Stage 2 — Les Contamines - Les Chapieux

 We had a delightful stay at Hotel Gai Soleil in Les Contamines. 

 In the morning, we had a delicious breakfast before heading off to start Stage 2. We knew this would be another long day, so we wanted to get going early.

 We started out by walking down through the town where there were picturesque churches and little hotels. Once we got to the river, we hiked along it until we reached a pilgrimage chapel of Notre-Dame de la Gorge.

 Notre-Dame de la Gorge.

 Here we took a quick rest break and applied some moleskin to some developing blisters. 

 At this point, the trail took a  steep turn upward where we climbed for about an hour.

  The trail eventually entered a stretch of open meadowland — we found a water stop with refreshing cold water where we took a short break while enjoying our morning snack. 

 The Aiguilles de la Pennaz (Aiguille means "needle") were along side of the meadow. I, for one, welcomed the beautiful FLAT meadow before beginning the ascent to the 1st col, Col du Bonhomme (good man) at 7642 ft.

  As challenging at getting to the top of this col was, the view was spectacular! It's always amazing to see where you have come from. We reached this 1st col at about 3 pm. 

 We took a short break to consult our trusty guidebook and learned we still had another col to climb — Col de La Croix du Bonhomme.

  We reached the 2nd col (at about 8000 ft) by about 4:45 pm.

 We then started the long, (very painful on my knees) descent to Les Chapieux. Within a short period of time, I was wishing for some more uphill — harder on the lungs, but so much easier on the body!!

 Along the trail down, we ran into a huge herd of sheep. We got to see the sheep herder signal his two dogs who proceeded to round up the herd. 

 You can't even believe how happy I was to finally make it to our hostel at 7 pm. Stage 2 — 10 hours of hiking and 30,442 steps!

One final comment about the comraderie we experienced on the trail. Most of the people we met today were from Australia and Europe. We just met one mother and daughter from North Carolina. Everyone you pass greets you with "Bonjour!" Our son, Steve, suggested another phrase to greet people with is "Bon Courage" which means good luck. Sure enough, several people said bon courage to us as we passed. In some ways, you can be quiet and introspective on a long day of hiking. However, if you choose, you can also engage with others at rest stops and learn a little bit of their story. At dinners at the hostels, there are people from all over. We enjoyed our dinner conversation with a couple from London and two sisters from Australia. The comraderie between hikers is one of the things we really enjoy.