Our second rest day. Given that it was still raining and miserable, Janina, Vanessa, Felicity, Catherine and I decided we’d go into Contamines to look around the morning market, go to the tourist office to try and get information about doing a glacier walk from Chamonix and then get a bus to St. Gervais in the hope of going for a swim and sauna or something.
In the end, when we got to Contamines the bus wasn’t for ages, so after a look around the market we sat in a café reading our books for a while. Then Janina did a little research on the Internet before Catherine and I decided to give up on the St. Gervais idea and went and bought crisps, chocolate and a box of beer (“to take the edge off the day”) and wandered back in the drizzle to the campsite. Once there, we spent the afternoon reading books, playing chess, backgammon and cards with Brian, chatting with Dean, Janina and Felicity and generally just passing the time.
Once it came to dinner time, the six of us at camp were pretty chilly and damp and decided to wander back up to Notre Dame de la Gorge to try the restaurant we had spotted by the church. Thankfully, it turned out to be a brilliant choice. Inside, it was warm and cozy with low-beamed ceilings with nice, welcoming staff. For dinner, we mostly had steak, but Vanessa asked for an “assiette de legumes” and got the most appetising vegetarian meal I have ever seen. And “steak” doesn’t do our meal justice … this was good meat, really well prepared with tasty, tasty sides dishes.
Dinner was especially nice since it was just a small group and, so for example, I got a chance to talk to Dean much more than previously. Being a fellow programmer, but working on very different stuff, it was an interesting chat about our different perspectives. For dessert, we had crème brûlée and a couple of cognacs. We were all a little tipsy walking home, but hugely cheered (and warmed) up.
Out And About 
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