Tour du Mont Blanc :: Getting There

We set off to Dublin airport at a fairly decent hour for a change. Sigh of relief when we saw that the weight of our bags wasn’t too bad … Exodus set a limit of 15kg for the bag that goes in the van, and we had heaps of stuff. Sleeping bags, sleeping mats, clothes, spare boots, walking poles, wet gear etc. all mount up.

We were quickly through security, we settled down in the très civilised Aer Lingus Gold Circle lounge with a cup of tea and the papers. Waiting in the quiet of the lounge, with its impressive view of the concourse, makes things so much more pleasant.

Queuing up to board the flight was interesting. Lots of people heading for Geneva seemed to be all geared up for various outdoor activities. A sign of things to come. On board the flight we were sat beside a daddy and his cute, well behaved, three year old son … take off was made less scary by pretending to fly the plane.

Once at Geneva airport, we caught a hotel shuttle bus to the cheap and cheerful Hotel Ibis. Since we had to meet the rest of the group at the airport the following day, and we weren’t going to spend long at the hotel, it was perfect. Very reasonable price, clean rooms, funny little capsule shower room in the corner, pleasant enough staff, a little bar/cafe/restaurant and a huge continental breakfast. No complaints.

We caught a free bus into the city – buses are free to all hotel guests in Geneva – and wandered aimlessly around. We were suprised by Geneva, expecting it to be more like Brussels given its diplomatic reputation, but its still a fairly pleasant city.

Eventually we came across Geneva’s biggest book shop (Payot on Avenue Mont Blanc) and bought the Rando Editions IGN A1 Pays du Mont Blanc map which covers the entire Tour du Mont Blanc circuit at 1:50000. There are 1:25000 scale maps too, but unless you’re self-guiding, the 1:50000 is fine.

Later we had a nice dinner with pork and lamb for our main courses, had a couple of beers, some wine and took in the atmosphere in a fairly trendy, relaxed bar. Suprisingly, there seemed to be lots of Americans around, living and working in the city.

Back at the hotel we had some hot chocolate and tart (again, a sign of things to come) and studied the map and trip notes making out the route as best we could. Bed early … daunted, but excited by the prospect of the walk.

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