We're hiking in the ALPS!

August 27, 2011

                Today we drove to Chamonix-Mont Blanc, which is about 90 minutes away in France. Mont Blanc is the highest peak in Western Europe – 4810 meters high.  We were really excited to see the Alps and especially, to go up the Aiguille du Midi cable car to a peak 3842 meters high. Our trip began with some difficulty. The GPS that came with our rental car gives us bizarre directions like: “Take the exit. Then take the exit,” and, “keep left, then keep right.” We followed the GPS instead of the signs, and took a detour which involved paying two 2.40 Euro tolls to get on and off the motorway and going through customs twice. We did finally find Chamonix, after a drive punctuated by us gasping, oohing, and ahhing over the mountains and holding our breath over the Mont Blanc Viaduct, which is a long, terrifyingly high bridge. When we arrived at the Aiguille du Midi station, the girl at the ticket window told us that the weather was terrible at the peak (about 20 degrees  Fahrenheit, windy, and no visibility). We debated going up anyway, but we didn’t even have warm enough clothes along because our winter clothes haven’t arrived yet. Paying  150 Euros to freeze and look at fog didn’t sound like a great idea (to me anyway – Lucas and Johanna still wanted to go). Very frustrating!

We ended up going to a little amusement park (after getting lost first, of course), and riding a luge, which was kind of like a roller coaster you drive yourself – very fun. Then we decided to take the train to the Mer de Glace, a glacier that’s about  1,600 meters up. That was the best idea of the day. There was no fog at that altitude, the scenery was breathtaking, and going inside a glacier was certainly something we’ve never done. The ice was blue! Inside, they had colored lights, so it looked like the inside of an opal. We walked around a bit at Montenvers, which is where the train stops. I kept looking at Eric and the kids and saying, “We’re hiking in the ALPS!” We were really tempted to try to hike back to Chamonix, but decided it was probably foolish (plus we hadn’t had lunch, and it was after 2), so we took the train back down. Drew: “I can’t stop taking pictures!”

Lucas and Johanna really wanted to go to McDonalds, which we had passed when lost earlier, but I couldn’t see our first eating out in Europe experience being American fast food. We compromised by eating at a very Alpine-looking place (it made me think of our carnotzet) and then having dessert at McDonalds. Eric and I ordered coffee, which came in cups twice the size of the normal Swiss cup – but about a third the size of an American McDonald’s cup. The kids got tiny sundaes. Perhaps this is why Europeans are typically thinner than Americans. On that note, the mattresses on our rental beds are longer and narrower than our US mattresses. Also thinner.  Makes one wonder.

Chamonix is a really beautiful town, and I can’t wait to go back when it’s clearer and scale new heights! (Aided by the cable car, of course.)