We all met up at Geneva airport and were transported to the Hotel Mercure in Chamonix very efficiently by Show Train, where Di was waiting to meet us.

After a quick few minutes sorting rooms out and dropping off luggage we had a briefing looking at the route and making sure everyone had everything they needed.

Then it was time for some women to get lost in the town (was this a sign of things to come??!!) before sharing dinner at one of the many packed restaurants in the town.

After the most enormous breakfast ever, we set of up to the telepherique station, to catch it to Planpraz.

As we were to stay again in Chamonix after the first leg of the walk, Marian was able to join us today - rather than ferrying the luggage to a new destination.

The road up to the cable car station is quite steep and left many of us wondering if we had what it took to complete such a demanding route.

The cable car journey was dramatic. Unfortunately the weather was cloudy so we were not rewarded with the views of Mont Blanc we would have liked.

From the cable car station at Planpraz we started our clockwise journey around the Mont Blanc massive.

We stopped en route to Lac Blanc at the hut a La Flegres to use the facilities and marvel at the paragliders exiting from the cable car station to jump off the mountain.

Before arriving at Lac Blanc for lunch, Jean was very excited to have spotted marmots in the distance.

However, on careful inspection through the binoculars they turned out be sheep, I'm not sure marmots herd in quite the same way…!

The guidebook (Kev as he became affectionately known) suggests that one should spend an hour or so at Lac Blanc absorbing the wonderful views.

Given the chill wind and mist we spent a few minutes absorbing the wonderful hot chocolate and staring with incredulity at the bravery of Anna swimming in the glacial lake. She did have the decency to admit to being a bit cold after.

The descent towards Argentiere provides excellent team building opportunities in the shape of vertical steel ladders guiding the way down the steep rock, quite a challenge with poles.

This, coupled with one of the group striking off for independence towards Tre le Champ, meant that we were quite late down to Argentiere.

Everyone was hungry, so we decided to eat in Argentiere before and return to Chamonix on a later bus.

The route today took us by bus from Chamonix to Argentiere, were we walked up to Tre le Champ to pick up the TMB route.

From here we climbed up to Aiguillette des Posettes for lunch in the sunshine.

We then crossed over into Switzerland via the Col de Balme, dropped into la Peuty and climbed up to the Col de la Forclaz where we were staying the night.

To capture the feel of the day we passed the book around at dinner and asked women to summarise their feelings of the day.

Here are some of the quotes: 'pinging calf muscles…….a confused paraglider, deaf cows and a fabulous hotel'

'I found out how many porkies teachers tell their kids and that rowing is an addiction' , 'amazing mountains……..very relaxed'

'a truly fantastic start to the day - sunshine on snow……..a hop across the border into Switzerland then beginning the long descent low and behold three idiots carrying bikes up the hill'

'sun on mountain side - perfume of thyme - butterflies - grass hoppers - wonderful scenery - blue skies - mountains on parade'

From the Col de la Forclaz we followed the Bovine route to the beautiful resort town of Champex.

Here are some of the womens' best bits of the day:

'going into the refuge at Bovine. It had such a warm, hospitable and carnival atmosphere - it was a fantastic break from the trail to sit supping hot chocolate to the accompaniment of cowbells' 'prize winning cow bells on prize winning cows'

'the kitchen shelves at Bovine - la Buvette superb'

'the challenge of carrying the apricot tart up the hill, which Anna had sold her body to buy.'

'onion soup with mushrooms in refuge - yum'

'the wonderful humour amongst the group all day, a joy to walk with the group'

'alpine garden in Champex - full of beautiful flowers and odd charred wood sculptures. A peaceful way to end the day'

'meeting the woman doing the TMB on her own and camping (later found out to be called Kate and hopefully a prospective walking woman!!)'

Sarah presented Sylvia with a toy marmot to be carried as the team mascot for the remainder of the trip as they had become a bit of standing joke after the 'sighting' on the first day.

After much discussion fuelled by a good choice of wine (Clare became the group Vintner) she was christened Margaret, the first WalkingWoman marmot.

The route for today was not as long as some of the other days, so the pace of the day was more intermediate than high alpine.

The TMB wends its way down the right hand side of the massive through some of the oldest villages of Switzerland.

We took the opportunity provided by a slower day to look at the ancient buildings with the symbols carved on them to protect the wheat stored there.

We stopped for coffee, lunch, to gaze at the flowers etc.

Then came the rain. This really was a sign of things to come as once it set it in didn't really stop.

The approach to the village of La Fouly is through the campsite and you couldn't help but feel for the campers, we wondered if our friend Kate was amongst the rain sodden tents.

We were glad of the dry shelter offered to us at the Hotel Glacier. The dortoir accommodation came as bit of a culture shock to our friends from across the pond, but we soon got used to the close proximity of sleeping side by side.

We were able to spread over two rooms in the end, which gave us a bit more space.

It had the feel of a night at guide camp and there was a certain amount of giggling well after 'lights out'.

Of all the things we expected to wake up to one fine August morning in the Alps, snow was not amongst them.

Andre (the owner of the hotel and a very experienced mountaineer) assured us that the Col we had to pass over into Italy would be clear. We were not convinced as we gazed out into the misty hillside.

However, with a taxi fare running into hundreds of pounds as the alternative, we were faced with crossing the Col or remaining in Switzerland.

As we made our way up the valley we realised that everywhere was quiet because it was a bank holiday. By this point we were struggling to remember what day it was never mind the date. Loosing track of time is one of the wonderful feelings of trekking!

We stopped for hot chocolate (of course) at the refuge at la Peule, which marked about half way up the long 1000m ascent up to the Grand Col Ferret.

The door of the hut was kept shut by an ingenious system involving a bucket and edelweiss (see above).

We managed to stop on the Col for 5 seconds for a quick summit photo, as this was the highest point of the route so far (2537m).

However, we were in grave danger of being blown off so we made a hasty descent to the Refuge Elena for some welcome soup served by a very scary Belgian woman.

We sampled the local puddings too in an attempt to delay the inevitable return to the howling gale and driving rain outside.

We met up with Kate again who was doing a very similar thing, turns out she had spent 10 hours inside her tent during the driving rain. Suddenly sleeping side by side in the dortoirs seemed very civilised.

Feeling very brave we made our way down the valley to catch the bus at Arnuva for Courmayeur.

Marian met us at the bus stop and two of the women were able to ride in the van and grab the first showers at the hotel, the only hot ones as it turns out.

Our spirits were lifted later in the evening by eating enormous, wheel-sized pizzas in a very crowded restaurant. That, and the fact we could have a lie in the next day.

We awoke to a beautifully clear blue sky and realised that this would be the day to go high into the mountains to take in the views we had missed so far.

Most of the group used the cable car from La Palud up Pointe Helbronner at 3462m above sea level to absorb the wonderful views of the whole of the Mont Blanc Massive.

There were people camping on the glacier below and we watched in awe and wonder as two parties made their ascent up the rock race of Dent Du Geant.

Jean and Ilse carried on across the glacier, via cable car, to the Aguille de Midi, in France.

They found the views stunning and enjoyed the trip immensely.

Diana (our team classics expert) and Pam decided to take the bus to Aosta for the day to view the roman and medieval ruins.

The bus service there was very luxurious and ran on time. Not something you could imagine happening in the UK.

We also found the bus fares so much more affordable in Italy too.

We met up again in the evening for more good wine and enormous pizzas to share our tales of the day and to prepare ourselves for the challenge of the next day.

Again we awoke to beautiful clear skies and wondered if our luck was changing and maybe we were going to have some good weather.

There was a choice of activities again for today and those sporting rather sore knees decided to walk up to the outside swimming pool at Plan Checout.

The pool is heated and sits right on the top of a small peak outside Courmayer and so is in the shadow of Mont Blanc. It was voted a pretty good option for a day off, particularly as there is a cable car down, thus providing further rest for those dodgy knees.

The rest of us decided to climb Monte de la Saxe ('rocky mountain' according to our classics expert).

We followed the TMB route out of Courmayer and began the long steep ascent up to refuge Bertone. We were getting very used to mid morning coffee breaks at these huts by now.

The day was starting to hot up by the time we arrived at the refuge and we took the opportunity to stock up water and other refreshments.

After leaving the hut there was a route, which descended back down to the valley to catch a bus to Courmayer.

However we felt that the good weather and the fitness of the group meant that we couldn't pass up the opportunity to complete the circuit of the mountain.

We carried up along the ridge to Tete Bernada (2534m) and on to Tete de la Tronche (2584m). This was the highest point for us on the TMB and for some of the women it was the highest point they had ever climbed to.

There was a great sense of achievement as we all soaked in the views and the sunshine on the summit. Then began the long descent back to Courmayer, via the Val Sapin.

If you climb a long way up you inevitably have to climb a long way down. Some voted it the highlight of the trip so far. It was like a Lakeland horseshoe, only more so!

We celebrated the day with more pizza in the evening and enjoyed the complementary digestives that could have doubled as lighter fuel should you be stuck for some.

Today we were back on the trek again. We took the bus to Visaille, the head of the valley leading back to France. The weather was changing, the temperature had dropped and the wind speed picked up.

We followed the crowds up the path towards the Refuge Elizabetta. Here we sampled yet more hot chocolate, which was more like hot angel delight, drank more coffee before heading out in the driving rain towards France.

We decided to shelter on the Col de la Seigne for lunch as the mist rolled in and out. It gave the whole day a very mysterious feel. Somewhere out there was a whole massif of mountains over 4000m, honestly.

From the Col we descended to the refuge des Mottets. On the way down we finally spotted real life marmots, not sheep or toy ones strapped to the back of rucksacks.

The hillside was littered with them. We watched a mother and her two young ones playing and calling to each other. Once we had seen one suddenly they seemed to be everywhere.

After having some fairly average and very expensive soup at the refuge we descended to Ville Des Glaciers meeting up with Marian and Allegra who had walked up to meet us. Chris and Clare decided to take up the opportunity of a lift to the refuge de la Nova while the rest of us trudged down the hill in the pouring rain.

Les Chapieux is a very small village with just a couple of refuges and a campsite. Our accommodation for the night was a hut in the field, which was then christened the Wendy house. Di, Marian and Sylvia used the guides accommodation offered to ease the space pressure in the Wendy house.

This turned out to be an old house at the top of the village. We were advised to keep the ill fitting door shut other wise the chickens had a tendency to shelter from the rain in there. And how it rained……..

There was plenty to eat that night, with fantastic vegetable soup, interesting 'pig cheek' and polenta, a choice of cheeses and great fruit pie.

Sarah and Anna stayed up to play cards and were again offered a variety of free digestives, with interesting consequences when it came to trying to locate one's bed in the Wendy house.

The majority of people who walk the TMB do so in an anti-clockwise direction and start at Les Houches.

By the time they reach Les Chapieux they have completed two days of the ten-day route. This may have been the reason that today we found the route to be much busier than at any other point along the trip.

The advantage of going in the opposite direction to everyone else is that you have the path to yourselves at the start and the end of the day and only experience a busy patch during the middle of the day. You also meet different people everyday.

Our route started with a long climb up towards the Refuge du Col de la Croix du Bonhomme at 2433m. This was a marvellous hut with fantastic hot chocolate and wonderful plum pudding. It was becoming a gastronomic tour of Mont Blanc.

We then descended to the Col with all and sundry before losing most of the crowds as we continued down the valley to Notre Dame de la Gorge.

We stopped off en route for second lunch by a very scenic electricity pylon, trying to convince ourselves again that there were mountains up there in the mist.

We were met again by Marian at the beautiful church of Notre Dame. Some decided to take the bus for the last 4km to Les Contamines, two hitched a lift with Marian in the van while the rest of us walked along the river to this pretty French town.

Two days later we were to learn that this river burst its banks due to the continual, torrential rain and many of the residents had to be evacuated. The hotel was voted the best along the route, with fantastic food (no pig cheek or polenta here!!) and baths with lots of hot water.

There are two choices of routes from Les Contamines to Les Houches. We decided to do the lower one, the TMB route proper as it meant everyone could walk because it didn't involved massive ascent or descent.

We took the route along the valley travelling through isolated French villages and wonderful countryside.

The two routes meet up at Col de Voza, where the Tramway du Mont Blanc wends its way up the mountainside from St Gervais-Les-Bains to le Nid D'Aigile.

There is a train station and a small resort at the Col, which had the feeling of Brigadoon as it came and went in the mist.

Some of the party decided to continue on the path following the railway line to Bellevue where they could catch the Telepherique down to Les Houches, providing a much-needed rest for the knees.

The rest of the party descended on the path down to the busy little ski resort. When we arrived we discovered the hotel had an outside swimming pool.

So, being very British, despite the low temperatures and the rain we decided to have a dip. Maybe this was to ease our muscles the way an ice bath does for Paula Ratcliffe. We needed to get into shape for the biggest day, which was still to come.

The meal that night was superb. The restaurant was used by couples having wonderful romantic meals by candlelight. We made the most of the great cuisine and good wine.

(Sorry, no photos today) The hotel pulled out all the stops for breakfast too with hot blueberry pies, warm Brioche and fresh bread. By this time we were all eating about double what we would normally and enjoyed every last mouthful.

Today was the final and most challenging day of the whole route. It starts by descending to the lowest point on the whole trek, the bridge at Les Houches (975m), before beginning the long ascent up Le Brevent. Nine of us felt up to the challenge. The weather was clear to start with and we had a fantastic clear view of Mont Blanc early on. However, as we started to climb higher the cloud dropped and we felt like the only people on the mountain that day.

On the final ascent we were joined by two young boys from Nottingham who couldn't believe how far we had walked and applauded us all as we reached the summit. It was a great feeling, even if it was raining once more and you couldn't see a thing. Four of the party decided to take the cable car down to Planplaz while the rest of us followed the ski route down to place we had started the trek ten days earlier.

We celebrated in style with warm wine and Schnapps at the restaurant at the cable car station before reversing our route on the cable car back down to Chamonix. We felt like conquering heroes.

The rain had been going almost 24 hours by the time we woke up and there were no signs of it stopping. We were rather disappointed as a lot of the activities on offer in Chamonix are weather dependent.

However we made the best of it and enjoyed a day of not having to do anything. Some of us went swimming in the fantastic 50m outdoor pool and used the sauna and steam room, others shopped for presents. Marian and Anna whiled away their time in the museum and at the photography exhibition and others spent a wet afternoon being cultured in the cinema (well watching Charlie and the chocolate factory dubbed in French).

All too soon it was time for our last meal together and an early night before a 6.30am departure the next morning back to Geneva airport, when believe it or not it had stopped raining.