19.Chamonix Mont Blanc, October 5

Mont Blanc in the background. Makes you want to buy a pen!

Unfazed by the prospect of dangling from a steel string, in a closed  crowd-filled gondola, while chugging up the high Alps, we set off for Chamonix today. 6:00 a.m….EARLY, as Lynn’s research showed it would take us a few hours to arrive for our 9:15 a.m. gondola reservation. The drive was an adventure itself, in the dark, with huge menacing shadows of mountains rising on either side as we hammered along unfamiliar highways, guided by Renault GPS,  to whatever our destiny would be in Chamonix. 

We arrived in Chamonix two hours ahead of schedule, found the world’s best parking spot right in front of the cable car station, and went searching for breakfast food. Found a wonderful open seating cafe, with a super friendly owner, who predicted perfect weather for our cable car adventure to see the top of Mount Blanc (highest mountain peak in the Alps!). 

Lynn had been advised to do everything on this cable tour EARLY, for the best weather, and no crowds. Since there was no crowd after we finished our breakfast snacks, we rode up early. They cram LOTS of people into the cable car, maybe 3 dozen or so, then send it off up the mountain,  hanging from steel cable that looks to be about 2” in diameter. Skiers, mountain climbers, paraglider, and other height-junkies might really like this kind of thing. Lynn dug it a lot…me, not so much! I just kept my eyes shut, til we got to the part where the cable goes over a tall tower and jerks the cable car all over the place, shaking everybody inside almost off their feet. We all held on to each other, no one fell down, and the car, unconcerned,  continued to climb. At the terminus, FINALLY, we got off, only to learn that there was a SECOND even scarier cable car we had to ride to the summit of L’Aiguille du Midi! YIKES! 

Second cable car was soon filled and ready, but this time we got a place to stand with rails to hold onto. This cable was almost straight UP to the summit, and the car hung down from it, on a gimbal of some type, so the floor stayed horizontal. It was scary to me, but not Lynn. She watched the scenery all the way up while I glanced every once in awhile before closing my eyes again. After five minutes or so it ended, WHEW.

See the tiny people at the top of the pointy rock formation? 

Here they are: rock climbers! We could see their faces with telescopes from the cable station

Temperature at the top was about 28 degrees Fahrenheit, well above the mountain snow line, with snow falling on the wood platform as we stepped out. We were wearing pretty much ALL our cold weather gear, plus hats, gloves, scarves, etc. and stayed warm. So we set out to explore. LOTS of beautiful views of the mountains. Some rock climbers were at the top of a rock formation off in the distance. An English couple took our photo with Mont Blanc in the background, and later advised us about the “Glass Box”. 

We were not sure about the glass floor thing

We made it! Note the felt booties to keep from scratching the glass floor

advertisement for "Step Into The Void" Glass Box feature we tried

Apparently, a few years ago, a feature was constructed  at the highest point of the mountain complex, made of clear glass, extended out over the mountain. We took an elevator ride up there, put on protective booties to avoid scratching the glass box floor, and got our photos taken, with Mont Blanc in the cloudy background.  Looks like we’re standing in space above the snowy peaks, eh? 

Wayyy above the highest cable car station. We were up here doing the Glass Box "Step into the Void" thing, and looked back down in shock! 

The views were spectacular, the Alps are really amazing, and we were ready to leave. We made our way down an elevator, through a tunnel, up several flights of stairs, and found the cable car back down toward Chamonix. This time we were almost alone, plenty of handhold rails available, and we were more familiar with the drill. Lynn was wide-eyed and happy watching every foot of the descent, on both cable car parts of the ride. I got very Zen and made it down, too. We did see some paraglider pilots taking off from the platform halfway up the mountain, and sailing around the mountain drafts. Gutsy folks for sure! 

I love these beautiful memorials, found in almost every French town, honoring their war dead

Note the two tiny paragliders soaring above the memorial

Celebrating the adventure was important, and there were small “old-towny” streets nearby, meaning small shops and cafes must be, too.We hiked around, crossed an ancient  wooden pedestrian bridge, and did some sight-seeing. Our search found us some Chocolate Chaud Vienoisse, Croissant  d' Amandes, and an outdoor seat in the warm sunshine, good for people watching. Walking back to our car, we passed some architectural art and old Winter Olympics facilities, and found the town’s WWI & WWII monument to residents killed in the wars. Enough for Chamonix, time to head home.   

We spent the rest of the day napping, wandering Annecy streets we hadn’t explored yet, and watching some kind of protest come by the hotel. Tomorrow: hoping for Chambery shopping and good bike riding.