big thank you to all those who made it such a special day, whether through your presence or your messages from afar. It was truly the most memorable and most fantastic birthday I have ever had.

Livigno ...?

So, hands up if you've heard of a place called Livigno?

With the weather less-than-optimal for climbing, we decided to take the scenic route from Basel to Bolzano - and this took us through the tiny valley of Livigno, squished up against Switzerland, right at the top of Italy. The wiki page describes a history of poverty, smuggling and inaccessibility during the winter months, and even now there are only three roads which head into the region (and one is a long, narrow tunnel).


View Larger Map

We were pleasantly surprised to find out on arrival that Livigno has no goods tax. NONE! In fact it has been exempt from paying a variety of taxes since the Middle Ages.

So everything is much cheaper ... we left the valley the proud owners of new Grivel crampons and with a full tank of premium diesel - bought for under a Euro a litre! Bargain!

Refuges around Chamonix … a brief comparison.

Around Chamonix, there are a series of mountain huts for alpinists and climbers to use. Most of these are owned by CAF – Club Alpin Francais – and run by franchisees, who make a business of the restaurant whilst the accommodation fees go back to CAF.

Like any business, there are up-sides and down-sides – the hut wardens have a captive market on the mountainsides and can charge quite high prices for food and drinks that have been flown in by helicopter. But frequently the hut wardens find that people do not honour their bookings, meaning they prepare meals and people do not show up to pay for them. Or people show up late with no reservation, after the kitchen is closed, and expect a 3-course meal and warm bed.

Hanging around at Requin - a hut we would definitely recommend!

 Often, we take the tent – it means a quieter night's sleep, rather than being in a room with a mix of people, some going to bed at midnight after celebrating a good day and others waking up at 2am to start climbing. It's also cheaper (but means much heavier bags)! But if we're near a hut, we'll buy a drink or two or some food - but use their toilets and maybe their picnic room.

Recently, we have had two extremely different hut experiences.

The first – negative! - experience was at Refuge d'Argentiere. Although we were prepared to camp, when we arrived at dusk in the rain and found out the hut was quite empty, we thought we'd enquire about staying a night there there instead. But the hut warden was far from welcoming – yelling at us that we were too late, and we should have booked, and the kitchen was closed, and he couldn't (wouldn't!) help us – so we “must go down!” And lecturing us on climbing schedules, telling us we'd wasted a day.

All this before we could explain that we were planning on camping, had our own food and were not planning on climbing the next day – we had just come up earlier to have a day to recce our route and get an extra night of acclimatisation. We were less than impressed. Although they condescended to let us pay to sleep in one of their many empty beds, we had to be gone by 7am - something other huts have not demanded, as far as we know.

So, we put up the tent in the rain and slept far more comfortably in that instead. We didn't spend a cent in their hut – not a single drink or meal – and the next morning, moved the tent further up the ridge onto the snow.

The second – positive! - experience was at Refuge du Requin. We called and booked, but just for accommodation (yes, we're cheap … we have to be!). We asked about cooking our own food on the telephone, and the response was “No problem!”. When we arrived, although we were the only guests, the candles were lit in the colourful and tidy dormitory, there was a separate room for us to cook in (with crockery!) and we were welcome to eat in the heated common room downstairs. Delphine and Vincent, the hut wardens, gave us loads of information about our intended routes and all-round the warmest welcome we could imagine. Despite not being their best customers, just buying some wine and a breakfast for one early morning, we were really looked after … we will have to come back when we're employed again, to eat everything we could smell over the 5 nights we stayed there!

Requin: the hut and it's tooth

So, mountain huts are not equal. So far Requin and Envers are our pick... but we'll have to pass though some more to be sure...

High tea?

We totally deserved this. 

(We also ordered coffee ... each of which came with another, probably unnecessary, macaroon.)

Meteora

Meteora was hot.

So, feeling very much like lazy tourists, we spent a large quantity of our time there by the campsite's swimming pool. From the side of the pool, you could admire the tall rock pillars with their precariously perched monasteries above you (and not even raise a sweat).

The chosen route: up this pillar on the left.

Not wanting to fork out for the comprehensive guidebooks to the area for only a day or so, we tracked down some other climbers for information. Two friendly Germans pointed us in the direction of a route called "Traumfiler", or something like that, that ran up the corner of a large pillar near our campsite. Well within our abilities, it seemed perfect for us the next day.

Jen has to be honest here - she doesn't like conglomerate rock, and particularly doesn't like conglomerate rock with very spaced bolts! So, swearing and sweating, she followed Mark's lead, very happy not to be on the sharp end and feeling not just like a lazy tourist, but like a bad climber as well.

Mark really enjoyed the route and had a great time.

We were both agreed that the view from the top was even better than the view from the pool. (Hopefully the pictures convey the stunning scenery!)

But as we were at risk of dehydration from perspiration, however, it was time to head back to those cool, blue waters ... 

Hot Mud and Hot Lunch

We decided to do something a little different … so we headed to Sultaniye Hot Springs for an apparently therapeutic and beauty-enhancing mudbath.

The Chemical Analysis: better not to know?

It works like this: you get into your swimmers, and sit in a pool of hot, slightly smelly mud, coating yourself completely. Then you sit on the pool's edge and enjoy the view until the mud dries onto your skin, feeling all the while slightly ridiculous – but hey, everyone else is doing the same thing. You then jump into the water to scrub the mud off, and once clean, head to the hot tub for some relaxation.

Jen tried to convince Mark that people pay hundreds for this sort of "beauty treatment" in luxurious spas worldwide. Look at the therapeutic benefits on the sign! Mark thinks anyone that would pay more than a few lira for this is crazy.

Smile! You're having fun, remember?!

And the end result? Yes, we smelled like sulphur for a day or so afterwards - despite thoroughly scrubbing the mud off. No, we felt or saw no great improvement in our health or beauty. Still … when was the last time you had a hot mud bath?

But the best part of the day was definitely grabbing lunch off this guy. Delicious.

Trailer with a chimney ...

... and lamb roasting on the coals! Delicious!

Brand ...

So we're in Switzerland, trip planning in a Swiss version of a greasy spoon (it was spotless), when Marty pops up online. Where to go, what to do and when: these are big questions.

But hey, Marty and his lovely girlfriend Julia live a little over an hour and a half away in Dornbirn, Austria ... and hey presto, a plan was formed!

We arrived for beers and a long catch up last night, and once we'd packed Marty off to work this morning, we headed out to enjoy the Austrian Alps. First stop was shopping for new boots for Jen (desperately overdue!), new sunglasses for Jen (a belated birthday present (Ed: due to indecision!)) and for us both - some wiregate carabiners. We're hoping the wiregates won't freeze up as much as conventional carabiners, if they get wet. We'll see how they go.

Then, mountain time - off to nearby Brandnertal  ...

... which looks a little like this. The photo doesn't do the ice justice - the chandeliers are truly spectacular, hanging down over an overhang in all manner of shapes. And these falls are up to 100 metres long, too - so taller than the image gives them credit for.

We thought they were looking a little thin after the recent (relatively) warm weather but after a glance at our guidebook, we realised that they're always quite thin - that's why most of the lines here are hard! So yes ... we might not be back to climb them any time soon... off for some skiing/snowboarding instead.

A little Lillaz luxury ...

We'd been free-camping in Fred for a while, or parking at Cogne's official van parking space, and to be honest ... we needed a shower and to wash some clothes, and to regain some of our civilisation. Thinking we'd stay just one night somewhere, research revealed a good deal: four nights in a studio apartment in Lillaz for a very fair price.

The apartment - all 30 metres squared of it - has an abundance of space. We don't quite know what to do with it all.

It also has an oven. This means roast potatoes.

After a day out in the snow, is it possible for anything to taste better?!