After only 12 hours in transit (including a 1-hour layover in IAD), we arrived in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday morning. I always appreciate the efficiency of the Swiss, and our arrival procedure into the country proved to be no exception. We grabbed some pastries once we exited the baggage hall, as we waited for our shared shuttle bus that would transport us from the airport to Chamonix, France (a 75-minute journey). Unfortunately, what is likely a scenic drive through the mountains turned out to be nothing more than a foggy wet mess with no spectacular views to be had in the rain. Given the weather forecast of more rain today and tomorrow, I was glad that we/I had made the decision to head straight to Chamonix rather than make a brief stop to first explore somewhere on Lake Geneva or even head further to Zermatt. Instead, we had a couple of days to get settled in Chamonix before the real adventure starts from here on Monday.
With a morning arrival, I knew that it was unlikely that we would be able to check in at our hotel right away. But, the combination of rain and jet lag meant that we weren’t really in the mood to do much yet. So, we hung out in the hotel lobby for a bit, playing free games of two player Pac-man while we waited. Sure enough, I figured that the hotel staff wouldn’t want us loitering in the lobby for hours, and they relented and offered us an early check-in. This allowed us to get cleaned up and put our bags away before going out to grab lunch. Plenty of shops and restaurants lined the streets just a block away from our hotel, so we didn’t have to go far. We opted for Italian, and we were treated to a delicious charcuterie and cheese plate ahead of our baked pasta entrees. Full of carbs and a night of missed sleep meant that we spent the afternoon recuperating at the hotel (only to wake up in time to eat dinner in the evening). This time we ventured further around the fairly small city center to check out the various menus outside the restaurants in hopes of finding something that struck our fancy (we ended up with Thai “fast food”).
We awoke to more cloudy skies on Saturday morning, although there was the potential of a partial clearing in the afternoon so we decided to lay low until then. I was seeking adventure, but Kurt wasn’t so sure that it was the best idea to go for a hike ahead of 6 days of hiking through the mountains. It seemed like most of the recommended hikes from Chamonix involved ascending higher onto the trails via a cable car or tram. Given that our upcoming itinerary involved a couple of those routes, we didn’t want to duplicate any of those activities. So, we opted to walk along L’Arve River from Chamonix to the nearby town of Les Bossons (this added 2 miles to get to the trailhead…which we could have bypassed by taking a bus or train, but where’s the fun in that?).
Once we got to the trailhead, we got our first sense of the trails here in the French Alps. Due to poor timing on our part, we were overdue for lunch, which I think made the trail feel harder than it might have otherwise. It was a fairly short climb, but it was steep and rocky. And, I worked up a sweat going uphill at this altitude (while the chair lift glided overhead).
Thankfully, the Chalet du Glacier des Bossons was a welcome sight for a special lunch with a view of the tongue of the Glacier des Bossons (which had dominated the view from our hotel room). We finally had fondue in the mountains, which is something that we have wanted to have in other destinations. It’s hard to imagine a better spot for lunch!
Refueled, we were more willing to explore further. And, we hiked up from the chalet to the viewpoints at the bottom of the glacier.
We made a detour on our way back down to hike over to Le Cerro, and we stopped at the chalet that we had spotted from lunch that was deep within the trees below. I was relieved to find a woman still cleaning up when we arrived, and I was able to get a much needed coke (aka “little red ambulance”) to sustain me for the journey back to Chamonix via the trail this time.
Along the way back to Chamonix, we passed the tunnel that traverses through the mountain, and we finally found the waterfall that Kurt had been looking for, Le Dard.
We found friends on Sunday morning! Our friends from Chicago/Phoenix, Jen and Ron, arrived in Chamonix following their week-long European vacation, and Jen brought the sunshine to town with her cheery disposition! We awoke to the clearest view of the Mont Blanc massif that we have had since we got here.
So, we took advantage of the clear, sunny skies by riding the cable car up and over to Italy. After transferring from a large, crammed car two stops later at Aiguille du Midi, the highest cable car in France, we were transported 5k over glaciers in our own private car together. We emerged in Italy!
The panoramic views were stunning (and, we were thankful to finally have a good weather day for this activity). On the return trip, we stopped to explore more at Aiguille du Midi, although we didn’t have as much time to fully check out all of the exhibits because we needed to meet our tour group leader back at the hotel at 6pm. But, we did “Step into the Void,” the small overhanging glass box from the highest point of the complex (approximately 12,600 feet).
We made it back to our hotel for our group meeting with minutes to spare (I would recommend a full day for this activity due to the time that it takes to queue for the cable cars)! Our mountain guide for the week, Bene, is a woman from Briançon in southeast France. Our group consists of Kurt & I, Jen & Ron, two Aussie women, two nurses from California, and two single travelers (a man from Turkey and a fellow female psychologist from Virginia).
We got a brief overview of what to expect this week and then had some time to redistribute our bags before dinner. Since we will be hiking point to point (with transfer assistance on some sections), a courier will transport 1 medium soft-sided bag per person to our overnight location each day. This allows us to only hike with our essentials for the day. The adventure starts tomorrow morning!