France Day 6 Fri Oct 20th

• Posted on 26th October 2006
• in Pictures, Travel
• by jeffgoldstein

Fri Oct 20th
11:15pm Oh my God! What a day… After a delightful breakfast we traveled 2 hours to Chamonix, a famous skiing resort at the base of Mont Blanc.

It was like walking through a fairytale village at Disneyland! And the color… everything in the French countryside is so colorful, unlike what I ever thought. This village had the sidewalks cafes, the orange colored swiss chalets. Since Switzerland is so close the swiss influence is apparent in the architecture.

We boarded with a little hesitation the gondola (tram car) that travels up the side of Aiguille Du Midi, the closest peak to the summit of Mont Blanc.

And up we went… I was fine but the high altitude and the thinning of the air was making me lightheaded.

Others felt it too. We soared up into the sky and saw the great Sea of Ice Glacier, 7 miles long. We arrived at the first pit stop and changed for another gondola car to take us to the peak of Aiguille Du Midi at an unbelievable 12,600 feet in the sky.

As we arrived we were high over the clouds and was able to spot the tiny village way down below us.

It was like something I’ve never experienced before… I felt that I was actually in heaven. I was very lightheaded and my breathing became shallow.

We headed to the down gondola and missed it so we went into the cafe; we had a ½ hour before the next car down. A few of us were feeling tired. It was explained that was due to the lack of oxygen. Once we arrived down and had lunch at an exquisite café we started to feel better. I ordered for myself in all French. I felt at home. We walked around this charming village then boarded the minivan for the long 2 hour ride home. Most of us slept.

Dinner that evening I experienced for the first time ever… escargot.

And actually it tasted really good. Lots of butter, parsley and garlic. The hard part is to get over the idea that you are eating a snail. We then had roasted chicken with the “herbs of Provance” that melted in my mouth.

Next week was Dave’s 50th birthday , so his partner Wes arranged for a cake to die for. Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. Happy Birthday Dave! After dinner we sat and looked at the pictures I already uploaded to my laptop, we were amazed at the pics of Mont Blanc. It was truly an experience never to be forgotten.

Tags: Aiguille Du Midi, Chamonix, France, French Alps, Mer de Glace, Mont Blanc, Switzerland

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