Today, we took the free train to Les Houches, a small town in the Chamonix Valley. I had seriously considered staying in Les Houches but was happy I chose the center of Chamonix instead. None of the hotels are by the train station, it would have been a schlep and Les Houches is also very small and quiet. If you have your own transportation, it’s a horse of a different color and this is the place to stay for skiing. The first area I’ve seen with my kind of ski runs. Nice, wide and intermediate.

Les Houches has an extremely nice tourist office and a young man gave us maps and suggested different hiking options. Following his advice, we walked over to the Bellevarde lift and began working our way up what looked like a gravel road to the top of Prarion Lift. Thanks to my little GPS, I can tell you it was 3.65 miles from Les Houches’ base altitude, 975m/3,198′ to 1,853m/6,079′ at the top, and took 2:45 minutes. (Anal to the extreme!) It was cloudy and darnright cold the last hour up and we were freezing by the time we got to the Prarion Gondola. This route is part of both the Tour du Mont Blanc and the GR5.

Les Houches map area in the Chamonix Valley, France
There were flocks of sheep on the way up, including one black lamb…View image…we’re poor little lambs who have lost our way… (Usually we just see herds of cows.) And vivid orange poppies, the first I’ve seen this trip…

bright red poppies in Les Houches’ meadows, France
Then, the first mistake of the day. Gondola down, the bus schedule was right at the base of Prarion lift. We waited for one hour and when the bus didn’t come, took a closer look and read the schedule a little more carefully. Duh… the 2:33 p.m. bus didn’t begin operating until July 4, four days away! S-h-i-t.

Sheila freezing at the Les Houches bus stop in France
The next bus wasn’t scheduled for another hour. Wet and cold, we walked back to the central area of Les Houches, went inside the Baroque church from 1730, sat outside in the sun and finally the bus back to Chamonix materialized.

inside Les Houches church, France 

Les Houches fountain outside the church, France
This was our first bus ride in the Chamonix valley and they have a wonderful bus system. A little overhead screen in the center of the bus shows every stop, where the bus is, the meteo (weather) forecast, and announcements are made in both French and English at every stop.

rider-friendly Chamonix buses
Dinner tonight was a green salad with walnuts and lardons (pieces of bacon), dried ham of the region, and a huge chafing dish of cheese fondue. This is the first time we’ve ever had to ask for a bread refill to dip in the cheese fondue because of hiking starvation. We also slugged down one-half liter (at least 3-4 glasses) of house wine (4.50 Euros) to dull the leg muscle pains (what an excuse…). Wine is still the best bargain in Europe. A mediocre glass of wine in a mediocre American restaurant runs around $6.00 a glass these days which is ridiculous. For dessert, two nice sized profiteroles filled with ice cream and chocolate sauce on top that happily filled our hungry places.