Just a few minutes from our chalet are a couple of very popular ‘Via Ferrata’ routes that wind their way though some stunning terrain in the Gorge d’Ailfroide. Having made one aborted attempt, (we retreated after finding a long long line a people ahead of us!), we returned early on Sunday morning to a bid to get on the route before anyone else. We literally rolled out of bed and into our gear and felt a little bleary eyed having not had a huge amount of sleep…

It’s pretty exciting stuff right from the outset and all the more dramatic, with the noise of the river below.

There are a couple of wobbly bridges that cross the gorge and back again, before continuing up.

Higher up the gorge is a ‘Sportif’ section (i.e harder and scarier!). We went up the first bit to have a look – the location and geology is incredible, with the gap between the cliffs only a few metres wide.

We went up to where a wire bridge crossed the gap before continuing on slightly overhanging and very exposed terrain. We decided that breakfast might be the more sensible option at this point and re-tracked our steps back to the main path.

We were back home by 9:20 and ready for food and showers. The top section will have to wait for another time! As forecast, the rain arrived soon after, so we took ourselves down to Briancon to stock up on supplies from the big supermarket and managed to miss all the wet weather, by stopping for a swim in the lake at Roche la Rame before returning home in time for dinner.