Here is the short version again followed by the long version.
On the second day we traveled from the Refuge de Nant Borrant to the Auberge de la Nova. It was a very short day of only 3 hours and so allowed us some needed rest and recovery. Only had to climb one mountain with 6 inches of fresh powder at the top.
Long version for if you have nothing else to do for a while.
Second day on the TMB trail. Friday.
Today was perhaps the easiest day of our trip. The way things were set up for us, we only had to climb 1 mountain and in total travel about 9 miles. We made the trip in just over 3 hours after crossing much snow at the top. M estimated that there was about 6 inches of fresh snow near and at the top. The pass was called the Col de la Croix de Bonhomme. For those who have seen Lord of The Rings, the scenery was very reminiscent of the scenery in that movie. Huge, high, incredibly gorgeous green mountains covered with fresh snow on the tops. The trail up and the trail down were both quite technical with many opportunities to slip and fall or turn an ankle. M and I felt quite adventurous while moving deftly over the terrain and passing all the other hikers. One thing is for certain and that is that Euros like to hike and they are not scared to hike in some fairly crazy terrain.
Our home for the night was called Auberge de la Nova. The whole operation sits on the floor of a spectacular valley surrounded by green mountain sides with extra green thrown in for good measure. A camp ground also sits in the field next to the Auberge.
We felt very Euro being able to actually stop and have a real lunch of ham and cheese omlets with side salad. Running food tends to get a bit boring so having a real lunch was a well deserved treat. Of course we were really already in the process of trying to ingest enough calories to help us recover and be ready for the next day.
While here we have managed to make acquaintances with some Swedish people and some Belgian people from last night’s hut. They were staying at the same place as us this night. We spent a lovely afternoon learning about Belgium (obviously from the Belgian people and not the Swedes) and sharing notes about Colorado as well.
Dinner this night was an extremely small portion of veal which was none the less delicious and required almost no chewing before melting in your mouth. We learned that the sauce covering the veal was a typical Provençal sauce. There were also herbed potatoes that I had three helpings of, to no effect on my hunger. Dessert was a small piece of cheese that was excellent and then some sort of panna cotta with blackberry sauce. Luckily M was getting full so I got half of hers also.
Unfortunately our little room which slept 10 was filled with a group of French people who tried their best to meet every French stereotype known. One of them constantly had to go outside so she could smoke and three others had an all night snoring contest. The others simply tried their best to be snotty and thereby meet French stereotype standards. Normally we have found the French to be quite friendly so we determined not to hold one group’s cluelessness against the entire nation of France. It was not the best night’s sleep.
