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Day 6 – Chamonix

Isaac Church — Thu, 16 May 2019 17:00:48 +0000

Today we’ll spend the day exploring Chamonix and the surrounding area. Around 08:00 this morning, we ventured down to the hotel lobby to eat breakfast. The breakfast was excellent; we enjoyed meat, cheese, fruit, jams, pastries, bread, and more.

Breakfast at Hotel de l'Arve

Aiguille du Midi

Right after breakfast, we walked through downtown to the cable car station, where we bought our tickets and narrowly caught the cable car up to Aiguille du Midi (“The Needle of Midday”). The view at the top was incredible. You can see Mont Blanc up close, plus many other peaks of the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps.

Aiguille du Midi

The Aiguille du Midi (“Needle of Midday”) is a 3,842m (12,605′) peak in the Mont Blanc Massif range. The cable car to the top, Téléphérique de l’Aiguille du Midi, opened in 1955, has the highest vertical ascent of any cable car in the world (1,035m to 3,842 m // 3,396′ to 12,605′).

The “Step into the Void” attraction opened in 2013. I walked on the glass platform (with great trepidation) when I visited in 2017.

My 2017 visit

Another nail-biting attraction, Le Pipe, opened in 2016. Click here to watch a video of its construction.

Cable car change at Plan de l'Aiguille

We finally headed down, once again changing cars at Plan de l’Aiguille, which marks the end of the ice and the beginning of the trees. The second (top) leg of the cable car is the longest stretch of cable in the world with no intermediate support beams.

Plan de l'Aiguille

Montenvers Train

Now safely back on the ground in Chamonix, we made a quick pit stop at our hotel (stopping in the lobby to grab a chocolate and lemon-creme-raisin croissant each) to change into some less-warm clothes, since we were no longer above 3,800m.

Changed, refreshed, and less hungry, we walked to the Montenvers train station to begin our ascent to Mer de Glace on the cogwheel train. It took a while to find the path to the train station, because the normal train tracks are in the way. We finally found the bridge over, and made the 12:30 train just in time.

Montenvers

Mer de Glace

The train creaked its way up the mountain, and finally arrived at the station. We walked down to the cable car, which takes you about ⅓ of the way down to the glacier. One must walk the rest of the way down – almost 1,000′ of elevation change on very steep stairs.

Mer de Glace

The Mer de Glace (“Sea of Ice”) is a 7.5km (4.66mi) long glacier in the Mont Blanc Massif mountain range. It’s a staggering 200m (600′) deep. The glacier is the second-longest in the Alps, behind the Altesch Glacier in the Berner Oberland, just a few miles south of Lauterbrunnen.

I can no otherwise convey to you an image of this body of ice, broken into irregular ridges and deep chasms than by comparing it to waves instantaneously frozen in the midst of a violent storm.
William Cox, 1777

A map of the valley – Mer de Glace is near the top center

Mer de Glace

At the bottom, we entered an ice cave carved in to the glacier. Every year, the Mont Blanc Company must dig the cave again, because the glacier moves >20’/year.

Mer de Glace

The walk back up to the cable car station was exhausting. The view of the glacier and the surroundings peaks was breathtaking (as were the stairs), so it made the climb a little more enjoyable.

Mer de Glace

We took the cable car back up to the train station, waited about 20 minutes, and then boarded the train headed back to Chamonix. Faith and I both struggled to stay awake on the return trip…it was now around 15:00.

Mer de Glace

Afternoon Tea - Hotel de l'Arve

Since we were both completely exhausted at this point, we headed back to our hotel to take a shower and a nap. At 16:00, the hotel began serving afternoon tea again, so we moseyed down to the lobby around 16:35 and got muffins, pound cake, and hot chococlate.

Hotel de l'Arve

Dinner - Chez Constant

We finished our “tea”, asked for some restaurant recommendations from a lady at our hotel, and walked around downtown Chamonix for about two hours, popping in and out of ski/clothing/jewelry/meat/cheese/other shops. We purchased a few souvenirs and other items, and then headed back to the hotel once again to drop off our items.

Chamonix

The Count of the Genevois first mentioned Chamonix in a land grant in 1091AD. Over the years, it developed into a famous tourist destination, and was especially popular with British gentry. The area’s economy has been largely tourism-centric since the 1800s.

Coat of Arms

The commune’s official name is Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (Mont-Blanc was added in 1916), though it was originally spelled Chamounix. The city hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924.

Our first choice/recommendation for dinner, Chez Constant, was unfortunately closed for the shoulder season and won’t open until tomorrow, so we went with the hotel’s second recommendation: Neapolis, an Italian restaurant next door that featured wood-fired pizza and homemade pasta.

Faith and I split three dishes recommended by our waitress: a mixed appetizer plate, a lasagna bolognese, and some kind of pizza I’d never heard of – that had a white sauce, prosciutto, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. It was all excellent. We finished off the meal with Italian ice cream (not gelato); I got chocolate and Faith got café.

Neapolis

Map of Chamonix

Goodnight

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow we head back into Switzerland. We’ll see a castle, taste some cheese, eat some chocolate, and more…

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Day 5 – Valle d’Aosta, Chamonix

Isaac Church — Thu, 16 May 2019 03:59:42 +0000

Today, we’ll explore Italy’s Aosta Valley (Valle d’Aosta) and Gran Paridiso National Park (Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso). It was a day of waterfalls (cascate), hiking, and grand views. Today is the 5^th day of our European adventure, and our first full day in Italia.

Breakfast

This morning, we awoke in our apartment, La Roche, and headed over to the dining room for breakfast.

Breakfast at La Roche

La Roche

Leaving the hotel

Pont d'Aël

After checking out of our hotel, we departed the city of Aosta down SR47 to the Pont d’Aël, a Roman aqueduct built in 3BC to provide water for the new Roman colony of Augusta Praetoria, which is now Aosta. Pont d’Aël is one of three remaining intact Roman bridges in the Aosta region. The Torrente Grand’ Eyvia flows under the bridge. We paid a small entrance fee, walked across the aqueduct, and then back through the inside of it on a glass floor.

Pont d’Aël

Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso

Cascate di Lillaz

Gran Paradiso National Park

Cascate di Lillaz

Gran Paradiso National Park

Cascate di Lillaz

Continuing past Pont d’Aël on SR47, we traveled to the village of Lillaz in the Cogne Valley to visit the Cascate di Lillaz in Gran Paradiso National Park (Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso). This three-stage waterfall totals 240m (787′). The river Torrent de Valeille feeds the falls. It’s quite amazing how the Italians have built roads and tunnels to even the most remote part of the mountains.

Aosta

Next, we left Lillaz and drove back down to Aosta. Aosta is the capital and largest city in Valle d’Aosta. The city is full of Roman ruins and history, so we walked around the downtown for a while, and stuck our heads in a few shops. It was very difficult to find parking, but once we did, it was free – a huge plus around here. Apparently any space with white lines is free, while blue-lined spaces require validation (at least that’s what I gathered from having a Google Translate-facilitated conversation with a woman who only spoke Italian).

Arch of Caesar Augustus

Valle d'Aosta

Flag

The Aosta Valley (Valle d’Aosta) is region of Italy that borders the Swiss canton of Valais on the north, and the French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on the west. Valle d’Aosta is one of five Italian regions granted governing autonomy by the constitution. The Italian government did this in an effort to protect cultural and linguistic minorities, and to prevent secession after WWII. The region has only 128,000 inhabitants.

The region’s official languages are Italian and French. However, much of the population speaks Valdostan (Valdôtain), which is a dialect of Franco-Provençal (a.k.a. Arpitan). Franco-Provençal is considered an endangered language.

Coat of Arms

Aosta

Lunch

Soon, it was time for lunch. We went to La Bottega Degli Antichi Sapori, a restaurant we’d spotted the night before. We ordered some ravioli stuffed with some kind of spiced meat in a fontina cheese sauce, a caprese salad, and tagliatelle with local pork, parmigiano reggiano, and a buttery sauce. The food was incredible, and we thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

Caprese Salad

La Bottega Degli Antichi Sapori

Assorted bread

Our view at lunch

La Bottega Degli Antichi Sapori

Aosta, Italy

A truly spectacular meal – both times I have visited.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

After lunch, we walked down the street to Gelaty to get some gelato. It was incredible, and we enjoyed it as we walked around the town a bit longer.

Aosta gelato

Leaving Aosta

Waterfalls, Part II

Leaving Aosta, we drove west to the village of La Joux in the town of La Thuile to see the Cascate del Rutor. Cascate del Rutor is the highest waterfall in Italy, thundering down 700m (2,296′) in three stages. It’s fed by the Rutor glacier.

Unfortunately, the trail to the waterfall was closed due to avalanche danger. Disappointed, we turned around and drove back down the winding road towards Mont Blanc.

Road Closed

At least we got a decent view out of our drive up the mountain

Travel to France

Leaving Aosta, we headed underneath the mountains and drove through the Mont Blanc Tunnel into République Française.

Hotel de L'Arve

We arrived at Hotel de L’Arve in Chamonix, France around 17:15, and immediately enjoyed some afternoon tea and house-made baked goods in the hotel lobby.

Pound cake and chocolate muffins

View from the hotel lobby

Hotel de l'Arve

I hate these weird shower glass things

Chamonix

We took the remainder of the evening to explore Chamonix. The sunset was beautiful, as was the scenery. We went in a few stores, grabbed a croissant and a chocolate croissant from a local bakery for a snack, and then headed back to our hotel for the evening.

Chamonix

The first two explorers to summit Mont Blanc

A meat shop downtown

Chamonix

Mont Blanc

Goodnight

We will be in Chamonix for one more night to do some more alpine exploring. See you tomorrow!

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Map

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