La Grave France

We woke up early (6:30am) and headed back down to the La Grave village before it got too busy. 

We had no trouble finding a parking spot next to the chairlift. We had time to have breakfast (egg and ham galettes) and prepare for our day up near the glacier as the first chairlift departed at 8:30am. We chose the return trip to the Gare des Ruillans at 3211m for €33pp and a visit to the ice cave €6pp. The journey to the top takes about 30mins with a change over at the Gare Peyrou d’Amont (2416m). The views were amazing. The panels scattered around gave us some information about the glacier and surrounding mountains. 

We appreciated the sculptures in the ice cave. It was created 9 years ago and is near to its end of life as the glacier melts and retracts. Which is to be expected. 

After a couple hours we had to pull ourselves away from the spectacular scenery. 

We descended down to the middle station and went for the walk to the Lake Puy Vachier. 

It took us about 1 1/2 hr/ 4km return. It gave us some more time to admire the mountains as well as get the heart pumping.

We took the final trip down to La Grave arriving back at 2pm. 

After a refreshing beer we went in the hunt for a souvenir. Then back on the road for only 11km to the Col du Lautaret. We found a great spot and settled in for the rest of the day…

Popular spot.