Day 1: Modane to Refuge de l’Orgere
Sunday 9 August 2026, 6km, 890m up, 0m down

After an unplanned extra night in Turin, we were up early to eat the breakfast of yoghurt and berries that we had sourced from a supermarket last night. Our hotel was in a lovely old building with smooth worn stones steps and tiny stone mosaic tiles in the entrance.

The reason for the extra night was a mistake Rob made with the train booking (for the previous day) but fortunately we were able to secure 2 tickets to Modane in the early morning. This allowed us to get to Modane and then hike the 6km to the Refuge de l’Orgere in the mountains of the Vanoise National Park.

On arriving in Modane, our first job was to find a supermarket to purchase bottles of water and lunch. That done, the next was to locate a cafe for coffee before the hike. What we didn’t count on was that it was Sunday. We were reminded of this on hearing church bells as we started up the road. The only open cafe we had already left behind opposite the railway station so we abandoned that idea and set off up the steep road that led to our trail for today.

The sun was hot and the road steep through the town and even steeper as it led us up to our narrower trail and on up the mountain. We were both soon drenched in perspiration and made a number of stops as we ploughed on up to finally find our end point. 890m of elevation gained mostly over 3.5km!

I was looking forward to a wash, and although I wasn’t expecting the freezing cold water of the shower, it was certainly refreshing. Rob managed to get warm water so I’m hoping to sort that out at our next stop.

We have the afternoon to enjoy relaxing on the balcony of the refuge where we have already shared a can of coke and an icecream.