Madone de la Fenestre -> Madone de la Fenestre – The Day of Return

10. June 2025

 

 

Madone de la Fenestre has about 6 buildings and 1 church. The church is huge. 5 of the buildings are locked, and 1 houses the accommodation. There’s a road leading up to it, but it’s private. So, no one lives there except for the hut operators. And there are ibexes and chamois that like to roam the village. The nearest village is quite far away. Why did they build such a large church up here, and why doesn’t anyone else live there? First, a photo of the village – absolutely beautiful!

 

 

On the left is the accommodation, behind it is an empty house, then the church, to the right of it a smaller house, then a very large empty hotel, and in the second row another house. In the background are abandoned buildings for cows and a cheese factory.

 

This is the road:

 

 

 

And this is the church and in the church

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was very cold in the church and smelled strangely musty and holy, and I stood there, not knowing whether to be fascinated that there is religion and believers or simply to be opposed to them. Well, it’s probably both.

 

The story goes that the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to someone in a hole in a rock! Well, that was something! A church was quickly built there. This hole can also be called a window. French window = fenetre. And they added an s here. Perhaps they spoke differently in the past, because that was all in the 18th century. And the statue of Mary that was dragged here is actually from the 14th century. It’s a great statue, to which countless miracles are attributed. And that’s why they pay homage and carry it down into the valley in a procession in September. There it is allowed to spend the winter – it’s already pretty cold in its church in summer. She can certainly perform many miracles – but the floods and landslides were a bit too much for her.

 

Enough of the story, now it’s time to hike. The route follows the GR52 and shouldn’t be too far to the Refuge de Nice.

 

5,8 km

730 m up

415 m down

3:55 hrs.

 

Happily I set off together with a chamois.

 

 

 

 

 

3 people started ahead of me, and from behind me, a few young men quickly overtook me. Then it seemed as if no one else was coming. I rested, enjoyed myself, wondered where the path led, and then came to very rocky, steep terrain:

 

 

And soon after, it was over for me. I came to a climbing section that I might have been able to conquer – but maybe not. I was too short for clearly solid holds and footholds. If someone had been with me, I might have made it, but alone like this? What if I didn’t grab it and fell? And what if there were even more tricky sections to come? I thought about it, tried it, and struggled – and turned back.

 

Since I started mountain hiking in my early 20s, I’ve hiked a lot alone. Which you shouldn’t. So I was always very, very careful. I didn’t want to become a number in a very bad statistic. I didn’t want to be dependent on expensive mountain rescue services. I didn’t want to risk someone saying “see!” Where I live, the local newspaper always reports on mountain accidents and rescue operations. That somehow instilled even more respect in me.

 

Of course, I was frustrated. Of course, this didn’t fit my own image of the great, brave, daredevil mountaineer. But it reinforced my belief that it’s better to be sensible. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the mountain scenery and, with a part of myself, was glad to be there at all.

 

On my way back, I spotted many animals in the village. Apparently, the house wall is delicious when it’s wet.

 

 

 

The people in the hut were surprised, but probably thought it was better that I’d turned around. It still bothers me a bit that I was the only one, but oh well… The American (Bruce) was still there too – and when we met the next day, he said I really wouldn’t have enjoyed the rest of the route. Jakub also showed up again that evening – he actually just wanted to take a leisurely walk to some lakes, but he went too fast, and then he climbed a peak after all – and was completely exhausted.

 

We had philosophized a bit the night before – why he “had to” climb the peaks and I didn’t. He said it was a dance with the mountains. I wasn’t sure if it wasn’t somehow more of a fight. Because somehow it felt more like drudgery to me. Despite the impressive 360-degree views.

 

I went for a walk and enjoyed the beautiful landscape.

 

 

 

 

The hut warden said there was an alternative route to the next hut I were aiming for. It was a bit long, though. Yes, it looked long, but I thought I’d take it anyway. What else could I do? And the warden also informed the hut that I would be arriving a day later. No problem.

 

And then something happened the next morning that, in retrospect, further reinforced my decision to turn around…