Courmayeur

We drove from a very hot Cinque Terre to Chamonix which was a full 10 degrees cooler and overcast so we had little view of the Mountains. On the way we drove through numerous tunnels and the longest at the border to France just before our arrival. The tunnel is 10km long, the famous Mont Blanc tunnel. We were to spend the next few days with a work colleague of Anthony’s (Angele and partner Kevin) who have a stunning Alpine Chalet 5km outside Chamonix. They were the perfect hosts, pointed us in the direction of many things to see and do. We all went to several of their favourite restaurants and were introduced to the cuisine of the area (Savoyard).
Chamonix is a typical Alpine village catering to skiers, hikers , cyclists and mountaineers. Everyone was always dressed in their outdoor adventurous gear. There were outdoor shops galore. We had fun browsing on the one rather miserable day. We were able to enjoy some good mountain walks with incredible views when the clouds decided to disappear. We saw plenty of waterfalls, fast flowing rivers and mountains. One of the walks was to Mer du glacé (see of ice), which included an alpine train, cable car and 500 descending steps to get to the incredible ice cave which is part of the glacier which we viewed from above. We saw the markings of how the glacier has diminished in size, on average 3km per year. (New steps are added continuously).

The sun decided to make an appearance on Monday morning and we were spellbound by the incredible views surrounding us on every side. We caught the cable car (65 people per car) to the top of Aiguille du Midi (3800m). When we left Chamonix, there were still clouds above, but we travelled through the clouds and what a view was before us. The magnificent Aiguille du Midi and the ever impressive Mont Blanc surrounded by the many peaks of the French Alps. We saw many Alpinists heading off on their various climbing exhibitions, including those that were attempting the summit of Mont Blanc (the highest mountain in Europe, 4800m). There were views all around us and each one was as impressive as the last. Kevin was kind enough to come with us and be our guide. He has climbed most of these summits (including Mont Blanc), so we learnt a lot from an Alpinists perspective and didn’t have to guess at what we were looking at.

In the same afternoon we took another cable car the other side of Chamonix, to mountains looking onto Mont Blanc. We enjoyed watching the paraglides jump off the mountain right in front of us.

We were also lucky enough to visit an old friend who lives about an hour away. They spoilt us to a delicious lunch in their own restaurant .

I’m sure we will be back because once is definitely not enough …Read more