the alpine cottage of Combe Madame

Up there in the shelters, it’s the new summer series from France Bleu Isère. An immersion in the daily life of some refuge keepers and those who sometimes accompany them.

A refuge that is worth the walk.

The Combe Madame alpine lodge is a pretty little alpine refuge, located in the Belledonne range, in the commune of Haut-Bréda. Built in 1992 and with a capacity of 22 beds, it is located at an altitude of 1784 metres, faces the Col du Mouchillon and is notably on the access path to Rocher Blanc (2928m), the one of the highest peaks of Belledonne.

The Combe Madame alpine cottage is accessible in 1 hour 45 to 2 hours on foot from the lake of La Ferrière. The path, quite easy, meanders for its first half in the forest of spruces following the fiery stream of the Combe Madame, before emerging on the mountain pasture.

It was halfway through, at the first chalet in Combe Madame, that we met Chloé, one of the two shepherdesses who, each summer, accompany some 750 sheep.

Combe Madame: an alpine lodge for a living mountain.

The alpine lodge is a slightly different concept from that of the mountain refuge. Here, at Combe Madame, you are welcomed by the guards (Clément and Frédéric) as well as by the shepherdesses (Chloé and Valentine). You can even help them, in the evening, to bring the sheep back to the park near the shelter for the night. An ideal way to meet a living mountain and learn more about pastoralism.

We followed in his installation Clément who is attacking his fifth season as a refuge guard at Combe Madame, with always the same pleasure.

Good food at an altitude of 1784m.

In the alpine lodge of Combe Madame, we make sure that everyone enjoys local and tasty products. Among Clément and Frédéric’s specialties are The White Rock (burger composed of: homemade bun, cheese, diot and onions cooked in red wine), the nettle-cheese tart, homemade soup with tomme cheese and bread or the famous apple-blueberry crumble. Clément also plans to develop a new dessert with rumex, a kind of wild rhubarb that grows around the refuge.

Being a refuge keeper also means being a jack-of-all-trades.

But being a refuge keeper means not only welcoming hikers and cooking; it also means knowing how to repair and maintain the refuge. And at the start of the season, there can be a lot to do.

Being a refuge keeper means being available for others, but you also have to know how to keep time for yourself.

If in the end it is in the kitchen that Clément spends a large part of his time, he also makes time for himself. Moments of contemplation, of serenity. He even devotes himself, when he has the opportunity, to a little ritual, not far from the refuge: essential to be on top and always welcome hikers with passion.