Pointe de l'Observatoire, 3016 m.

Hello again,

After our first night in Ché Catrine, the chambre d'hôtes in Villarodin, we climbed our second three-thousand in France: la Point de l'Observatoire, 3016 m. A "legal" three-thousand, because, well, "legally" it has more than 3000 metres, but it is de justesse, as the French say :) .

The road starts from the village of Aussois (1473 m) - a 10 minutes drive from Villarodin- but it climbs up to 2078 m, by the dam of one of two artificial lakes, where we left the car. The path starts climbing gently and enters the Parc National de la Vanoise. Then we reached the refuge du Fond de l'Aussois (2329 m), and then the path gets more "wild" and climbs steadily to the col d'Aussois. There the path gets very stony and crossed over many creeks. Then, the last climb to the summit, 3016 m. The view is awesome! All the summits of la Vanoise and the lakes and the glaciers. Great. We just missed the Mont Blanc, because of stormy clouds. It did rain a bit at the end, but nothing serious... and a warm sauna (and a jacuzzi) were waiting for us in the Village.

Ah, yes, more pics in our picasa site.

Cheers,
-Manu & Nina-