The Mont Blanc massif made my jaw drop and my heart well up from the first approach, and the wonder didn’t fade all week. The mountains and meadows, wildflowers and butterflies, wild berries and local cheese - I absolutely loved our time in the Chamonix Valley village of Vallorcine.
Much like when we stayed in Andorra and Joue de Loup last year, we were in a ski dorm building with a lift right outside. We were also just a couple minutes’ walk to the free Montblanc Express train, so we hardly had to use our car.
The mountains in view from the balcony are in Switzerland, and on our first weekend, we walked there. After following the valley for about half an hour, we crossed a bridge and the border, then started a steep ascent to ‘Lac d'Emosson.’ It’s actually a reservoir, held back by a truly impressive dam. We got to see chamois bouncing along the shoreline, and an impossibly steep funicular ferrying people up the mountainside.
We didn’t want to pay for the ride up, of course, when there was the option to walk. We did the same on the other weekend day, following the route of the cog train from Chamonix to the Mer de Glace. It was impressive to see the glacier snaking down its valley, and a little frightening to compare its present size with markers showing its former boundaries as far back as the 1800s.
Over the course of this weekend we hiked over 6000 feet of elevation gain, and got thoroughly soaked in the rain on our way down from the glacier. We wanted to go home, but had to wait for the train, so ended up exploring the cute resort town of Chamonix - a jumping off point for all kinds of adventures and landing point for paragliders. When we finally got back to the lodge, we thawed out in the (barely) hot tub, sauna and steam room.
There was one perfectly clear and sunny day on the forecast for our week, so we arranged work around a longer day out and finally splurged on some transportation. The Aiguille du Midi cable car shuttles about 50 people per cabin from 1030 to 3842 meters above sea level in about ten minutes. My ears popped more than once before stepping out onto the frozen terraces. They had warnings about altitude sickness and I did see people suffering. I felt a bit dizzy but it could have just been with awe at the close-up view of Mont Blanc itself.
After some time at the peak we took a much more relaxing 30-minute ride in a four-person gondola to Pointe Helbronner in Italy. The views were breathtaking, gliding over the glaciers and the mountaineers who brave them. We had a lunch of polenta, Italian red wine and cappuccinos, then took both cable cars in reverse, bank to France and the little train back home to the edge of Switzerland. A perfect day I will not soon forget!
Another memorable experience this week was a Via Ferrata, a quite challenging course of metal hand- and foot-holds, bridges over a rushing waterfall, and cables to clip on for safety.
We found some of the hiking trails no less extreme, with cables and chains to help you up or down the steep and slick bits.
On the way home from one hike, we stopped for a memorable meal at a little restaurant attached to a creamery, specializing, of course, in cheese! We got the raclette, in which a giant block of cheese is skewered next to a little oven of hot coals. When you want some cheese, you pivot the skewer toward the heat, melt a chunk, and scrape it onto your plate.
It was a lot better than the first time we tried raclette in a Zurich eatery. On our way out of the Alps, we made a couple more stops in Switzerland. First, the Lake Geneva resort town of Montreux, where we walked by the castle that served as a model for the Little Mermaid. Then, my own happily-ever-after, a stop in Gruyere to stock up on more cheese, and Swiss chocolate too. Finally, on to the region that looks right out of a fairytale, Alsace!