We had a few hours left in Chamonix before our travel day started. After breakfast, I/we repacked our baggage to ensure that our carry-on items included the necessities for our upcoming African adventure – our hiking gear was no longer essential. Once we got all of that sorted out, then Kurt went to watch the UTMB middle of the pack finishers make their way back to Chamonix, while I did some last minute souvenir shopping. The age-group award presentations were occurring mid-morning.
Then, we reunited back at the hotel for a post-hiking massage. I’m glad that I had the forethought to schedule the appointment for us when we first checked out before starting our hike. We have had massage done in various countries, which is always interesting to see the unique approach. I learned that having a top sheet is apparently not standard procedure in France.
Afterwards, we had a quick lunch at Yumidori, where we had a delicious takeaway poke bowl. And, with that, our time in Chamonix came to an end. We had a bus transfer back to the airport in Geneva, Switzerland. Given that we had a significant delay due to a ridiculous bus transfer situation right outside of Chamonix, we were grateful to be flying out of a Swiss airport rather than a French one. Swiss efficiency to the rescue! Before our flight left, we were even able to watch some of the last UTMB finishers come across the line and see the ceremony for the top 10 overall male and female finishers, most of whom stuck around for the extra day. Kurt says he will follow as much of the race coverage online as he can next year and maybe someday he will even try to see if he can get into one of the races (probably a shorter one!).
We had a relatively short flight from Geneva to Frankfurt, Germany before our long-haul overnight flight to Cape Town, South Africa (11:45 flight duration). See you in the morning, Africa!