Enchanting Chamonix!
On Tuesday, March 26, 2024, we caught a morning taxi to the airport in Nantes. This time we fared better against all the bicycles! It only took about a half hour to get to the airport from our hotel. Our Easyjet flight left Nantes at 12:35 p.m., and we arrived back in Geneva at 1:55 p.m. It was a very smooth flight!
This time, we rented a car from Hertz and drove ourselves to the magical city of Chamonix. It took maybe an hour and a half to get there. Our destination was the Grand Hotel des Alpes. I chose it because its proximity to the pedestrian mall - it is right on the main thoroughfare of the pedestrian street. Our balcony faced the south of Chamonix, and this was our view from our balcony: the Aiguilles (needles) of Chamonix! It was simply breathtaking! I believe this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been!
This called for drinks on the porch. Behind me, you can see the famous L'Aiguille du Midi, which we went up in winter of 2020. If you zoom in on the photo, you can see the building that's up there.
Here's another view from our balcony.
Our hotel room was much smaller than the one in Lausanne, but what isn't? For 3 nights, it will do just fine.
For dinner, we had a reservation at L'Atmosphere, where we also ate in 2020. It was a very short walk from our hotel.
Brock was pondering the menu...
We started with escargot, and I settled upon Sole in butter. As you can see, it was swimming in butter.
Our dessert was the best Profiteroles we have ever eaten - the cookies were homemade!
Unfortunately, this dinner did not agree with my stomach at all, and I paid for it later that evening.
On our walk back to the hotel, we paid a visit to the friendly polar bear mascot of the city.
We also encountered this elaborate mural. Even the figure in the window is painted.
The next day, Wednesday, April 27, we were happy that we got to go to the Mer de Glace, which is something we did not get to do on our previous visit to Chamonix in 2020. Everything in Chamonix is easy to walk to, and this was no exception.
There were several old trains on exhibit outside. Perhaps because our visit began with a train ride.
As you can see, it was snowing pretty good. This is the building where we bought our tickets and waited for our train.
I would say that the train ride took about 20 minutes as it winded its way up towards the glacier at the top of the mountain.
It used to be that the train dropped you right off by the glacier. However, the glacier has retreated so far that you now have to also take a tram ride up from where the train drops you off.
Then, after you get off the tram, you walk down these stairs...
(these people are walking back up after their tour):
Until finally you get to the mouth of the glacier! Here I am inside, where we wandered around in the dark inside the glacier.
This is what the entrance to the glacier looks like:
Here's a different view of the glacier entrance from up above:
Once we were done visiting the Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice), we walked back up all those metal steps and took the tram back down to the upper train depot. Then we boarded the train to get back down to town.
Brock was proud of his new purchase: a hat that matches his outfit!
Here is a closeup of the hat:
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole adventure:
After getting back to town, we ate lunch at the only Chinese restaurant in town: Maison Yang. I ate hot and sour soup, an egg roll, and fried rice. Whatever Brock ate did not agree with him, and he paid for it soon after.
After lunch, we scheduled an hour for the spa at our hotel, which was on the bottom floor. It consisted of a pool, hot tub, steamroom,and sauna. Only 8 people at a time were allowed, which we appreciated. We ended up having to share the space with only one other person.
I managed to get him to dinner, where we ate at the Big Horn Bistro, which is run by a woman from Bozeman, Montana (Hannah) and her Australian husband. We did talk to Hannah while we were there.
I ordered a Salmon salad with feta and pomegranates. It was very healthy and tasty. I think Brock had fried chicken, which is not exactly easy on the stomach.
The next day, Thursday, March 28, 2024, we awoke to a pretty good covering of snow in town. Most of the hotel guests left to go skiing after breakfast, but slowly most of the skiers ended up back in town, because the ski area did not open due to heavy snow.
Our day was devoted to shopping. At first, we had the town to ourselves, but not for long. I wasted no time checking out stores that interested me, while Brock stayed behind and rested. I found this lovely dress at the Ralph Lauren Polo shop next to our hotel. Yes, I bought it. Note the mountains, palm trees, flowers, and sailboats on the dress! It reminded me a little bit of Arizona!
I got Brock out for lunch. We chose to dine at La Potinere, which is where the polar bear statue is. Brock enjoyed his French Onion soup.
I had a delicious pumpkin soup and a salad with chevre (goat cheese), honey, apples, and walnuts. It was all delicious!!
I captured this iconic scene on camera after lunch:
In the afternoon, the skies cleared, and we got these incredible photos from our balcony, including a clearer shot of L'Aiguille Du Midi:
We spent another hour in the hotel spa and enjoyed that.
For dinner, we returned to another favorite from 2020: Restaurant Le Cap Horn. In 2020 we were seated on the upper level, which was more nautical. On this evening, we were seated on the lower level, which had a different vibe.
I don't remember what I ordered, but I know that if it was fixed in butter, I didn't order it!
The next day, we made our last attempt to go up to L'Aiguille du Midi. It had been closed every day since we arrived. This day was clear, and we thought we had a chance, but it was not open before we had to leave town. We walked that way any way to see the tram terminal. It was a close walk from our hotel.
Along the way, we passed this sleepy individual:
Then we passed this florist, with lovely displays outside:
Here you can see the tram terminal for L'Aiguille du Midi.
The tram takes you up to the altitude of 12,605 feet! That's way higher than the tram in Big Sky, Montana!
We are happy that we had the opportunity to go up in 2020.
It was time to leave town, so we packed up the car and headed out. What a great visit we had! On the way, we noticed that the traffic to get through the tunnel to Italy was backed up for several miles. There must have been an accident in the tunnel. We are very glad that we were not going that way. We decided to make a visit to Annecy, France, before ending up in Geneva.
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