St.Gingolph-Chalet de Bise

The starting point for the trail is St. Gingolph (see Lake Geneva to Chamonix).
At the railway station turn right and cross the border. Follow the Rue de Gaulle uphill and you will find a GR5 waymark on a wall. Walk up the lane which is the former road to Novel. In front of Freney, I traversed the Morges-river and walked upstream on the swiss side. Next to Novel I crossed the Swiss/French border and followed the road in direction of la Planche. The GR5 turns left and follows the path through forests and meadows. It climbs uphill to the Chalets de Neutev. Below the Col de Bise was a great snow field, last week snow had fallen above 2000m ASL. I went down the path to Chalet de Bise. That night I was alone in the hut.

Chalet de Bise-Neuvecelle

After breakfast, I walked back to the Col de Bise and traversed the slope in direction of the Col de Pavis. At the pass were some mountain ibex, they ignored me completely. The path leads around the Lac de Darbon at the right side and reaches the Portes d'Oche shortly after. There you have a nice view on the highest summit of the Alps, the Mont-Blanc. Behind the pass, the path descends to the Chalets d'Oche and climbs up to the Col de Rebollion. There is a junction, the main trail goes to the Dent d'Oche, a popular goal for day-trips. I followed the path at the northwest side of the Dent d'Oche, this trail is marked as the Tour du Leman. The path crosses the slope and leads to the Neuva dessus. The barns and the chalet are in ruins. A small path leads through pastures uphill to the Pic Bore and follows the cable railway downwards. At the end of the cable railway, a variation of the Tour du Leman leads downwards to the Montagnes Mémises. The trail passes the Col de Pertus und leads further down to Chez Chachat. In the village, I followed the street to the right. At the sawmill, I turned left and followed the small path downwards to les Combes. At les Combes, the Littorai du Leman leads to Véron, and climbs up to a holiday camp. The path leads to Neuvecelle. Behind the Parcours sportif, it turn right. After approx. 500m is a gîte d'étape.

Neuvecelle-Évian les Bains

The next morning, I went to Évian les Bains. The Compagnie Générale de navigation sur le Lac Léman offers a local ferry service to many goals at the lakeshore. So I used a ferry to Lausanne-Ouchy.