Up and down the ups and downs

Day 1, St Bernard Pass to Echevennoz, 14 km

Day 2, Echevennoz to Aosta, 14 km ( plus extra 2km wandering the city looking for accommodation)

Day 3, Aosta to Nus, 15 km 

Day 4, Nus to Chatillon, 14 km ( plus extra 1.5km due to a wrong turn)

My wonderful friend Anna dropped us at the St Bernard Hospice, on the border of Switzerland and Italy, late on Wednesday afternoon. As she drove away, I was overwhelmed with anxiety. I had a cry, and then a beer, and felt immensely better.

(Three dorks at St Bernard Pass)

This is a pattern (give or take the beer-though it does help) that has started to develop on this walk- the days are full of ups and downs. 

Day one was glorious, a gentle descent down the pass into Italy with the sun shining on streams of melted ice. Below the snow line we crossed open slopes filled with wildflowers before decending into woods and tiny towns. We made a cracking pace, and even walked an extra 2km than planned. 

(Day 1- We spotted a Bond-villain lair!)

Day two dawned with my feet full of blisters.  The walking was slow. We laboured up and down through forests and towns with the sun beating down and not enough food to keep up going. By the time we arrived in Aosta I was a mess, with an additional three blisters, low blood sugar, no accommodation where we wanted to stay, and really low decision-making capabilities. We finally found a room, I had a cry, cleaned my feet up, then had a beer, and a ginourmous pizza.

(Day 2- Big pizza deserves a serious face)

By day three I could barely hobble. We waited for the sports shop to open. I cried. Then was over the moon when they had sports sandals which fitted and I could wear pain free. We walked through vineyards and little villages which dotted the side of the valley, until descending into the tiny town of Nus for the night. 

(Looking back up the Aosta valley towards France and Switzerland)

The descent had me in pieces again, but this was soothed by dinner comprising beer and the free snacks (savoury pastries, breads, weird hot-dog type things etc) you get with alcohol in bars. We ordered enough to drink so we didn't have to buy any dinner. 

Again, today, day four, had it's hard bits and it's beautiful bits.  A wrong turn that added some distance, but a nice chat with a local farmer who offered us a lift. Searing blister pain on some downhills, then amazing views down the valley with mist hanging over the mountain and old abandoned stone hamlets. A excruciatingly long wait for dinner (I cried again- I think its a blood sugar thing...) but a BATH at the hotel!  

So the days have been full of ups and downs. But i guess these blisters give me a good excuse to wear socks and sandals...

(Socks and sandals)