A final day of hiking near Saint Gervais

Today was our last day in the mountains; tomorrow we take the train to Paris before flying home.  We took the Mont Blanc tram a second time to explore another trail on the mountain.  This time we got off the train in Bellevue (one stop before the last one at Mont Lachat).  The trail we took heads across toward the Bionnassay glacier which comes down the western side of Mont Blanc.  The first hour or so on the trail was mostly a mellow contour, although there were a couple of rocky sections with fixed chains.

Just before reaching the glacier, there was a very steep and rocky descent toward the outlet stream; I detoured down it while Ellen wisely waited at the top.  When I rejoined her, we continued across a flower-filled meadow and then followed the trail as it climbed up the moraine above the glacier.  A snack break at our turnaround time, then we retraced out steps back to Bellevue.  

Looking back at the Mont Blanc massif from near Bellevue.  The Bionnassay glacier is on the far right.

We arrived back at Bellevue ahead of our scheduled return tram, so we took another trail a couple of km down to a lower tram stop at Col de Voza.  That one has a small hotel with a snack bar.  We enjoyed blueberry tarts while we waited for our tram.

Bellevue tram stop

Looking up the track from Col de Voza

We got into conversation with a French couple, Catherine and Jean-Philippe, from Aix-en-Provence, and ended up enjoying beers with them after we arrived back in Saint Gervais.

Around Saint Gervais: Gorge de la Diosaz

After a very leisurely morning we took the gondola down from Saint Gervais, then the train a couple of stops to Servoz.  We planned to catch a little brunch on the way to the gorge, but ended up dining at a very gourmet spot in the village.  First course was an elegant take on seared ahi tuna, main a pork steak with little roasted potatoes and a cooked tomato, all with separate and delicious sauces.  Just the thing to set us up for a hike.

The Gorge de la Diosaz is a fascinating spot.  The river comes down a narrow canyon.  In the late 1800s a local visionary and gorge enthusiast decided to build a walkway through the gorge, in many areas cantilevered over the river.  It was completed in 1875, but due to the heavy winters in this area much needs to be rebuilt every spring.  It was a lovely hike up and back down the gorge walkway.

Gondola back up to Saint Gervais

Saint-Gervais-les-Bains

Yesterday walked into Chamonix, spent a couple of hours walking around to buy a few gifts, and then took the train to Saint Gervais, at the other end of the same valley and still at the base of the Mont Blanc massif.  What we hadn't fully appreciated is that the Saint Gervais train station is in the lower town; to travel to the upper town (where our apartment is located) we rode a chairlift and then had a short walk to the center of the village.  

Saint Gervais is very much a mountain tourist town, but much smaller and quieter than Chamonix.  At least until evening...  It turns out that June 21 is a major musical holiday in France.  We watched the local school bands and a local cover band perform at a gazebo in town, and then in the evening we joined the crowd dancing to a very good rock band on the sidewalk right in front of our apartment building.  The town was packed and jumping.  (Note: I have a nice video clip but haven't figured out how to add it to the blog because it's over 100 MB.)

This morning we rode the Mont Blanc tram from the village to the little pass at Mont Lachat (2115 meters).  Fun fact: in 1937 the French government built a wind tunnel here to conduct research on altitude and icing effects on aircraft.   From there we hiked up a nicely graded but steadily climbing trail.  We enjoyed great views of Chamonix and the valley, and Aiguille du Midi (the high point we'd visited a few days ago).

Chamonix in the valley.  Aguile du Midi at the top of the peak on the right.

Chamonix days 1, 2 and 3

Been having too much fun in Chamonix, so behind on posting...  

After a sop at the Tourism Office to pick up maps and information, we rode a gondola to Planpraz, and then a second one to Brevent (2525 meters, almost 8300 feet).  Great views across the valley toward Mont Blanc (on the right in these two pics).  

We had planned to hike down from Brevent to Planpraz, but there was a lot of snow on the trail so after trying it out--and slipping a bunch--we returned and took the gondola back down to Planpraz.  Our planned trail was the Balcon Sud, which roughly traverses the mountains on that side of the valley.  It's a rough trail, rocky in parts and with lots of up and down, but through amazing country and with great views all the time.

The trail ends at La Flegere, another gondola which returns down to the valley.  But before descending on the gondola we rode the L'Index chairlift up to 2395 meters for more scenery and views.  There were a number of snow fields around, and we watched two ibex mountain goats on the nearby rocks.

We took the chairlift back down, and returned on the gondola to the valley floor.  There is a shuttle train which runs back and forth through the valley: we rode this back to Chamonix and had an early dinner before returning to our apartment.

Day 2 we took a gondola to Plan de l'Aiguille, and then a second gondola to Aiguille du Midi (3842 m, over 12,000 feet).  This is an amazing spot with views across the Alps in all directions and into Italy and Switzerland.  We could see many mountaineers working their way up the snowfields and glaciers on a variety of routes.

The gondola is going up to the highest peak to the left.

Aiguille du Midi has a number of observation decks to take in all the views.  And of course a restaurant and gift shop. 

On the way down we stopped at Plan de l'Aiguille and took a short hike to nearby Lac Bleu to eat our snack.

Day 3 we walked to town, then took a cog railway up to Montevers.  From there, a short gondola ride (plus walking down about 250 stairs) took us to an ice cave carved out of the base of the main glacier which comes from Mont Blanc.  It's amazing to walk through this tunnel in 500-year-old ice.  Very cool, both literally and figuratively.

The gondola drops down to the roundish building in the center of the photo above.  From there, it's many stairs down to the cave entrance.  If you zoom in the above photo, you can just see the cave entrance, and a few people going in and out, at the bottom of the white plastic sheeting to the left side of the photo.

Instead of taking the cog railway back to town we hiked down a rough trail, descending over 900 meters.  

Partway down we stopped at a little mountain hut for a cool drink.

Tomorrow we'll take a brief train ride to the nearby town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains for more mountain exploration.

Chamonix

From Zurich to Chamonix took five progressively smaller trains: Zurich to Bern, then to Visp, then to Maligny, then a small and partially cog-driven steep run through the mountains to Vallorcine and finally the little Mont Blanc train which just runs back and forth in this valley.  We had reserved an apartment about a 25 minutes walk outside the main center of town.  Very modern, and with a dynamite view of Mont Blanc from our deck.

Mont Blanc on the right

We walked into town for dinner and some grocery shopping.  It's a bustling place.  And clearly a mountain resort town: along the main walk we saw stores for Arcteryx, Patagonia, Columbia, North Face and several other brands.

Tomorrow we start hiking.

Mulhouse to Zurich, and on to Chamonix

Sunday morning we walked to the National Automobile Museum in Mulhouse, the largest car museum in the world.  It's an amazing collection, from early cars of the late 1800s to the more recent, and all is very well displayed.  There are dozens of Bugattis (including several one-offs), beautifully restored examples of other rare marques from the inter-war era, and an extensive collection of early and modern race cars.

This Mercedes was designed by Ferdinand Porsche.  Very similar to the VW he later designed.

Alfa Romeo

Replica of the first car to go 100 km/h.  An electric, in 1899.

In the afternoon we took a train to Zurich.  After settling in an apartment we walked to visit our niece Anna and her husband Steve for dinner at a nice Asian restaurant.

Monday we walked around Zurich to explore the older part of the city and the lake, and then returned to the apartment to book plans for the rest of our trip.  We met Anna and Steve again for dinner, this time at an Italian place.

Today we take a train to Chamonix for a few days of hiking.  Stay tuned.