Girl Gone Running: Tour du Mont Blanc...

Ken and I just returned from our 10th-anniversary trip! Back in September Ken asked me if I wanted to go to France for our 10th wedding anniversary. Well, of course, I would! Now, most of you are probably thinking France, that sounds like fun and imagine things like wandering around the streets of Paris, a Seine River cruise, and romantic picnics under the Eiffel Tower. Well, this is the complete opposite of what we did. Try hiking 110 miles through the Alps and spending six nights in a tent. #truelove

You might be wondering what the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) is?

Well, it is a 110-mile hike that goes through France, Italy, and Switzerland all around Mont Blanc. You can complete the hike as quickly or as slowly as you wish. We chose to complete the hike in nine days and eight nights.

What are the sleeping options and options for food?

There are many options for accommodations and food. You can choose to stay in refuges (mountain huts), hotels, or camp. Each option for accommodations offers different food options. There is no need to carry food with you besides snacks unless you have a special diet of some sorts.

Did we use a tour group or who planned this trip?

I planned the entire trek. There are many different resources and books available that provide wonderful information. I used other people's blogs and the books as my guide in planning our trek.

Why did we camp?

Ken loves to go camping. Camping is not something that I love or really even consider when planning a trip. Most of the refuges have common sleeping quarters and I am not a big fan of sleeping in a room with 20 other people. We discussed that camping would bring Ken a lot of joy and it would keep us from sleeping next to multiple people snoring and farting all night. When I agreed to camp during the trip it was under two conditions: Ken would carry the tent and we would stay in a hotel half-way through. I must admit, camping was a great way to complete the TMB and I am glad that we did it.

Our Itinerary:

Day 1 - Les Houches to Les Contamines
Day 2 - Les Contamines to Les Chapieux
Day 3 - Les Chapieux to Courmayeur
Day 4 - Courmayeur to Tronchey
Day 5 - Tronchey to La Fouly
Day 6 - La Fouly to Champex
Day 7 - Champex to Trient
Day 8 - Trient to Tre-le-Champ
Day 9 - Tre-le-Champ to Chamonix

We left on July 2nd and flew to Paris. Did we see the Eiffel Tower? Nope! We decided to leave Paris just as soon as we arrived so we could get to the mountains as quickly as possible because that is how we roll.

On the way to drop this baby off at the doggie hotel. We always miss her so much on these trips, but know she is in the best hands possible!

Enjoying cocktails during our layover in Charlotte. We ended up meeting a couple of ladies at the bar that were also on their way to hike the TMB. They were going clockwise while we were going counter-clockwise, but we knew we would run into them eventually on the trek.

France here we come!

Snuggled in for the long haul! I even brought an inflatable footrest to use during the flight. It worked pretty well. I decided to try it because my legs get so uncomfortable just hanging there for eight hours.

There is really nothing pleasant to say about long flights, but this one was especially brutal. The flight crew on our American Airlines flight clearly all hated their jobs. We were at the back of the plane and we could hear them non-stop complaining about passengers. There was also a medical emergency on board to which I responded to along with a physician, and the crew did not even thank us. The crew was running around like chickens with their heads cut off when I was asking for medical supplies. It was chaotic. It ended with the most hateful flight attendant yelling at the doctor and me to return to our seats because in her eyes the passenger was okay. She was going to attempt to get a full health history to contact the airline's physician which I thought was interesting because it was clear she did not know what to ask the passenger. Thank goodness the guy ended up being okay because apparently asking for gloves and glucometer was too much to ask of the flight crew.

I was able to get a little bit of sleep during the flight and arrived in France feeling somewhat rested. We arrived in Paris and took a quick flight to Geneva and then a shuttle to Chamonix. We checked into our hotel and hit the streets to check out Chamonix. Chamonix is gorgeous!