DAY 3 - Refuge des Mottets to Gite le Randonneur
Breakfast at Mottets was just meh - which, to be honest, was the case most mornings. It was really just oatmeal and cereal with the addition of prunes. Soma took a massive scoop and I was like CAREFUL with all those!
We started hiking around 8 AM with the climb up to Col de Seigne. My research had prepared me for quite a few false summits so they didn’t bother me too much. This was much more gradual than the climb out of Refuge de la Balme and I was in much better spirits. Especially once we passed the cutest little mountain goats being herded by two dogs living their best lives.
Once we reached the Col de Seigne we officially crossed over from France to Italy! Mont Blanc was now Monte Bianco. The next little bit was quite pleasant, we saw and heard some marmots and saw lots of cows and lamb being herded.
Our first stop of the day was Refugio Elisabetta. The views are absolutely stunning, it has a wrap around deck with views of 2 glaciers and looks down into Val Veny. The climb from the trail up to Elisabetta was pretty steep - it had me questioning if I realllllly needed the stop. But it was definitely worth it to enjoy a cappuccino and “fruit of the forest” tart with those views! And we got to hear our first “ciao” and “grazie mille!”
Next up was about a mile from Elisabetta to Cabane du Combal - it wasn’t a terribly steep downhill and there was quite a bit of flat. The walk up to Cabane du Combal was beautiful with lakes and wildflowers. But Val Veny is definitely a popular tourist spot and so it was more crowded than a lot of other areas.
Cabane du Combal was definitely one of our nicer lunches - a big full menu. I had polenta with ratatouille and Soma had tagliatelle ragu and a mid-hike glass of wine!
After we ate we went to do a side quest to Lago del Miage. We took a very steep route up (sans backpacks, though) and I wouldn’t say it was overwhelmingly worth it. That being said, later in they day, we came to a lookout where we were towering over it and it did put things into perspective!
After Combal, you know we had to do another biiiig climb up! At this point in the day it was HOT and we were fully exposed to the sun. We passed a creek and it was time for a fullll hat and sun shirt soaking.
It was probably about 45 minutes of climbing before we got to one of the most stunning views of the trip. More glaciers! So many more glaciers than I expected to see. The highlight of the day for me were the views at the Mont Favre spur (2430m)! I don’t know why more people don’t talk about this photo op in their recaps. It felt well-earned and was one of those viewpoints that makes you feel like you’re on top of the world!
From this point on, the trail was pretty easy going - not a ton of elevation change and fairly smooth as far as the trail goes so that you could look around in awe instead of staring at your feet to avoid tripping. Very beautiful part of the trek, but I will admit at this point I was ready to be done for the day and any time we started going slightly downhill I got cranky.
The last mile or so we were more in the woods It was not one of the worst descents by any means but I was hungry, hot, tired, my feet hurt, etc. etc. There was a beautiful lake we passed that I seriously considered side-tracking to for a dip (and to lift my spirits)- but I was really ready to be at our refuge.
When we finally make it to Gite le Randonneur du Mont Blanc, we were surprised with ANOTHER private room with our own bathroom and shower. The lodge also had free Wi-Fi and I really nice deck with picnic tables and a view of the cable cars down to Courmayeur. We had a beer and played rummy before showering (I was so covered in dust and dirt this day). This was another place where they do not allow bags inside, even in private rooms.
For the most part, this refuge was really nice. But the dinner was probably my least favorite of the trip. Because they were serving beef, I had the vegetarian option which was an omelet that wasn’t great and was served with frozen vegetables. Best part of dinner were the really great placemats that were maps of the TMB with all of the different huts. I wish I could have found it at a souvenir store!
Day 3 Statistics
MILEAGE: 13.44 MILES
ELEVATION: 4,255 FEET
TRAIL: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/france/savoie/tour-du-mont-blanc-les-mottets-maison-vieille-variante-etape-3-4
DAY 4 - Rest Day in Courmayeur
Day 4 was our day to rest up before our biggest day of the trek. Originally, I had us just staying and hanging out a full day at Gite le Randonneur. We could have taken the gondola down sans bags and had lunch/explored.
The problem was that the next morning, we would have had to go down on foot (the gondola doesn’t open until way later than we would have been able to start) - it is a steeeeeep decline for 2 hours on top of our already planned 16 mile day. It seemed like a bad idea. At the last minute, I pivoted and got us a (very expensive) hotel in Courmayeur so that we could start bright and early on Day 5 with no descent necessary.
We slept in a little later and strolled in to breakfast as it started. We took our time packing up and getting ready after breakfast, and we weren’t in any sort of a rush so we sat and read on the deck for awhile.
Eventually, we started the downhill to the cable car which would bring us into Courmayeur.
We took a look at the mountain pool and considered hanging out there, but thought it might be too crowded with kids. In retrospect, hanging out up there at the pool might have been preferable to how our day unfolded (ok that sounds dramatic, everything was fine - just homeless and hot).
There are two gondola options down from the Plan Chécrouit ski area and we somehow ended up on the wrong one - which technically brought us to Dolonne instead of Courmayeur. Regardless, it was a fairly short walk from the station to our hotel.
When we got to the Villa Novecento Romantic Hotel we got what seems to be the standard answer for France and Switzerland - “check-in isn’t until 4 PM.” Not, “check-in isn’t until 4 PM, but let us take a look and see if anything is available.” Nope. Just, “We can take your bags but come back in 6 hours.”
We were very dirty and dusty and definitely felt out of place in this fancy 1900’s hotel and handed our bags over and skedaddled. We strolled into the main downtown blocks of Courmayeur and Soma beelined it for the gelato shop. I must say, the lemon sorbet was incredible in that moment. It was HOT. The towns at the bottom of the Alps might have stunning views, but they also act as giant heat traps and we were sweltering.
We walked up and down the streets deciding what we were in the mood for - all I wanted was a mortadella sandwich (hello, Italy!) but unfortunately there were none to be found. We ended up being the first people seated at Pizzeria Ristorante du Tunnel where we split some ‘za and Soma got tiramisu! I would say it was good, not great.
After that we still had hours to go until we could get into the hotel. And I couldn’t even shop! Because anything I purchased would need to be carried on my back for another week. No thanks!
Instead, we sat out under a tent in the town square and I had a glass of champagne, Soma had a cocktail from “Gou.” They don’t have a website, but they have really great reviews on Google!
After that, we made our way back to the hotel in the hopes that they might take pity on us and give us a room - but nope. We asked if we could just use what I thought was an indoor pool and sauna, and they basically said yeah you can do that at 3:30. So we moved from table, to chair, to bench, to swing in the outdoor area of the hotel, trying to find a place that had some sort of a breeze or shade or didn’t feel like we were slowly melting.
Eventually, it was 3:30 and they said they would show us our room before we went to the wellness area. Hallelujah! We dropped our stuff and put on our robes, excited for the indoor pool I had been talking up.
Well, pool would be an incredibly generous terms for what we were greeted with. It was a hot tub, though luckily it was cool water which we did still enjoy! Neither of us could bear to go into the sauna. It was a nice space to have to ourselves for an hour - I did some yoga, flopped around in the room-temperature tub, and by then we had to start thinking about dinner because we had an early morning and BIG day the next day.
To our dismay - almost no restaurant started serving dinner until 7:30 PM. We asked probably a dozen places and struck out at all of them until we finally found one spot that was willing to serve us. As you can expect, it wasn’t the best meal to be had in Courmayeur by any means. But, it got the job done.
My tip would be to make a dinner reservation in Courmayeur (or, if you have an early morning too, book a late lunch reservation!) at Ristorante Cadran Solaire - it was recommended in all of my research and when we passed it, it looked wonderful!
After dinner it was bed time - in our incredibly hot room with no fan and, obviously, no AC. Ah, euro summer!
At least the view from our room was amazing!
TLDR; Our rest day in Courmayeur was probably our least favorite day of the trip. In an ideal world, we would have used the day to get to either Bertone or Bonatti, but they’re incredibly popular and we couldn’t get a room at either of them. I think we made the best of the situation - and going from Gite le Randonneur to La Peule in one day would have been brutal.
This is definitely the part of the itinerary I wish I could have a do-over on!