Food, Culture and Team Fun on TMB - by Lily

 6 French men, 2 Canadian ladies, 3 old couples (us), and a young, charming French belle as our guide, that’s the 15 in our group of TMB hikers. For us, this is the first time to take such a long, strenuous, multi-day hike with a group of unknown foreigners and in mostly remote areas with simple lodging conditions. Did we think it through before signing up? Perhaps not. But all the unknown factors are also part of the surprise, discovery and enjoyment. We not only survived the hike but also learned a lot and enjoyed most of the trip.

Teamwork

From day 1 it was obvious that most of the other people are much stronger hikers than us three old couples. We were constantly at the tail of the group, going up or down. Over time, some interesting personalities started to show as well. Some of us began to feel the stress of being slow and started to worry. But in reality, there’s not much we could do about it; besides, being able to safely complete the hike everyday is more important than speed. Luckily most of our teammates understood that. Sometimes, our guide Chloe would stay with us at the end to make sure we walk through some treacherous pass safely. Other times, a couple of other strong guys would be with us at the back, chatting with us a bit and taking pictures. I half-jokingly said that our slow pace allowed them to slow down and enjoy the scenery more 😊 

During the first week, they helped carry most of the shared lunch up to the mountain, including two heavy thermoses so we could have hot water for tea or coffee after lunch. Later on, they would offer to carry Allan’s backpack when he had trouble with his knees.  We reciprocated the kindness by doing little things we could as well, helping here and there, taking pictures for others, and by admitting our limits and willingly skipped a couple of days when the road condition was difficult so that the rest of the group would be able to enjoy their hike without worrying about us. By the time we completed the full circle of hiking, it was quite a joyous moment for all of us! We took a team picture at the TMB gate and celebrated our achievement with a drink. A tes souhaits !

Chloe carried Allan's backpack in one stretch

Mission Accomplished

Food

The morning of our first day hike, we happened to pass by a local farmer’s market at Chamonix. I saw loaves of hard bread (le pain), big chunk of cheese (fromage), sausages, and fruit and vegetables. This pretty much sums up European food culture in the Alps region. 

Le Pain

fromage (Cheese)

sausage and hams

fruit

During our hiking trip, we got at least 1 fruit every day, some salad made out of beans, peas and tomatoes (prepared by our guide Chloe after each long day of walk while we took rest at our corners), and bread and cheese and sausages. The Europeans love cheese, while we not so much, until we had raclette for dinner one day. We stayed in a Swiss village at Trient. At dinner, we saw three hot plates were set up on the long table. Our teammates explained to us that we would have the historical Swiss meal, raclette. The servers brought in trays of cooked finger potatoes and set them on top of the hot plate to keep warm. Then they brought in plates of ham slices and raclette cheese. We each had a metal tray to put the cheese chunk in, then we put the tray under the hot plate to let the cheese melt. On our dinner plate, we cut open the potatoes, added a slice of ham on top, then a few slices of pickles. When the cheese became bubbly, we poured it over the food on our dinner plate and began trying it out. It was delicious! We each tried a few rounds; the food filled us up nicely. Importantly, grilled cheese seemed to cause less stomach issues. Everyone was satisfied 😊 During our hike, we passed through diary ranches and walked side by side with the cows! Chloe explained to us that the two species of cows on that ranch were the only two certified to make French tomme cheese.

 

Swiss historical food - Raclette

Getting to know each other

Our team was divided into francophones and English-speaking group. Some of the French people and the Canadians speak some English, but most of us understood no French words. Despite the language barrier, we started to get to know each other. I made an effort to learn everyone’s name, then their professions and hobbies. The professions of the group are diversified, several engineers, a lawyer, an accountant, a banker, a small-business owner, a salesperson, a government employee, and a retiree.  In our group, there were a few marathon runners, a guy who climbed the peak of Mont-Blanc, a soccer player, a 100 km trail runner, no wonder this hike was a piece of cake for them :). 

Taking a break at a glacier river for a foot/knee therapy

During our last drink together, I asked everyone what their next adventure would be. Chloe would be training for paragliding competition and eventually get certified to be a paragliding instructor in a couple of years. How exciting! I told her I would sign up for her class when she is ready 😊

At the end, we hugged each other and bid our goodbyes. I’m sure all of us would bring home wonderful memories, interesting stories, and a desire to do this kind of tour again!