Matterhorn From The Road
John At The Matterhorn - I wish I had my mountaineering gear!
The views in Chamonix are unbelievable, and I took lots of pictures. The beauty of these mountains drove my decision to sacrifice the time it takes to load this page so I could share some of the images with you. I hope you enjoy them.
After getting the car and getting out of Milan, we had a nice drive through the Italian countryside on the way to the Alps. As we headed into the Alps, Dorothy noticed that we were about half an hour from the Italian side of the Matterhorn. There was no question about making this detour. So we made a quick ooh and ah picture stop before continuing over the mountain passes through the corner of Switzerland, and into France.
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Matterhorn From The Road |
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John At The Matterhorn - I wish I had my mountaineering gear! |
When we got to Chamonix, we were relieved to find that we made a good choice by sending the boxes for the bike here. Darlene had put us into a very plush four-start ski resort called the Hameau Albert 1st for our stay in Chamonix (http://www.hammeaualbert.fr). Last month when we looked ahead in our itinerary from Nice, we took the chance on a location to store the boxes while we traveled in Italy. We chose right. This wonderful, first class resort is the one of the best that Chamonix has to offer. This means that our risky plan of spreading our gear across Europe actually worked out the way we had hoped. Now we can move forward through France without worrying if we have a way to get the bike back home. Whew!
One of our big plans for this part of our adventure was to meet up with some colleagues from a company called Bull in France who live in a nearby city and had just finished a several month visit to Denver studying BEA's methods and technologies for creating component based software. Although our last minute change in Itinerary complicated things, we were able to make things work out. Christophe Robin and his girlfriend Clair drove up on Saturday and stayed the nigh, and on Sunday Emmanuel Chabani and his girlfriend Cecile joined us so we could all spend some time in together in France. Unfortunately our quiet friend Michèle LaFargue couldn't make it.
Our Friends In France - Clair, Christophe, Emannuel, Cecil, Dorothy, John |
Friday night we talked away the evening and enjoyed some local fondue, and wine with Christophe and Clair. We had never met Clair before this evening because we left for our bike ride just 2 days before she came to join Christophe in a grand tour of the national parks of the western United States.
Morning Hike In Mountains With Clair and Christophe |
This morning we met up with Christophe and Clair again and we talked and enjoyed a walked in the mountains. At noon Emmanuel and Cecile arrived. On their visit to Denver, Cecile and Dorothy got to know each other, as Cecile helped tutor Dorothy on French before we left. Emmanuel also has the distinction of being the only one other than Dorothy and I to have their picture taken behind the wheel of our new BMW-Z3. He took the picture so he could tell his friends in France that they had gotten a Z3 for their big trip around the U.S.
Dorothy and Cecile |
We all took a ride on the Cog Railroad train up to the Mer de Glace glacier, where we got some great pictures in a man made Ice cave. This glacier was really cool looking because it's a perfect example of a "river of ice" as it snakes its way down the valley from the base of Mont-Banc.
Christophe, Dorothy, Clair, Cecile, Emannual, and John At Ice Cave |
Clair, Dorothy, Cecile, Christophe and Emmanual |
After visiting the Glacier we went had a late lunch and sat and talked for about 2 hours before Christophe and Clair had to leave. Emmanuel and Cecil stayed a bit longer, which gave us a chance to showing off the bike and trailer, and eat chocolate at a local cafe where we talked until they kicked us out to close. After talking some more back at the hotel, we finally had to say goodbye to Emmanuel and Cecil so they could make it home in time to still feel like getting up for work on Monday morning.
I don't know if it's the mountains, and the altitude or because we met friends here, but Chamonix really feels like home to Dorothy and I. It's a lot like the way we feel in Aspen - maybe it's the mountains - Chamonix and Aspen have a similar feel, or maybe it's that we have friends both here and in Aspen, which help make us feel at home when we visit. Either way this place really feels like home to us. This has really reminded me what I really like, and has renewed my desire to buy property high in the Colorado Mountains - a new quest for when we return home!
Today we got to see the real beauty of Chamonix, because the clouds that have masked the high mountains cleared. Wow! From the balcony in our room we can see the top of Mont Banc and one of the many glaciers that flow in the area.
View Of Glacier From Room At Hameau Albert 1st |
View Of Mountains From Room At Hameau Albert 1st |
The clear weather made the choice to ride the gondolas up to the top of the mountains very easy. Chamonix has a gondola system that takes you to a spectacular point called Aiguille Du Midi that is at 3842 meters (11526 high). From this point you can take another breathtaking gondola ride to Pointe Helbronner, which lies on the border between France and Italy. Dorothy and I spent all day exploring every overlook, and vista that we could while dressed like typical mountain tourists. These gondola rides were amazingly beautiful, but it was hard for me to ride over the heads of so many rock climbers, skiers, and high alpine hikers, knowing that I would have to return with different gear if I wanted to join them in this amazing play ground. Lightweight summer bicycle touring and high altitude alpine mountaineering just don't have a lot of gear in common. This gives me an excuse to brush up on my mountaineering skills, and return with the right gear for a different kind of adventure.
Click on the below images for a closer view of them
Aiguille Du Midi at 11526 Feet |
Small Gondolas To Pointe Helbronner |
View of Italy From Pointe Helbronner |
Chamonix Valley |
Dorothy and Mountains |
Top Of Glacier |
John And Dorothy At Pointe Helbronner |
Mar De Glace |
Glacier And Mont Blanc From Chamonix |
Summit Of Mont Blanc |
Mountain Vista |
Mountain Vistas |
Mountain Vistas |
Rock Climbers At Base Of Rock Pillar |
High Alpine Hikers |
High Alpine Hiker Biviwack |
If you use the number of pictures taken as a judge of what part of the visit I liked the most, today wins hands down. The snow covered jagged peaks, spectacular glaciers, and amazing panoramas drew out the shutterbug in me the way a porch light attracts miller moths. It's funny that after travelling though half of France and every part of Italy, the place I like most is very much like home.
Climbers Scupture Of Crusifix At Top Of Pointe Helbronner |
Today we loaded the bike into the rental car, and ventured thought scenic routes of the Alps for the lakeside town of Annecy. Our original itinerary included a short stay in Annecy, but we bypassed it to simplify our itinerary, and shorten our route to Chamonix to reclaim our bike boxes.
The trip through Alps to Annecy would have made a great bike ride, if you had the chance to scope out the route ahead of time. Although it was full of steep hills this area would make a very pretty muli-day, Ride the Rockies style ride. However you would have to scope out the terrain, and plan overnight stays very carefully - something that you just can't do with a map from your kitchen table in America. Maybe Dorothy and I will come back to plot out a route, so we can bring a group of cycling friends for a carefully structured week of Alpine cycling.
John At Annecy Lake |
Annecy definitely warranted making it on our initial itinerary. It's an active little town poised on the edge of a very cool mountain lake that reminds Dorothy and I of Lake Dillon. We had a very nice outside lunch and then went for a quick relaxing 35k (21 mile) ride on the recreational trail around the lake, where we saw lots of folks para-sailing from the mountain side, and enjoying the clean clear water of the lake.
Parasailers At Annecy |