Tour de Mont Blanc, Day 1: Les Houches to Refuge de Nant Borrant

Distance: 20km
Time: 6.5 hours
Cost: 41 euros (room and board at Refuge de Nant Borrant)

We had hoped to hit the trail on our first day on the Tour de Mont Blanc much earlier, but my late arrival in Geneva - 1 day later than expected - meant that rather than waking up fresh and rested in Les Houches and starting our hike bright and early, we began the hike at 2pm in the afternoon, as soon as I arrived in Les Houches by shuttle bus after arriving on a red-eye flight that morning.

To cut ourselves some slack, we shortened what would have been a 23km hike to a 20km hike by taking the cable car from Les Houches to Col de Vozza. This also saved us a 600m elevation gain, which made for a much gentler start.

Beginning our hike around Chamonix initially gave us a false sense of what was to be expected in terms of services and amenities on the trail. For the first few kilometres it seemed like there was a restaurant and public restroom around every corner. This petered out as the day went on, by the 2nd day we found it was wise to keep track of potential spots for rest stops. What did continue was the spectacular views and the exceptional condition of the trails.

All-in-all it wasn't too difficult a start to our hike - though I might have felt different if we'd hiked out of Les Houches instead of taking the cable car. We ended the day's journey at Nant Bourrant, which has a lovely view. I was served a dinner of pea soup with cheese, potatoes au gratin, sausage and apple pie and Amy had soup, salad and rice with a piece of fruit for dessert. Delish!