Photos: Chamonix

The crown jewel of the French Alps, it is a village surrounded by just jaw dropping views and mountains.

Once my Wife got her TdF fix in Alpe de Huez, we headed a short distance to Chamonix, where the 1924 Winter Olympics were held. As you head up to the base of the alps, the views begin to look alpine:

Remember it was getting late in September, but shortly after our visit, the snow would come. These humble cottages (cough, cough) would soon be filled with skiers and winter sports fans.

When I say the views were impressive, I meant it:

Looking up at the Aguille du Midi

That little thing at the top is where the telepherique that takes you to the top of the glacier. Imagine how much work it took to get that up there. This is the Aguille du Midi (literally Needle at Mid-day) and once you take the cable car to the top, you get treated to some amazing scenery.

Taken from the Aguille de Midi - panorama showing the glacier on the right

Breathtaking is way too mild of a word to use. Of course, you are above 12,000 feet elevation, so it is also brisk.

If we stopped there, I would have been happy, but instead, there is another Telepherique that takes you from the Aguille du Midi to a similar station in Turin, Italy.

It is a looooooooong trip.

On the long stretch to Turin (because we did it, of course) one is treated with a stunning view of Mont Blanc (you didn’t think the pens were named something made up did you?) that just makes you feel small.

Yeah, it is just right there.

You literally cannot take a bad picture here. This is looking down the glacier (mer de glace in French).

Yeah, awesome all the way.

Naturally, with a long trip in a cable car, my inner ham comes out:

Still, the views are amazing.

When we stopped at Turin, the turn around point, there was less snow, so we did a short hike around the station.

A pleasant respite before heading back.

After this, we did hang out in town, and ate fondue at a sidewalk cafe.

It was a lot less brisk in the valley, but still cool.

Then we discovered a small church with a tiny cemetery

Sorta sad, not well maintained. Also, there were the usual statuary that is almost universal in European cities and towns to commemorate local notables:

Since Chamonix was the last stop in France before we hightailed it to Paris to catch our flight out, we spent a morning hiking:

And that is the end. We drove back to Paris, hopped on a jet, and made our way home.

I hope you enjoyed this minor slice through France!

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