The rendezvous was for 9.30 am at Notre Dame de la Gorge. We chatted to some other walkers who turned out to be doing the classique variant of the tour on the same route, but soon after that we found the people who would be our companions for the next week in the comfort group. Then we met our guide, Diego and our mule, Libélule. This multinational group (5 swiss from Geneva, 2 french, 1 portuguese, 2 australians and us two from the UK) turned out to be very congenial and we managed to communicate very effectively sometimes in french and sometimes in english. Some appeared to be fitter than others and our ages ranged from just under 30 to just over 70. 
Some members exerted themselves and often were first to reach the destination while others stopped to admire the views or to take photos. Each time that
Libélule stopped for refreshment, we all caught up, took a little rest and sipped our water or munched our snacks.
Diego gave each of us a red bag for our belongings; each bag was weighed (must be less than 7 kg) and then it was carefully loaded onto Libélule. Any spare bags were put into a van to be given back to us at the end of the walk in Le Tour. While we were waiting to go, we looked in the pretty little chapel which has fine frescoes and a big ornate altar piece inside it.
Diego briefed us: telling us to go at our own speed; he will wait for everyone. He warned us not to stop in front of Libélule to tie up our boot laces. If we need to stop, step onto the uphill side of the path.
At 10.30 we set off over a bridge and up the hill towards the Chalet de la Balme on a wide rough track through the woods. 
Our first stop was to look at a Roman bridge beside a big waterfall. Apparently this route has been used for trade of commodities such as salt since Roman times and before. The track continued until we reached the Chalet de la Balme (1706 m) at about noon. 
Soon after this we left the track and followed a proper narrow footpath zigzagging up the grassy hillside. On the way we spotted a tumulus labelled as 'plan des dames' - two English women were stranded here, died and were buried.
We stopped for a picnic, looking back at the view down the path in the Val de Montjoie that we had come up. We were astonished to have an enormous pile of sliced ham, some tomatoes and some big loaves of bread - ours was one of the few knives available for cutting the pain de campagne. Then we had cheese and finally bananas. A very good spread.
After lunch and a rest we continued the ascent and reached the Col de Bonhomme (2329 m) soon after 3 pm. 
There was another col ahead and in between many névés (patches of snow that hadn't yet melted). The snow was soft and the patches horizontal, so crossing them was not a problem. The ground otherwise was mostly scattered rocks and loose stones, but fairly level and not slippery. 
Just before the second col we spotted some bouquetin on the nearby hilltop. Bouquetin is a sort of wild goat, sometime translated as ibex. It has very large backwards facing curved horns. The photo on the right catches two of them silhouetted against the sky. We also saw many attractive alpine flowers including yellow anemones and the bright blue gentians below.
We reached the next col (Col de la Croix de Bonhomme at 2483 m) soon after 4 pm. 
Then we began the descent, passing the Refuge of the Col de la Croix de Bonhomme (where the classique group spent the first night). Sometime on the way down we heard the characteristic whistle of the marmottes, but this time were unable to spot them. We had to descend all the way to les Chapieux at 1554 m where we arrived very weak in the knees after a fast 900m descent at 6.45 at our destination the Auberge de la Nova where we collected our red bags and rushed for our rooms. 
This is a friendly family style inn - we had double rooms but had to share the showers - it was a big rush to clean up for the imminent meal. It was a big meal, probably the best one on the trip: soup, rabbit and gratin dauphinoise, fruit tart and fromage blanc.
After the meal, everyone was trying to find out the result of the final of the World Cup (Italy versus France). There was no TV in the hotel and nobody could pick up any radio or mobile phone signals. However, a visitor in car picked up the result on his car radio - Italy won on penalties.
As a 7.30 breakfast and 8.30 start were planned, we all went to bed early and slept well.