We had another enjoyable day in the Alps today, The sun shone all day, and we walked the whole way from Briançon to L'Argentière-la-Bessée on the GR653D.
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| Local speciality for breakfast - very similar to a jam slice |
After buying the day's supplies (bread, pâtisserie) at the local boulangerie, we picked up the signage for our path and headed out of Briançon.
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| The GR653D took us up out of Briançon |
The route took us through Villar-Saint-Pancrace on the road before turning off onto a track to go downhill and cross the Durance. We then started to climb.
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| Today's healthy fruit for morning tea. The missing half had already disappeared by the time the photographer had taken off his backpack and sat down. |
After a couple of hours walking we had a break for morning tea. This enabled us to rest our legs, confirm our route, and, of course, have some healthy fruit.
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| Going into the village of Bouchier |
The path climbed up to the small village of Bouchier, which was full of old buildings and colourful flowers. Once past the village the path climbed some more, exposing us to some wonderful mountain and valley views as it levelled out.
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| A fine day in the Alps |
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| View southwards along the Durance valley |
We walked high above the Gyronde river, on a narrow path that went sometimes through meadows, sometimes through woods, and sometimes nestled into the side of the mountain.
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| Going where the GR takes us |
We especially appreciated the views when the path emerged from the woods.
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| Some of the views were pretty impressive . . . |
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| . . . even breathtaking |
We had a long descent to Les Vigneaux, which we broke by ducking off the path briefly to eat lunch.
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| A roadside water fountain near Les Vigneaux. Very handy for topping up our water supplies. |
The GR then crossed the Gyronde and headed through a camping ground (still shut - it's not tourist season here yet) and around parallel to the Durance. It was set into the hill as it came out above L'Argentière-la-Bessée, where we are staying tonight.
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| Approaching Argentière-la-Bessée from above |
Day: 51
Distance: 27.33 km
Walking time: 6hrs 10mins
Elevation gain: 831 metres
Cumulative distance: 1245.85 km
Another great day in paradise we see. Breathtaking indeed and that's just your photo of breakfast. The snow capped mountains are truely breathtaking, wish we could be there with you.
ReplyDeleteThen we could buy even more healthy fruit to try!
ReplyDeleteSpectacular photos today. I’d like to see some on the full screen when you get back.
ReplyDeleteThe tarts or the scenery? Both are spectacular!
ReplyDelete