Summary
On the walk to brunch we stop into Le Chalet hoping that my missing scarf is there. No joy. After our meal we head to the car and drive up to Chamonix. It’s a stunning trip, verdant green valleys, high snowy mountain ranges, rivers and waterfalls. On clear days you’re offered a jaw dropping view of Mont Blanc but, alas, she decided to keep her veil on today. We grabbed sandwiches to go and headed for the cable car up to the spectacular Aiguille du Midi. Sadly, we were only able to go up to the first stop due to strong winds higher up. But, we did get to enjoy our lunch, the beautiful views and walk on snow! Back in town we explored further on foot then headed back to Annecy. Stumbled on a really excellent, tiny restaurant for dinner then took a long walk back to the lake and home.
Details
Thanks to hard work by my wonderful wife (and previously also Nancy and Ron), each day we had a pretty good idea of what we might do. Here, the energy has run out so we just make up our plan as the spirit moves us. Chamonix and Mont Blanc are an obvious choice, courtesy of our car, manual transmission though it may be.
Before then, though, we need breakfast and before that Karen wants to revisit our dinner restaurant to see about reclaiming her lost scarf. Is it even there?
On our walk there, in the cool rain-free morning, we stop by Slake first to see about having breakfast. They’re currently full up but would be happy to take our name and phone number and they’ll message us when the next table opens up. Ooooh, that won’t be possible. We’re traveling and have our home cell service turned off. We only have data. Could they message us on WhatsApp? Sure!
At Le Chalet they are open and receive Karen. Their box of “Objets Trouvée” (found objects, aka lost and found) there’s nothing but they let Karen head upstairs to where we were sitting. Alas, nothing. Karen’s sad as she’s had that scarf for so long.
At Slake we get our table and breakfast. Apparently this place has a feeling about digital nomads as every table says “NO LAPTOPS!” as does the front door. They do have WiFi but it’s tricky to get to. Another roadblock for these pesky American high tech employees “working from home” (wink, wink). Breakfast is pretty good and on the checkout screen it let us choose our level of tip from 5% up to 20% in 5% increments. I guess this place has a love/loath relationship with the tourists. We won’t be back.
Our drive to Chamonix takes an hour, but it’s pleasant. We’re out in the country in no time and much of the route is auto (toll). I just need to remember the manual transmission as we come in to take a ticket or to pay our toll. As we get closer to the mountains we see the occasional waterfall and hints of the tall mountains ahead. Will the gods of the clouds smile on us today and let us see the mountains in their entirety? Time will tell.
In town we quickly find a spot in a paid surface parking lot. The internet tells us that “the winter population can reach 60,000, while summer can exceed 100,000 visitors per day”. The permanent residents here? About 9,000. We’re happy to be here when it’s less crowded.
Our watches tell us we need to eat lunch before too long. Places will be closing. At a good looking eatery (Aux Petits Gourmands) we get sandwiches to go. They also have scrumptious looking desserts which we don’t get. Those are made elsewhere, according to their proud labels: Maison Fattier. On the nose?
We continue on, down the main (only) road in town. We cross the river, the color of light brown from the glacial runoff. At the Télépherique (cable car) we’re sad to see a “Ferme Vent Fort” sign. They’re closed today, or are they? There are tickets being sold and people standing in line. For about half price (cheaper for us old people) we can go up to the first stop (the Plan de l’Aiguille). We purchase a roundtrip ticket. We guess others buy a one way ticket and hike down. Yikes. We’re now at 1,038 meter (3,400 feet) elevation. At the ‘plan’ we’ll be at 2,317 meters (7,600 feet).
On the cable car we’re packed in like sardines. It’s uncomfortable but hey it’s not going to last that long, right? Ten minutes later and we’re still waiting for liftoff. We learn later they’re doing work on the tops of the cable car towers. The guys up there do the work, in the high winds, and then as our cable cars go by, we stop briefly, they (carefully) climb aboard (waaay over our heads), clip in, and ride the rest of the way between us and the cable. Not a job I’d ever do.
At the top we get off. It’s cool and breezy. We brought and are wearing winter hats and gloves. Karen’s also wearing silk long johns and I have a scarf. There’s snow (and people) all around. Everyone’s looking up at the summit, expectantly. The gods of the clouds is not showing us much. The main activity up here seems to be a short hike over to the snack/gift shop. We slog through the snowy mud and buy a beer. We sit (inside), drink the beer and quickly/discretely eat our sandwiches.
Back outside we look around and consider joining the others who have braved the deep snow to venture far from the snack shack. Hell to the no. We snap a couple of selfies and enjoy the view. We see many paragliders taking advantage of the updrafts from the city below.
As we wait for the ride down we get to see the brave (crazy) workers surfing in on their little platform far above the gondola. Our ride down is faster, no stops or delays.
Back on terra firma we buy toothpaste and sun block. We enjoy a gelato and consider a sign offering tandem paragliding trips down from on high. Nah. Been there, done that! We admire the white mountains around us for a while longer and eventually start our drive back to Annecy. The drive back does give us a few better mountain views, with fewer clouds. This part of the world is very pretty.
Our first place choice for dinner is apparently out of business (it has a new name and isn’t open). Down the street is another place I’d seen online. It’s a ‘rotisserie’ restaurant. Cooked protein. It’s quite good and we get a good bit of our starter and main courses to go, for lunch tomorrow. Our room has a fridge, yay. A walk by the lake and then home to sleep, albeit with very full bellies.
Photos
