Friday

Al and I got up about 08:00 and after quickly showering we went to check out our trains on the youth hostel's internet kiosk. We discovered that the 10:45 train would get us to Aix on time, so we had the usual breakfast then packed up and checked out.

The previous day's route

As we left, the route we had taken was very obvious from the hostel, so we both took several photos. It was possible to see the Aiguille du Midi, Mont Blanc du Tacul, Mont Maudit and Mont Blanc itself, all bathed in sunlight, looking considerably more inviting than they had felt 24 hours earlier.

We caught the bus into the centre so we could buy train tickets all the way through to Aix then hopped on board the waiting train. On the way down to St Gervais Le Fayet there were some amazing views, both of our route and the other surrounding mountains.

Eventually we made it to Paris, the views having become steadily less exciting along the way. To celebrate our achievement (and the fact that we had successfully negotiated the Metro for a bargain €2.60 this time), we crossed the road from Gare du Nord and rewarded ourselves with a meal of steak-frites and a large glass of Leffe Blonde.