FINALLY IN FRANCE

LA CLUZACS –> CHAPELLE SAINT-GUÉRIN

VIA ALPINA DAY 58 – TUESDAY 18 AUGUST 2026

DISTANCE HIKED: 29.45  km
ELEVATION GAIN: 1,932  m

TOTAL DISTANCE HIKED: 1,491.83 km
TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN:  78,558 m

This morning we descended into the Valgrisenche valley, a UNESCO-listed area of cultural significance. It is a glacial valley, with remnants of its glacial past evident throughout for those who know what to look for. We didn’t, but there were quite a few information boards along the way—sadly, none of them in English. I would love to come back to this area one day, after reading a little more about the history and formation of this fascinating valley.

We had camped just above a castle built in 1312 and restored in 1979 as a private residence. Apparently, the original entrance was via a ladder. I’m sure the recent renovation brought that inconvenience into the 21st century.

We followed the river upstream, which was confusing at first because the huge Beauregard Dam was further up the valley. Hammer explained it to me. Of course, the dam lets water out as well as trapping it. Sometimes the obvious needs explaining!

For a while we followed the Tor des Géants (TOR) course. TOR is a 330 km endurance running event, and I know a few people who have completed it, so I found it interesting to walk sections of the course.

We stopped for breakfast at the only place we could find on our map—a café that opened early. Perfect. Bacon and egg sandwiches and coffee for me, Coke for Hammer. Such a treat.

Hammer’s day hadn’t started particularly well when he tore his shirt putting on his pack. That was the last straw for the shirt—it was finished. Things got a little worse at the café when he tried to charge our power bank and discovered he’d lost the European adapter.

I asked the waitress if she had a USB power plug, which thankfully she did. It was slow to charge, but better than nothing. We should have enough power to charge the phone tomorrow—fingers crossed.

Hammer remained upset about the adapter for some time. Eventually, we worked out where he’d lost it. It was at the highway diner on our first day back in Italy. The waitress had asked us to change rooms while we were waiting for our plate of shaved cured meat and cheese. The power bank was plugged into a wall socket near our seats, and in the rush to move, the adapter must have stayed behind in the power point. Another little reminder that our first day back in Italy hadn’t exactly got off to a good start!

After breakfast we headed uphill out of the valley towards Col de Mont and into France. As we climbed, I had a brief moment of panic when I looked up at a cliff and saw a steel ladder—a Via Ferrata.

Surely that can’t be our trail?

Thankfully, when I looked further along, I could see a proper trail winding its way up the mountainside through a seemingly endless series of switchbacks. What a relief!
The valley receded surprisingly quickly as we climbed. There were a few sections where I had trouble looking down, but the trail itself was superb. Kudos to the Aosta Valley trail makers. It was incredibly well made and graded, especially considering the difficult terrain.

The day seemed to fly by as we turned away from the Valgrisenche valley and began climbing towards Col de Mont and the French border. It was probably the easiest ascent we’d had in ages.

Just before we reached the summit, another hiker caught up with us. His name was Clemont, a Frenchman also walking the Via Alpina. We chatted about our experiences on the trail so far and, naturally, about the French attitude to camping.

It was very windy and cold on the summit, so we said goodbye. Clémont then literally flew down the mountain. He was a very fast hiker!
We took our time, enjoying the fact that we were finally in France. It felt like a real milestone on our trip.

The descent was also relatively easy and brought us to the Refuge de l’Archeboc. Sadly, they were only serving chocolate mousse, so we settled for two beers instead. We celebrated our arrival in France and headed off towards the Marquises chairlift, where we planned to camp for the night.

We were feeling great and definitely on a bit of a high after finally reaching France. We arrived at our destination just after 7pm and found a beautiful campsite beside a small chapel, with completely unobstructed views of the Glacier Sud de la Gurraz.

A spectacular sunset, a quarter moon hanging above the mountains and a glacier in the distance.  A very nice first day in France.