Finally we did get some dry weather. Ailefroide is a bona-fide alpine destination, with stuff like the Meije traverse (next year?) and the Dauphine classic South Pillar of the Barre des Ecrins. But it also offers some amazing rock climbing less than the 15 minutes from the camp site.
Of course the dry weather didn't stick around. It never seems to stay that dry in the Alps, in fact I've decided that the Alps are actually a lot wetter than the Lakes! True or not, this August has been particularly wet...