Day 41: Orsières To Bourg Saint-Pierre (3)

Hôtel Bivouac Napoléon at the entrance to Bourg Saint-Pierre. Here I met up again with Jürgen and Christina, the German couple I'd shared an attic with in Orsières. We drank a coffee and talked about our day's adventures.

Mural of St Bernard dogs and the church at Bourg Saint-Pierre. Cardinal is the most common draught lager you find in these parts.

Close-up view of the mushroom-shaped supports for this wooden granary or raccard. In Britain we call these staddle stones.

In Switzerland . . .

. . . flowers . . .

. . . are . . .

. . . everywhere.

The Église Saint-Pierre.

More or less the same view in the evening.

Jürgen and Christina had taken a chalet on the campsite, but I chose to stay in a dormitory here in the Auberge du Petit-Vélan. It was modern, comfortable and spotlessly clean, with a wood ceiling and hot power showers. That night I treated myself by ordering a steak in the Petit-Vélan's restaurant (I'd only eaten what I would call 'proper' meat — i.e. steak as opposed to charcuterie — twice in six weeks) and really enjoyed it. Later Jürgen and Christina joined me for a nightcap.   

The main street in Bourg Saint-Pierre. Because of the high altitude (1630 m), it grew quite chilly as the sun went down.