Chamonix, France (Mont Blanc)

Mont Blanc is like the Himalayas-jagged tops covered in snow and glaciers. We went to gondola to get tickets for tomorrow but the woman said the weather will be bad tomorrow so we need to go today. We had 1 ½ hours left to ride. Unfortunately there was no trip over to Helbronner (Italy side-too late in season). We walked Back to Byron and Liam at train station. They were watching our luggage. The apartment office where were staying was not open yet so we lugged backpacks and heavy food bags on the gondola. We went to Plan de l’Aiguille the half way point and onto Aiguille de midi. On way up we saw paragliders ready to jump off the cliffs. How fun! I would do it if James were here to care for the kids.

We wandered in the snowy cold area. Fog was coming in fast making for white views. Went to viewing area and climbed the steps with bags at 3842 meters altitude. Fortunately the fog cleared long enough to capture the stunning views of mountains and glaciers. Byron was getting tired and dizzy and Luna was getting a headache from the altitude. So we decided to head down the mountain. We stopped at the ice cave. Amazing…walls all ice. We were basically inside a glacier. Climbed up about 10 flights of steps with 20 kilo backpacks on plus a 20+ kilo food bag on wheels. We got there and needed to climb back down as many steps. Great practice for backpacking! I am glad the kids experienced the high altitude. We discussed alt sickness and that they may feel this when we backpack with James.

The kids raved at how this was the best place so far maybe even surpassing Norway. We were exhausted. We got our apt and were happy to drop the luggage in the middle of the floor. We got a fabulous deal on this place, best so far other than in Romania. When booking everything was very expensive and I came across this short term apt. I honestly was expecting a creepy place for the price but it was a nice 1 bedroom apt with a balcony and a fabulous view. There was even a nice kitchen and bat tub! Very cozy on the 4th floor WITH an elevator.

The next day we took a train to the Mer de Glace (sea of ice) glacier. That was even better than yesterday! We ascended up a mountain via train and descended down the other side via gondola and foot. In between was a giant frozen river. We could see the ripples from when it flowed (or flows as it actually moves 2 inches to 2 feet per year). We could see the dips as it flows around a boulder. Under some of the dusty rock pieces that fell from the mountain was blue ice. We walked down in amazement. We went into a carved out ice cave in the glacier. Inside were ice sculptures. Near the end of the cave was an ice room with an adorable giant slobbery St Bernard, a live one. The couple there offered to take a picture of us with her. Of course the kids are crazy about dogs and make loud googly sounds anytime they see one so this was treat. We did and it was fun. On the way out Byron filled a water bottle with glacier water, the cleanest water in the world. It was tasty. The kids unanimously decided that this was the most beautiful place ever.

We were planning to leave the following day for Paris but missed the train. My PDA alarm didn’t go off. So we stayed another day in Chamonix. We were blessed in that it was a sunny warm day there. So we got to see the quaint town and Mont Blanc on a clear day. We relaxed all day and walked around the town. Ate lunch at a sandwich shop. I can’t seem to feed Byron enough these days so he got two grilled veggie sandwiches and was finally full. These sandwiches were huge and I could barely finish one. We ate pizza and past for dinner at another place. I set 6 alarms this time (3 on my cell phone and 3 on the PDA) and tested them obsessively. We could not miss this train as we were scheduled to be in Barcelona that day.