TMB 10: Last Day...Aussies Again and Swinging 2,000 Feet Down!

Pristine, icy, beautiful, and perfectly clear. Vern's a bit pale - altitude or perhaps all the folks hacking and sneezing in the room last night? We drop down (and he feels better quickly), scrambling across boulders, take a high route for a couple hours and come to a gondola. It drops 2,000 feet and the trail zigzags directly below on a gravel road. We have NO problem taking the gondola straight down! Stop for a cuppa tea and pie and head across another 2+ hours to a beautiful canyon where para-sailors are running and leaping into the air, soaring away. AMAZING. It is definitely tempting! Even more amazing was meeting up with our Aussie friends, Nicola and Paul, once again. They are pretty special and we hope to see them again. After a good chat, we take the last gondola which floats us right into Chamonix, the mountaineer's capital of the world! Wander around town a bit, find a bakery and T-shirt, then head on to our last stop in Les Houches - the same place we started TEN days ago. Wow. Four sweet 20-something kids are staying with us tonight at Auberge des Cret, just getting ready to start their adventure tomorrow. We share stories and advice - just like the folks did ten days earlier for us. Showers, real towels, delicious food, such memories...and a beautiful sleep. A Polish woman from last night's Lac Blanc refuge said something interesting. I asked her if she was finishing up today like we were and she said she was not sure. She might just stay one more day on the mountain. She said her life was pretty ordinary and once you hit the city, things immediately go back to where they were. Here on the mountain and in the refuges, there are dozens of new people each day and adventures galore. She might just stretch it out a bit...I could see what she meant.  But now...on to GREECE for a week!  Woo hoo! :)