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Published: January 26th 2007
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"Mont Blanc" by Phil and Shelly
note the cable car and pine forest Hitting the Alps!!
Salut tous le monde!
Onward with the journey mes amies! From Paris, Phil and I boarded a train enroute to Chamonix in the French Alps. Immediately, the adventure of the twelve hour french sleeper train commenced. One would imagine that on said train that one could most definately find a dining car...pas de problem, non? Try it again buddy. After getting prepped for a night on the non existent car of dining, we quickly found out from the cold and unhelpful Train controler as he shrugged "Non, pas ici! Il n'y a rien!!!" (translation: NO! not here! There is nothing, what are you thinking you dumb Americans with bad accents?!...ok maybe I added that last part...)
So, like I said...onward. We took our hungry selves to the only vending machine we could find and settled in for an improvised meal. Improvisation is key whilst traveling, take note friends, take note. In the end we enjoyed a...um, savory four course meal courtesy of the vending machine, merci.
The sleeper trains really are not half that bad, if you can handle the lack of food options and the fact that there is no where to go other than
your trés petit bed sur le train... it is rather nice to wake up in an Alpine town...alongside all your new best french friends in your bedroom.
Winter Wonderland
Arriving in the gorgeous Alpine town of Chamonix felt like arriving into a true Winter Wonderland. Chamonix is one of France's most popular winter destination. The town lies in a mountain valley completely surround by the Alps. In 1924 the First Winter Olympics were hosted in Chamonix.
In fact our hostel balcony looked straight onto the faces of the Alps. Said balcony became the site of many a happy hours of people watching , music, rum and coke and cheap wine and a free firework show.
Chamonix is lots of fun to explore! Great shops full of overpriced touristy stuff and discounted ski gear. We scouted out all the happy hours and even found some live music (which turned out to be just a solo guy on an acousitc guitar). Our favorite beverage of choice was the Vin Chaud, can't enough of hot wine while in an alpine resort!!! Pair a cup of vin chaud with a gauffres ( like a hote thin waffle with a creamy carmel-y
center) and you are good as gold my friend.
Seeing that we were in one of the best skiing regions in the world, we could not pass up the opportunity to hit the slopes!! Friends, take everything (if anything) that you know about skiing and the logistics that come with the sport and throw it out thr window!!!! France is like another universe in that everything one would believe to be sensible, well that just does not exist here. Everything logical, practical and efficient is ...probably on vacation. We had to rent our gear in the middle of town in the valley, then haul it up the icy uphill mountain road to the cable car. Yeah, shuttle bus?? Pas ici!! After huffing and puffing up the icy road from hell we joined the hundreds of other tourists in the looong line for buying lift passes. We had a few laughs people watching (why in god's name do some people insist on dressing in neon fully body suits??!!) and joking about the french way with some Brits. Once the tickets were bought, we had to look for a locker to leave our shoes and belongings... should be easy? Nope,
Winter Olympics 2010??
I think this duo can rock it! no lockers here, because that would just make too much sense.
We ended up carrying all our shoes and books and belongings in a tiny ( and overstuffed) backpack (that I luckily brought with me). Once on the slopes we could not see (it snowed!!) and I quickly observed that barely any slopes were marked for skill level. You could be skiing on your merry way thinking you are on a blue and then wham, you are all of a sudden on a double black! It was pure craziness, not to mention insanely dangerous! We managed to have a blast anyway, and we walked away unscathed and with all of ur limbs intact. Score one for Shelly and Phil.
In a trip as fabulous as this one, it is hard to pin point a highlight but I would say it has to be the cable car ride to Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain on the European continent!! Eventhough it was ridicuously overpriced, we figured it is a must see! The weather could not have been more beautiful or more perfect!! The views were out of this world, I felt like I was back in New Zealand, have not seen
scenery that nice since then! We enjoyed some hot drinks at the small cafe at the top of the mountain and soaked up the views ( and warmed up a bit too!!) Make sure to check out the photos! (Phil takes some nice ones!)
From the highest mountain to snowball fights and hot wine, we did it all! The alps are gorgeous and were a breath of fresh air (literally!) for this worn out english assistant!
if you ever have a chance, head to the alps and you won't regret it. Just, remember to leave your logic at home!
Cheers,
Shelly
Click on page 2 for the rest of the photos!!
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Maggie Dimon
non-member comment
Merci beaucoup!
Shelly, I loved the card you sent from Chamonix. I cut off the cover and taped it to my bedroom windowpane so that the sun shines through the stained glass window reproductions. It's beautiful. So glad you and Phil enjoyed Chartres (and everything else). Your web site is wonderful (Thanks to Mary Henry for telling me about it!) Meilleurs voeux--la mere de Philippe