Orsieres to Bourg St. Pierre
- Mr Melezet
- Aug 27, 2020
- 2 min read
La Route Napoleon
Today is uphill from the start to the finish in the last village before the border.
It's quite a short day, made easier because the hotel arranged to ship a bag to tonight's accomodation.
We had a good breakfast and set off at 9.30. The Via takes you up the side of the valley and then you walk parallel to the main road. The traffic on the road was light - a few trucks, but mostly touring campers and motorbikes.
The valley is wide with lots of pasture but few cows. Lots of the fields were being watered by sprinklers which seemed odd.
We had to cross some steep gulleys and some sections of the trail required lots of zigzags. On one section of the trail there is a tradition of stacking rocks in piles, with everyone who passes adding a rock.
Today's date: 27.8.20
Weather: sunny with a cool breeze
Steps: 28,470
Distance: 16.02 km
Climbing: 948 m
We made good progress and stopped in Liddes for a light lunch. You could see ski lifts on the mountain tops and this seems much more of a winter than summer place.
The crosses today were all on points above the road. The valley also has lots of really tumbledown barns.
The animals today weren't that friendly. Donkey of the day was shy and the dogs just sat there and stared.
I think Napoleon may have come this way once, but they keep it a secret. There's just the occasional sign and hotel name. Tonight we could have Pizza Bonaparte at Bivouac Napoleon on Route Napoleon, but will seek out a fondue instead.
Tomorrow is the last climb up to the top of the pass. It isn't too far, but the weather is bad in the afternoon so we will try to make an early start.
Le Petit Velan - Bourg St. Pierre
A very odd place to stay. We booked on the website and arrived to find the bar/restaurant/hotel very closed. A bit of calling later we had the access code and the whole place to ourselves. We were invited to use the bar as our kitchen.
The place seems geared up for skiiers in winter and there is a labyrinth of rooms. We tracked down the bag that had been shipped and did our washing.
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