chamonix

after varenna, we continued on our relaxation binge by spending 3 days in chamonix-mt-blanc, france. for me, it was good to be back in france. chamonix is located at the base of one of the largest mountains in the alpes, mt. blanc. the drive to chamonix consisted of mountain views that take your breath away.

unfortunately, our first night in chamonix we had to do boring things like laundry. but laundry time turned out to be a sort of happy hour. we made friends with some canadians from BC (joel and laura i think), met some brits who broke the coin machine (they made a hasty escape), and waited for the laundrette owner to come fix it with some americans (randy and dave). turns out, randy did a bike ride across america - the same one that jonathan did several years ago - . it's a small world. randy was a great guy who kept us entertained with very colorful stories about every girl he met and seduced while on the bike trip as well as every person who died on the trip. who knew laundry could be so fun?

our second day in chamonix we decided summit the mountain. well not really, at least go halfway. we took a gondola ride up to the middle (do not go if you have any fear of heights), and hiked/walked across a ridgeline. we had breathtaking views of mt. blanc, the chamonix needles, as well as some of the glaciers (called mer du glace or sea of ice). we sung songs from the sound of music. we returned to the base of the mountain via rack-and-pinion train. it was all so very alpine that i wished i owned a pair of liederhosen.

our last day in chamonix we decided to go conquer the mountain. 2 gondolas took us on a crap-your-pants-and-make-peace-with-God ride to about 4000 meters. it was really cold. the views literally took your breath away (the air was thin). we had a panoramic view over chamonix, the valley, and several other mountains. my brother the geologist, courtney, would have loved it (don't worry, mom, we took lots of video). it was really amazing to look out over these mountaintops and wonder why God made this stuff so beautiful. it really was awe-inspiring. after the initial shock of where we were, we explored some. we found the place essentially where mountaineers took off for their summit of mt. blanc. it was really fun to watch them with all their gear: their crampons and ice axes; their caribeaners and climbing ropes. i really don't know of a place like this in the US where novices like us can get so up close and personal with mountaineers. it really didn't look all that bad as long as you had the necessary gear. it actually looked really, really, really fun. it made me think that i might want to try it sometime. i might look into doing something like this stateside. let me know if you want to come too.

in my opinion, chamonix is a must if you like nature or awe-inspiring-take-your-breath-away views. we'll have to go back in the winter when there is more snow and skiing! stay tuned for our next post on the mystical community of taize, france. until then....au revoir.