Courmayeur

We checked into the old but elegant Hotel Bouton d'Or after taking the bus from Val Isaille.  It was still early, about noon, and our room was not ready.  We met the owner Stephanie and she said it's almost ready and asked us to wait.  In about 30 minutes it was ready and we walked into a room with ensuite bathroom.  The furnishing is dated but elegant in its heyday.  We are now in Italy.

Hotel Bouton d'Or

In the morning we walked into the breakfast room and saw a very generous spread of food.  Some of the pastries were almost too beautiful to eat.  We ran into two couples that we met on our first night at Les Contamines.  They are from Seattle.  They asked if we are planning to go see the start of the TOR de Geants, an endurance race of 330km.  The starting point is about 2 blocks away.

Breakfast buffet - beautiful display of food

A pastry designed by the owner Andres

After breakfast we met a few participants from Hong Kong.  One of them has done this race 4 times.  This race is spread out over 7 days, each participant usually walking or running 50km a day.  They are rest stops on the way and at the end of the day there are places for the participants to take a nap.

TOR des Giants Race - 330km

Met some participants from Hong Kong

The start of the race

Courmayeur is a small town but is big compared to other towns in the Alps.  There is a lot of outdoor activities like Chamonix so tourism plays a big part in the local economy.  Most of the activities center around the main street running through town.  We walked this street many times, just looking for things to eat and also looking for the official TMB T-shirt, which we could not find.

On the main street

Church in the middle of the square

Mushrooms at a mini supermarket

Another view of the main street

Locally grown tomatoes

The slow pace of the town suited us, this being our rest day.