Thursday: Paris to Chamonix
Up early and took #1 metro to Gare de Lyon to catch TGV to Geneva. Hot day. Used previous experience to know to validate tickets and find train track. But, when we took our seats, we found that someone else came and said we were in their reserved seats. We didn’t see where our assigned seats were marked, so thought we may not have gotten reserved seats. When a second person came to claim his seat, I checked with the conductor who was very friendly and showed where the car and seat were marked on our ticket - car 5, seats 52 and 51. No problems after that. The train started fast, but slowed as we got closer to Switzerland. Near Paris, we mostly passed open fields, maybe wheat. Then, as we got further south, the fields grew smaller and more rural looking. By the time got to Geneva, there were mostly hills, water (the Rhone, I think) and woods. Our trip to Geneva took about 3 hours. Once there, we went through a customs area, but no passport control.
We had almost 5 hours in Geneva before our bus for Chamonix left! We first found the bus station and got our tickets. Then we went back to the train station to leave our luggage in a locker. Then back to the lake and a walk along it. It was scorching, so we found some shade and food and drink and hung out. We decided to take a boat tour of the lake for an hour or so. Lots of people swimming in the lake - there’s a big area just for swimming with lifeguards and diving platforms. On the far side of the lake, there’s a big man-made “geyser” that sprays people and cools you off a bit. Our bus finally left around 5:30 pm. We took city streets out of Geneva to a freeway. If we
had gone directly to Chamonix, it probably would have taken about an hour. But, we had to make some stops along the way in some pretty Alpine-like towns. So we arrived at about 7:30 pm. Found the hotel easily enough a short walk from the bus stop / train station. Checked into our Spartan room (raw wood beds and dresser - a bunk bed and a queen - biggest bed we’ve slept on in Europe!). We were recommended to an Italian restaurant Casa Valeria and had a good pizza there. Back to the room and to bed early as we planned an early rise to ascend the mountains!
Up early and took #1 metro to Gare de Lyon to catch TGV to Geneva. Hot day. Used previous experience to know to validate tickets and find train track. But, when we took our seats, we found that someone else came and said we were in their reserved seats. We didn’t see where our assigned seats were marked, so thought we may not have gotten reserved seats. When a second person came to claim his seat, I checked with the conductor who was very friendly and showed where the car and seat were marked on our ticket - car 5, seats 52 and 51. No problems after that. The train started fast, but slowed as we got closer to Switzerland. Near Paris, we mostly passed open fields, maybe wheat. Then, as we got further south, the fields grew smaller and more rural looking. By the time got to Geneva, there were mostly hills, water (the Rhone, I think) and woods. Our trip to Geneva took about 3 hours. Once there, we went through a customs area, but no passport control.
We had almost 5 hours in Geneva before our bus for Chamonix left! We first found the bus station and got our tickets. Then we went back to the train station to leave our luggage in a locker. Then back to the lake and a walk along it. It was scorching, so we found some shade and food and drink and hung out. We decided to take a boat tour of the lake for an hour or so. Lots of people swimming in the lake - there’s a big area just for swimming with lifeguards and diving platforms. On the far side of the lake, there’s a big man-made “geyser” that sprays people and cools you off a bit. Our bus finally left around 5:30 pm. We took city streets out of Geneva to a freeway. If we
had gone directly to Chamonix, it probably would have taken about an hour. But, we had to make some stops along the way in some pretty Alpine-like towns. So we arrived at about 7:30 pm. Found the hotel easily enough a short walk from the bus stop / train station. Checked into our Spartan room (raw wood beds and dresser - a bunk bed and a queen - biggest bed we’ve slept on in Europe!). We were recommended to an Italian restaurant Casa Valeria and had a good pizza there. Back to the room and to bed early as we planned an early rise to ascend the mountains!Friday: Mont Blanc, Aiguille du Midi and Helbronner 
We got up early to try to get to the mountain before clouds roll in (that’s what we read). Weather forecast in the hotel lobby was “Sunny and Cloudy”. It was true! We got to the lift around 7 or so and were immediately able to get on the gondola up to Plan de L’Aiguille, which is about half way up to du Midi. Plan is above the tree line and a drop off for Alpine hikers. The area is barren rock and moss / lichen. We wanted to go as far as quickly as possible, so we didn’t stop. Continued up to du Midi. This is a very cool area - supposed to be the highest place of its kind. Lots of connecting tunnels to different areas. But we still didn’t stop for longer than a coffee and roll for breakfast. Pressed on to Helbronner - you take a separate cable car to Helbronner. There are 3 4-person cars close together. When we went, there was only one other
couple, so Deb and I had our own car. The cars take a 30 minute ride across glaciers into Italy (only 2 or 3 supports in all that way). We saw hikers and climbers making their way across the glacier toward Mont Blanc. However, could not see Mont Blanc due to clouds. Up to this point, weather had been sunny - now we got to cloudy. As we went over the last support, we descended into the clouds and Helbronner. When we first arrived, we could see NOTHING! Even the other end of the viewing platform was foggy. We just hung out awhile, and soon we were rewarded with some sun and clearing. The combinations of clouds and sun made for some spectacular views even if we couldn’t see Switzerland and everything. The longer we waited, the clearer and better the views. We managed to spend some time just sitting in the sun there.
Finally, we headed back to du Midi, enjoying the views over the glacier. How you can risk a hike on it with all the cracks, I don’t know. Later I learned that they ski on it in the winter (and, yes, every year a dozen or so people die in cracks). Back at du Midi, we spent lots of time just looking into the horizon - clouds and mountain peaks as far as you can see. We probably spend about a half hour or so just waiting to see if the clouds would clear from Mont Blanc (they never really did completely, but we saw it clearly the next day). It was early afternoon when we headed back to Plan de L’Aiguille. We got off for a look around, had a hot dog in a café on the mountainside, then took a short hike to Lac Bleu (blue lake). It was just a pool in the hillside, but the water was Lake Tahoe-like blue (maybe not quite so clear). A fun little excursion over Alpine hillside.
While at du Midi and Helbronner, the temperature was about freezing. We took all layers of our warm clothes to stay warm. At Plan, it was not so cold. You could manage with just some long sleeves considering the sun might be out. Meanwhile, back in Chamonix, it was toasty (maybe in the high 80’s or so). We returned to our hotel to change out of long pants and drop off coats. All this was before lunch time! We had our lunch in town at a place called Midnight Express (funny French name, huh). We read about it in our guide book, and it had good sandwiches for cheap, and Kronenburg beer for 3 euros (50ml)! It may be our cheapest meal since coming to France. We checked out stores and returned to our hotel room for a rest at about 4 or 5 pm. That evolved into a long nap for me!
We got up early to try to get to the mountain before clouds roll in (that’s what we read). Weather forecast in the hotel lobby was “Sunny and Cloudy”. It was true! We got to the lift around 7 or so and were immediately able to get on the gondola up to Plan de L’Aiguille, which is about half way up to du Midi. Plan is above the tree line and a drop off for Alpine hikers. The area is barren rock and moss / lichen. We wanted to go as far as quickly as possible, so we didn’t stop. Continued up to du Midi. This is a very cool area - supposed to be the highest place of its kind. Lots of connecting tunnels to different areas. But we still didn’t stop for longer than a coffee and roll for breakfast. Pressed on to Helbronner - you take a separate cable car to Helbronner. There are 3 4-person cars close together. When we went, there was only one other
couple, so Deb and I had our own car. The cars take a 30 minute ride across glaciers into Italy (only 2 or 3 supports in all that way). We saw hikers and climbers making their way across the glacier toward Mont Blanc. However, could not see Mont Blanc due to clouds. Up to this point, weather had been sunny - now we got to cloudy. As we went over the last support, we descended into the clouds and Helbronner. When we first arrived, we could see NOTHING! Even the other end of the viewing platform was foggy. We just hung out awhile, and soon we were rewarded with some sun and clearing. The combinations of clouds and sun made for some spectacular views even if we couldn’t see Switzerland and everything. The longer we waited, the clearer and better the views. We managed to spend some time just sitting in the sun there.
Finally, we headed back to du Midi, enjoying the views over the glacier. How you can risk a hike on it with all the cracks, I don’t know. Later I learned that they ski on it in the winter (and, yes, every year a dozen or so people die in cracks). Back at du Midi, we spent lots of time just looking into the horizon - clouds and mountain peaks as far as you can see. We probably spend about a half hour or so just waiting to see if the clouds would clear from Mont Blanc (they never really did completely, but we saw it clearly the next day). It was early afternoon when we headed back to Plan de L’Aiguille. We got off for a look around, had a hot dog in a café on the mountainside, then took a short hike to Lac Bleu (blue lake). It was just a pool in the hillside, but the water was Lake Tahoe-like blue (maybe not quite so clear). A fun little excursion over Alpine hillside.While at du Midi and Helbronner, the temperature was about freezing. We took all layers of our warm clothes to stay warm. At Plan, it was not so cold. You could manage with just some long sleeves considering the sun might be out. Meanwhile, back in Chamonix, it was toasty (maybe in the high 80’s or so). We returned to our hotel to change out of long pants and drop off coats. All this was before lunch time! We had our lunch in town at a place called Midnight Express (funny French name, huh). We read about it in our guide book, and it had good sandwiches for cheap, and Kronenburg beer for 3 euros (50ml)! It may be our cheapest meal since coming to France. We checked out stores and returned to our hotel room for a rest at about 4 or 5 pm. That evolved into a long nap for me!
When I finally got up, it was getting dark and time to go to dinner. We opted for a café in the main square of town where we saw people eating cheese fondue. We order the same. What I always realize about cheese fondue is that it tastes good at first, but soon it just overwhelms you. And if you press on for too long, it will just make you sick! We didn’t press on that long, and it did taste good. I probably won’t need it again for about 5 more years. My stomach still felt it a day later.
Saturday: hiking
We didn’t have anything really planned, so we actually slept in! We took advantage of our hotel breakfast and had coffee, tea, juice and croissants / rolls in the dinning room. One thing about the hotel is that they have a tea room from noon to 7pm, and you are not supposed to use the lobby at that time. If you are at the hotel, then you are stuck in the room. That part is not so good, but we didn’t spend so much time there. We decided to do a bit if hiking in the nearby woods. There are many trails you can hike (or mountain bike) that don’t require ascending the mountains (at least not too much). We took a trail on the opposite side of the town. Chamonix is in a valley with ranges on both side. Mont Blanc is on the south side. The ridge on the other side also has lifts and ski runs. In the summer, para-sailing is popular on this side. We hiked up from the Le Brevent ski lift to Le Petit Balcon Sud and walked along it for maybe an hour or so. The last bit was all uphill to small fantastic place called La Floria chalet (house of flowers). It is a way-station that provides views and refreshments above the valley. But, most spectacularly, it is full of flowers. The owners said they live there in the summer and each year start all new flowers again. It was a great find, and well worth the effort (even Debbie says so).
We returned from La Floria along a trail to Les Praz. All the trails are very well marked. Great hiking area! From Les Praz, we were able to hike along the Arve river (no changes in elevation!) back to Chamonix. The whole trip took us about 2 or 3 hours. We spent the rest of the day in town shopping for t-shirts and such. Came away with a new running shirt, hat for Debbie to use in the Grand Canyon, and a Chamonix t-shirt for me. Forgot to mention my new shorts which I got yesterday and wore today hiking! Lunch at a nice place - salad for me and omelet for Debbie (as we are still recovering from cheese fondue).On Sunday, we reversed our trip, taking the bus back to Geneva, spending about 3 much cooler hours in the city and by the lake. We caught the 1:17 back to Gare de Lyon (reaching 300 kph top speed - pretty impressive!). We were home by 4:30 and eating dinner by 6! Spent the rest of the evening organizing the pictures! Wait until you see this months album!
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