Cicerone have just received this delightful email from happy customers who walked the Tour of Mont Blanc and hiked in Peru's Sacred Valley using our guidebooks. They conclude "who knows what adventures are about to start, but certainly, whenever possible, Cicerone will be with us.'
"Dear Cicerone,
Having just received the latest news up-date from Cicerone, it has reminded me that we have not sent our annual thank you to Cicerone. Every year your books take us on travel adventures and 2014 was no exception. We did use some of the British guides in part but there were two which we followed extensively.
Firstly we hiked the Tour of Mont Blanc, in the opposite direction to most people in that we walked clockwise. Having hiked the GR5 a few years ago, (see our write-up on your blog) which included a portion of the anti-clockwise TMB, we decided that to do it clockwise would add variety for us on that particular section. Of course, the added bonus was that for much of the day we had the whole of the route to ourselves, an amazing experience. The weather in the Alps last summer was described to us as dreadful, but completing the hike from Champex in September we had beautiful weather for the whole trip and only donned the waterproofs for about 1 hour in total - how lucky was that?!
And then onto the second book to be used.... 'Hiking and Biking Peru's Inca Trails' - a fabulous book which made our stay in the Sacred Valley a real treat and added so much value to a magnificent trip to Peru. To be able to get out and walk unescorted was a delight and the people we met on our hikes will be remembered with so much pleasure. Our whole trip was tailor-made for us by Audley's so it gave us the opportunity to add in days to their normal schedule to allow us to get out and really feel the countryside - we have been telling everyone we talk to about your book so do thank the author for his excellent book which we so enjoyed and treasured.
And so another year begins and who knows what adventures are about to start, but certainly, whenever possible, Cicerone will be with us.
Thanks once again.
Kind regards, Carol and James"
Feature · 7 Aug 2014
Running the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc
A week before the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) I heard a quote on the TV. I wasn’t really listening but I thought it was someone making a tongue-in-cheek reference to how to successfully read a book: ‘you start at the beginning, you keep going to the end and then you stop’. A week later I realised that this also perfectly sums up an Ultra race. The quote had become my mantra as I...
