Tour du Mont Blanc Day 4 - Refuge Mottets to Courmayeur

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
8/24/2019	8.7 miles	5 hours 47 minutes	2,090' ascent, 2,717' descent	1.5 mph	348.5

Morning at Refuge Mottets - I thought they had said that there were 2 sittings for breakfast, so we went to the later one. Except everyone was already eating and mostly done when we got there. Oops. At the Refuge, you are assigned a table. We sat with the same Italians we sat with last night. There was no problem with vegan food here. Each table is served large platters of food, and there was plenty of food for Glen for dinner and breakfast.

Today's hike was supposed to be 14.9 miles with 3,470' ascent, and an even bigger descent. After yesterday's grueling hike, we decided to cut today short. We had the option of doing a short hike and taking a bus the remaining way, so we decided to do that.

Today we crossed over from France to Italy. All of a sudden we started being greeted with "buon giorno". I started getting my languages crossed, saying "buon giorno" and "merci"!

On today's hike we saw a sheepdog working cattle across the valley. I was so excited! Mostly it was a shepherd and his dog just sitting around, while the cattle grazed. I adore listening to the cowbells.

At our stopping point, we reached a small village and found the bus stop. Trying to figure out buses and trains in foreign countries is always confusing to me. We had no idea how much it costs, how to pay, when it would arrive, where it would go, when to get off lol. I tried to download an app...but struggled. Luckily we were able to communicate to the bus driver, Courmayeur one way, and he told us how much to pay. And somehow we figured out where to get off.

In Courmayeur, we were on our own for dinner. Our hotel was a bed and breakfast only. We will be taking a rest day in Courmayeur, so will stay at hour hotel for 2 nights. We decided that we must have pizza in Italy! We tried the most recommended restaurant in town, but it was completely booked and we had no reservations. We wandered around town trying to figure out where to eat, and decided on another large restaurant that served pizza. The pizza was extremely thin - so even though it's large, it isn't impossible to eat a whole one, though I was stuffed after it. The pizza was good, but then again, in NY we also get good pizza.

Refuge Mottets. This place consisted of several buildings. This building is where we dropped off our luggage in the morning. We had a private room with  en suite bathroom at the refuge (a few of these are available).

View looking down at Refuge Mottets as we climb up the switchbacked trail

Today was our coldest day. We wore gloves and warm clothes.

This is the border between France and Italy.

I think this was a small museum. Once you get to Italy, the toilets are just holes in the floor that you squat over.

Another refuge. We stopped outside it to rest & have a snack.

The trail started going through a flat area with many casual day hikers.

Trying to figure out how to take the bus....