Mont Blanc

Hello from the Alps. Debbie and I took a little vacation to Chamonix in the French Alps. Here's some notes I took during the trip... (I apologize in advance for the length).

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!

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!

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!

Hot Paris

Some very high temperatures here since last weekend. Today was 95F and it is still 88 at 10pm. We had a warm meal at a nearby Italian restaurant Fuxia with Jay and his friend Janie. They even gave us some Chinese-style fans to try to stay cool. It was pretty warm all weekend (hence the visit to AC at the Musee du quai Branly). Sunday, I visited the Paris beach for a bit - plenty of people there in the sun. Monday, when I arrived at work around 8am, I found that the AC was not on (and appeared to have been off all weekend). The 28th floor was a sweat box (so were all the rest I expect)! Of course, you can't just open a window! The AC didn't come on until about 10am - I guess there was some problem with it and it didn't start as it should have. I don't think I've been so hot since arriving here!

Tomorrow, I have a couple days off and we are taking the train to Geneva, then a bus to Chomanix to see Monte Blanc - I'm sure it will be cooler, but we are hoping for clear skies and spectacular views! Stay tuned. Cheers!

Quiet Paris...

A quiet weekend... We decided to go to the Musee du quai Branly partially to see the newest Paris Museum ( of indigenous art) and mostly for the air conditioning! As you can see above, the museum is not far from the Eiffel Tower. It was a very nice museum, reminding me a bit of the Native American Museum in Washington. It covered quite a broad range of art from all continents. Another nice thing was - no crowd! You could wander without bumping or blocking. It also had a special exhibition of Tarzan stuff, which was fun. The temperature outside was 90, but it was chilly in the museum. In the end, we needed to leave or freeze! We enjoyed a really pleasant meal in the museum cafeteria, which is outside, shaded by the museum which is above it. It is also secluded from streets by lush plantings that surround the museum. It was a perfect place for a relaxing meal. And... no smoking (even outside)!

We returned to the Marais and bought some groceries to get us through the next few days. We notice that is it very quiet over in the 7th arrondisement by the Branly and American Church. Some people have told us that ALL of Paris shuts down and goes on holiday in August. NOT TRUE. While it seems true that many Parisians leave, and some areas are very quiet, the Marais carries on. Our area is not as busy as it was in July, but it is not a problem finding restaurants, groceries, boulangeries, etc. The department stores may be cut back a bit, but it is still busy. And my work is on - although about half the department is gone (so I can get quite a bit done). Our Chinese neighboors all seem to be here. I went out today after church down to the Paris beach, then on to Place Dauphine to sit and read. I heard almost as many Italian, Spanish and English speakers as French. In particular, there seem to be lots of Spanish and Italians here. Maybe they come to Paris for cooler weather since all the French are gone. Well, the bottom line is that it's quieter in the Marais, but not quiet! Other parts of Paris seems very quiet though.

Things French (or at least Parisian)

Bon jour,

Debbie is making fun of me, but you might be interested. Paris street-sweeping: one thing about Paris, there is a serious attempt to clean up after everyone. And, believe me, there is a lot to clean up. I don't think anyone here throws things anywhere but on the ground - cigarettes is a big one, paper, etc. The city cleans up not only in the tourist areas, but all areas I've been in. At a high level, it starts with your normal large street-sweeping trucks. But then there are many golf cart-size vehicles that do the same thing on sidewalks, malls, small streets. There is the guy who walks next to a cart with a pressure sprayer, hosing off areas. They push water up through openings in the curbside to flood the street gutters. A guy with a fluorescent yellow vest and plastic broom sweeps the trash down into the drains. And, in parks and such, many guys work with their dust pans and brooms, just cleaning up. In some ways it reminds me of a trip to New Orleans - each night the streets would be a mess, but by the next mid-morning everything would be cleaned up.

Clothes - not unlike the US, women dress better than men in general. The exception is at work. There, I'm slowly making an attempt to convert them to casual Tucson dress (but they aren't ready for shorts, sandals and t-shirts). I did wear jeans today with a black dress shirt. In general, the men still wear a suit or sport coats, but we have gotten rid of the ties. It's a start. Dress shirts are different in Paris - there are maybe 3 or 4 buttons at the neck, very colorful (sometimes different colors for the collars or neck). Cuff links are still used. Of course, they are also fitted - no baggy shirts. Women, at work, dress comfortably but also chic. They may wear jeans, but they will still look good with a fancy top, hat, high heals, or scarf (scarfs are very popular). In general around town (excluding tourists), women wear fitted clothes or dresses. There are some interesting combinations of tights / stockings, shorts / dresses or skirts, and tops. Cleavage is featured usually. Debbie says on a sunny day, it seems like clothes from the 6o's are still in fashion here. Meanwhile, men are wearing baggie jeans and t-shirts... or suits! High heals are worn by women even walking around, or sandals. Pointy dress shoes or things that look like leather athletic shoes are popular with men. And, finally, if you ever think you must dress a certain way in Paris - forget it. You can wear anything! I used to think that French people looked better than most of the rest of us. Now I still think the women dress more provocatively (and Debbie disagrees on that one), but don't think they look any better!

Au revior

Gauguin, Jackson, and roast beef

Hello art lovers - this weekend we made a trip to the d'Orsay, home of fantastic impressionist works by all my favorites. Gauguin, van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Renoir... the list goes on. And, because I have been once before and taken many pictures, I mostly just looked this time. Very nice. We had a nice lunch in the museum cafe, and wandered until closing time. Although the entrance line was not too large, the crowd inside was! There was an interesting exhibit of Max Ernst work called "A week of kindness" which displayed a few hundred very bizarre inkings (not exactly reflecting the theme). It seems like he was an illustrator of books or political satire in his time (which was during the rise of fascism and Nazism). I must check him out a bit.

On Sunday, we had a special treat. We learned that Rev. Jesse Jackson would preach at the American Church in Paris. Evidently, he is on his way to Uganda, and spending the day in Paris before continuing there. We arrived early and got some good seats. I was quite excited to hear him, and he lived up to my hopes. His sermon started a bit quietly and built to a strong message - basically that peace and dreamers of peace always face a tough challenge, but that it can be achieved. Hard to believe that I was about 50 feet away from someone who has run for President, marched with Martin Luther King, and been an iconic public figure for about 30 years. And even got to hear a sermon and shake his hand! Can't say I agree with everything, but still pretty impressive to me!

After church, we wandered to the Eiffel Tower. It may be August in Paris, and the Parisians may be gone on holiday, but there is no shortages of tourists. The tower was quite busy, as was Notre Dame and our area on the way home. We stopped in the Rodin Museum Garden (only costs a Euro for the Jardin and the best stuff is all out there anyway - the Thinker and Gate to Hell). We spent an hour or so in the garden - too bad that is not nearby our apartment, it would be a very pleasant place to hang out. Then we took a couple metro lines to the Sorbonne area and walked over to the Pantheon to a pub we previously discovered (the Bombardier). The objective was British Sunday roast beef dinner. I was not disappointed - Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, beef and gravy. The added carrots and broccoli were just bonuses. We left just as the place began to fill for a Chelsea vs Man-U football match. A good day!

TGIF

Hello - a weekend to look forward to with NOTHING scheduled or planned. I'm getting a bit worn out between working and being a tourist. There is no Tour de France or Bastille Day, or anything really this weekend. Indeed, most of Paris is quiet in August as all the locals head for the beaches. Work was almost empty today by 5pm. I headed home shortly thereafter, making a stop at one of my favorite stores - La Cave a Bulles (a specialty beer store between Les Halles RER stop and the apartment). I've been a few times now, each time the owner Simon helps me pick a beer or two (or 3) to try. They are mostly French beers (which may not be very highly thought of, but still interesting to try), and also a number of Belgian (which are mostly all great beers). I'm collecting the bottles (so I hopefully won't try the same one too often). Today I got two big bottles to try over the weekend - .

Then on to the boulangeria for a baguette and dessert - a pistachio framboise (raspberry tart) and cheese cake. We dined at home on antipasto and salad (for a few euros from the grocery store, as opposed to ten or so from the fresh vegetable market, vs about 30-40 to go to a cafe for something similar!).

I mentioned that Paris is quiet - it's true almost everywhere but NOT in the Marais! While a number of stores are closed for the month, this area is still quite busy and hectic. The Hotel de Ville still has bands most evenings and Plage Paris (Paris Beach) is still on the Seine. We do have one event this weekend - Rev Jesse Jackson is preaching at the American Church on Sunday, so I think we'll have to check that out! Have a good weekend!

Chateaus, Leonardo and the Loire

A new month, and a weekend trip to the Loire valley - specifically to Amboise and Chenonceaux. Above is the Chateau Chenonceau, home to a variety of French noble, but most notably Diana de Poitiers (Henry II's mistress) and later Catherine de Medicis (his wife) - who booted Diana out after Henry died. It was quite a place. Not nearly so big as Versailles and Fontainebleau, but in excellent condition. It was a bit crowded, but still easy to get through it all, and gardens in a few hours.

Deb and I took the train from Paris Austerlitz station to Amboise (near Tours). It wasn't a fast train, but only took a couple hours and didn't stop too often. We learned how to buy our ticket (you must go to an office unless you have a European credit card, in which case you can buy it on line and pay/pick it up at a machine). One of my coworkers knew of an office in the Metro station at Le Defense, so we just walked over and got it. I also learned the website to check out the schedules and tickets (voyages-sncf - all in French). We learned how to figure out which line to find out train on (they only post it about 20 minutes before departure). And, we learned how to validate our tickets (in machines at the train station - although the tickets weren't even checked on our outbound trip). We arrived at Amboise train station and followed Rick Steves guidebook to our hotel (Le Bellevue) just across the Loire. We were able to check in, leave our bag and head for the Travel Info center just down the street. There, we picked up tickets for the chateaus, some walking tours, and instructions to get the bus to Chenonceau.

We had a couple hours before the bus (only 2 a day - next one was around 2pm), so we wandered around Amboise. It is a nice little place with lots of things specifically for tourists (restaurants, shop, pedestrian areas). We had a big salad and pizza under what was once the tower and entrance gate to the city. The streets are narrow with lots of medieval time frame buildings.

After our 20 minute bus ride to Chenonceau (on a big tour-type bus with only about 4 passengers), we walked about a quarter mile to the chateau. I think it was one of the best I've seen. Both inside and out were well preserved. And there is interesting history as it crosses the river Cher, which was the dividing line between Vichy and Nazi France in WWII. It also served as a hospital in WWI. It has working gardens and fresh floral arrangements in all the rooms. You can take a rowboat around the moat. The sun came out and we had some great weather.

The next day, we went to the Royal Chateau of Amboise - home to a number of French kings, including Francois I (who brought Leonardo de Vinci to live nearby). It was quite different from Chenonceau. Where Chenonceau was all fixed up and very glamorous, Amboise was more like a castle, complete with turrets, guardrooms and steep walls. It sits atop a hill above the city and overlooking the Loire valley. I like this one because it was more like a castle. As you walk around the base, there are housed now built right into the wall. There are also a number of doors that must have once lead into the castle. We spent the morning in the Chateau, and then went to Clos Luce - Leonardo's final home. This was ok, but more just touristy. We had a nice Brittany cuisine lunch (crepes and galletes - made from buckwheat) in a restaurant built into the castle wall.

We spent the last hour or so before the train walking around Ile d' Or (Golden Island) which is the only island in the Loire not subject to constant flooding. It isn't much of a golden island, but the sun came out as we walked through a large park on the island. Something that was quite nice in the area was the number of gardens and flowers you saw all over - in little planters along the road, at people's houses, and in the park - perhaps that's the kind of gold they mean!