July 25, 2023
Taconnaz to Le Buet
It was chilly while we packed the bikes to head off from Taconnaz this morning and we were pretty happy that we stayed warm and dry inside. We would have been pulling out the cold weather gear we haven't used since Slovenia if we'd been camping.
It was a pretty nice, vaguely uphill, ride into Chamonix. Tobias was stocked up with snacks so happy on the front and we enjoyed spotting the mountains and glaciers peeking out of the clouds.
We stopped in Chamonix and it started raining so we mucked around for another hour to kill some time before nap time. Pizza and fresh pain au chocolade from the bakery, groceries for the evening, and a new bidon for me since mine went missing after our vacation. In the end the rain stopped by the time we headed off but Tobias asked to go in the trailer so we stuck with that plan.
The route from Chamonix started out on a separate road which was better than I was expecting. We climbed gradually and it was quiet enough to ride side by side. At Les Tines we joined the main road and got a bit more traffic. It was a bike route though so there was a bit of a shoulder and all the cars were pretty friendly. The climbing also ramped up a bit so we were down to granny gear but feeling okay. At Argentèrie we spotted some cycle tourists loaded up heading down the hill but just waved and carried on. I'd just been thinking that while we see lots of bike packers and people with small panniers on the back, we haven't seen many heavy loaded tourists lately.
Tobias was still asleep so we just passed on up through the town towards the steep hairpins to take us up to col des Montets. It started drizzling about halfway up and then got heavy enough that we needed to put the rain cover on Tobias. We've gotten pretty good at it. It felt like some sort of multisport transition where we were racing against stopping too long and waking him up. We were starting to get pretty cold by the time we reached the top but we found an information center which was the perfect place to stop.
Tobias had woken a little before this and while I was getting him out he was trying to tell me something I didn't understand. Eventually I worked out that he was saying "Tobias grumpy". Fair enough I guess, either the trailer or his drink bottle had leaked and he was a bit wet. The information centre with lots of hands on exhibits and a hot chocolate cheered him up and the sun coming out helped me. While we were there I did a bit of research on alternative (indoor) accommodation for tonight and found a few options to try before camping.
The descent down to Le Buet was freezing but luckily not so long. Also luckily the first hotel we stopped at had a reasonably priced room for us. It even has a side room for Tobias. Its pretty retro and you can hear everything through the walls, but as soon as we got inside it started raining again so we are very happy. The proprietor mentioned that we can have a free public transport card but the rain had stopped so we thought we would walk up to some waterfalls. We didn't make it very far before the rain started back up and we decided a train ride was a better option. James ran back to get the cards and she looked him up and down, jandals and all, and said "you want the train card" then made fun of him in French (but in a friendly way, I guess) to the other patrons.
In the end it was quite nice, we rode the train back to Argentèrie and had a drink and got some dinner for Tobias. It was a scenic ride and Tobias is a bit obsessed with trains and tunnels, so it worked out well. We got him off to bed back at the hotel then went down to join the other guests for dinner. It was pretty cosy and really nice to have a quiet dinner by ourselves. The rain hasn't eased up all afternoon and we passed by our intended campground on the train. I'm pretty pleased not to be in a tent. It should be cold tomorrow for our last day of climbing before we descend down into Switzerland.
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Today's ride: 20 km (12 miles)
Total: 2,415 km (1,500 miles)
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