Our first visitors

I'm starting to think I should have just called this blog 'another beautiful hike...', as it seems to be what I start with every time. This w/e was a lot of fun because we had our first visitors! Our lovely friends Bee and Emma came from England for a long w/e - and cleverly left their respective spouses and children behind, so had a (virtually) kid-free week-end. We kicked it off on Friday afternoon with ... wait for it ... another beautiful hike.
Now, I had joked before the visit that the fact that Bee is 5 months pregnant meant that I could perhaps finally keep up with her on a hike, but clearly the baby needs to be crowning if that is ever to happen. She decided the Col de Monte would be a good idea, so four hours and a some pretty hairy climbs later, we finally staggered back to the car. But it was worth it.

 We were allowed a few rests to enjoy the view

 Emma and Bee enjoying the sunshine (sadly, the only sunshine for the w/e)

 Emma, trying not to look down...

 The petite aiguille

 Part of the hike was climbing up the rock faces on metal ladders - a first for me. (Emma's trying not to look)

 Enjoying the fruits of our labour at the top

Me and Bee (she's the one with the bump)

Sadly, the rest of the w/e was pretty wet (amend that to VERY wet on Sunday, clearly when it rains here it REALLY rains, socks it in all day) but we still managed a hike to the Chalet de Floria with the kids on Saturday. I was very impressed with the girls - they made it up and down without any fuss, even Zoe on her little legs. A highlight was passing a shepherd and his flock of sheep on the way.

Interacting with the locals

Then on Saturday night we drove to Switzerland for dinner. (Rather fun writing that sentence, it's not something I've done a lot in my life... wait for the 'Went to Italy for coffee' in upcoming blogs - the beauty of living on the border.) Lovely friend Megan and her Swiss partner Gilles designed and built their own house on a mountain slope just above Martigny, and this was our first visit. It was absolutely gorgeous, what a dream to realize. It was also just fun to be out and about, and of course to be spoiled by someone else cooking - as well as meeting some other friends from the Chamonix valley.
Sunday, sadly, was a bit of a write-off weather-wise (rainy and cold - it even snowed up on the mountains at about 2000m) but we enjoyed a comfy day at home - and borrowed THE HUMAN PLANET from Pete, the latest (I think) in the BBC's series of documentaries, this one about people living in different challenging environments around the world. Top notch.

(Can't resist adding in an enlightening exchange between Indie and Toby this w/e: Indie was particularly energetic and mischievous at bedtime, and wouldn't settle. After asking her numerous times to lie down, Toby finally sat her down and said, 'I asked you five times to settle down, Indie, how many times do I have to ask?' 'Twenty times,' she said quickly. 'Infinity would be too many.' Well, thank goodness for that. )