A hike

So we'll start and end a week of photographs of my super pal, with her hugging a rock or a tree [with phenomenal glee]. This particular embrace with nature is a single snap taken on a walk containing endless captivating beauty; we had a few precious hours remaining and thought we'd entertain our tradition of embarking on a final challenge before parting. The hike from Chosolets-to-Chamonix hugged a babbling stream that magnified in size and force the further along our journey progressed. Setting out into a snow storm, the clouds soon lifted bringing out a cool refreshing light sun that steadily began burning a dramatic mist off the dripping forest that surrounded us. It seemed like every element was pouring with thirsty dew, and with a surround sound of singing birds and multi-coloured rocks, we wondered if we hadn't entered into an alternative tropical world where at any minute a flock of magnificently shaded parrots might swoop down to perch and begin sharing whimsical tales of the great unknown depths of the steep paths our soggy feet were meandering along. We discovered an open clearing within the parting of the dense alpine trees that unveiled itself to be called 'Le Paradis de Praz', within which centred an unbelievably imaginatively constructed cabin, complete with hand-built shutters containing twee chiselled love hearts accompanying traditional floral alpine paintings. It's sides held up with dissected ingenious anglings of deceased trees, with roughly hammered in bits of recycled logs which were all individually granted their own lease of lustrous pigment. Festoon lighting lurched above a higgle-de-piggle-de built wonky stage containing great promise of phantom bohemian bands jumping up + down on wailing wondrously through rusty instruments. We sat down beneath the shelter of the closed joint with imaginary cups of tea and dreamt about owning a palace like this one day, surrounded by streams and tree houses.

And then we carried on our journey, until it was time to say goodbye.