Moraine

A quick hop on the navette to get out of Courmayeur's road system and then it was a fantastic stroll along the Val Veny's high hanging valley system heading to the Col de Siegne.
Passing along the Lac du Combal there was this fantastic example of a lateral moraine meeting another glacier - high above the slope in the middle of the picture is the Glacier du Miage- and the high Lac du Miage, the foreground is the Lac du Combal (now mostly a semi dry marsh) which was created by the glacier acting as a natural dam after the retreat of the Glacier de la Lex Blanche.

A last Italian coffee at the Rifuggio Elisabetta and then an informative stop at La Casermetta information centre (the life size model of a Lamagier was really impressive) and then we crossed the Col and began our descent down into France - heading for Chapieux. This is the stop a lot of cliens don't like - accomodation is suddenly (for some) more basic and at this point backing out of the tour suddenly becomes very expensive - so now you're committed fully.
Our early start and the good steady pace saw us into the Auberge as the first large group - good planning meant that our clients got the pick of the rooms - we got to sit back and watch another guide patiently explain to his (Korean) clients that the accommodation was exactly as described in the brochure - if not as they'd imagined it, I think in the end he had to bribe them with free wine.