Grand Balcon du Nord

And on Tuesday we took the first stage of the Aiguille du Midi telepherique to Plan Aiguille (the second stage goes on up to the Aiguille du Midi, which we have done at least a couple times before), in order to do the Grand Balcon du Nord trail. This trail crosses the area between the Glacier des Bossons and the Mer du Glace, at tree-line, just below the famed Chamonix Aiguille (big pinnacles, hundreds of them). Normally, one takes the telepherique up, hikes the trail to Montenvers, then takes the Montenvers train back down. Alas, rockslides had closed both the train track and the trails down from Montenvers. We wanted to do the hike, so we decided to walk in the direction of Montenvers as far as we wanted, then walk back and take the telepherique back down. Vicki notes that this trail is far better than the Sud, less gravel, etc.

Lady of Pain I adore you...this is how the baguettes get to

the refuges, cafes, restaurants, up high (stepping off the

telepherique)

The upper stage of the telepherique--enlarge

and you'll see a cabin decending from near

the top

Another view

Warning

Alpine donkeys with dreadlocks; seriously; Vicki theorizes

they are intended to protect the donkeys' eyes, like

sunglasses; I believe they are merely another French

fashion-statement

Chamonix below and part of the Aiguille

Rouge

Randonneur Vicki

Beneath some of the Chamonix Aiguille

More warning and signage

The trail down to Chamonix really was closed (not that we

wanted to walk down 4,000 feet)

Vicki stopped at this point, not wanting to over-do her knee

(she's doing well); I carried on to Montenvers and its great

views, this of the Dru, one of Chamonix' many landmarks

And of the Mer du Glace, the Grand Jorasses, and more of

the interior

The whole area is cairn-city, big cairns

But the prize of this hike was grabbing this discarded sign

(with permission) for our sign collection back home

Lac Blanc

Monday I took the same La Flegere telepherique back up the Aiguille Rouge and walked the other way, mainly up, taking the trail to Lac Blanc, a high tarn with celebrated views of the Mont Blanc massif.

It's all in the Aiguille Rouge national park;

they don't even allow tenting here! Other

places around the massif, in France, you

can erect a mountain tent only between

7PM and 7AM; in Italy, only above 7,000

feet; in Switzerland, no place, no how.

Jeez.

Looking across the valley to the Mer du Glace

Lac Blanc was still frozen

But the view was great

Like seals on a rock on the California coast, oui?

Marathon du Mont Blanc

Friday we lazed and reconnoitered, re-acqainting ourselves with the lay of the land, the city, our old campground, the TI, wifi, the bus routes, the trails, etc. Saturday we made our usual visit to the marche, purchasing cheeses, olives, raspberries, potatoes, and the wonderful poulet roti with lots of jus, for our traditional Chamonix repast. After the repast, naps, then more shopping ventures into town. It is touristy, yes, but it is the oldest of all mountain resort towns, still going strong (four seasons), and, well, French touristy is a good thing.

Chamonix is on the north side of the Mont Blanc massif, in a glacial slit trench between Mont Blanc and the lesser but still rugged Aiguille Rouge to the north. It is from the Aiguille Rouge that one gets the best French views of Mont Blanc, and it is from the Aiguille Rouge that most parasail launchings occur. Anyhow, we decided to walk the Balcon Sud, the trail that goes along the Aiguille Rouge from La Flegere to Praz Plan, east to west, three thousand feet above the valley. We knew that we would be sharing the trail with the Marathon du Mont Blanc, its final kilometers before ending at Praz Plan, but we figured that, with a late start, we would not have many runners, certainly not the competitive ones, to contend with. Besides, it would be exciting to watch, and, yes! mountain bicylistes had been banned from the trail for the day. We rode the La Flegere telepherique up the mountain and hit the trail a little after noon. We saw runners throughout our walk, always yielding the right of way to them, offering such encouragement as we could; what an ordeal they had undertaken!

But the nice thing about running a marathon in the French

Alps is that you can always stop at a cafe, have a glass of

wine, maybe an expresso and croissant; but in this terrain,

you also have to carry your hiking poles

And use them; the terrain can be demanding, even the level

parts

But the scenery is good

Very good (the Chamonix Aiguilles)

It is all part of the 110 mile Tour du Mont Blanc, which we

walked back in 2005

Chamonix and Mont Blanc from the Aiguille

Rouge

Another kilometer and a couple hundred meters' climb to

the finish line (we were tired, too, by this time)

Le home stretch, agonizingly up-hill; but supporters lining

the way

The finish line, nicely framing the Mountain; we took the

Praz Plan telepherique back down to town and spent the

rest of the day recovering

Chamonix

Our favorite place in the French Alps (but, of course), site of at least six previous visits, many adventures (the telepheriques and hiking in 1979, 1986, 1989, etc., parasailing in 1993, the Tour du Mont Blanc in 2005) and memories...is Chamonix.  We stayed more than a week this time (including two days of wretched camper repairs, one day of sickness), camped with dozens of other RVs in the aire that is part of the Telepherique d'Aiguille du Midi parking lot, a block from central Chamonix. More adventures, memories, and...pix.

The Glacier des Bossons and Mont Blanc, from our aire

Part of the aire

Part of the lower glacier, from the trail above; and the

summit of Mt. Blanc, 15,700'

The Aiguille du Midi; we are parked right below it...it is

about 9,000 feet above us!

East of us, Dru, the Grand Jorasses, the Mer du Glace

(more of all later)

Festivities near the Office du Tourisme

More Beautiful Annecy

We ventured into town our second day there, taking the ferry from Jorioz up the lake to Annecy.

The old chateau overlooking the town

Quay-side and street scene; we had lunch somewhere along

here, a formula lunch so large neither of us could finish; in

my case I simply tired tweezering the tiny French moules
from their shells...

We located the marzipan shop we both had been impressed

by in 1993; of course, having seen the one in Lubeck, five

stories and marzipan museum, we are no longer quite so

impressed

But we were impressed with the cookie shop

Very impressed

The harbor and international park; Annecy is a finalist for

the coming Winter Olympics

A beautiful setting and place

Beautiful Annecy

One of our favorite memories from previous visits is the beautiful Alpine lake-side town of Annecy. It is a favorite resort among the French--or anyone else who has been there.

We checked into a campground on the lake between Annecy

and Albertville and watched the parapentes (parasails)

drifting by the Bauges...

And sailing lessons on the Lac

The Sausage Guy visits the campground on Wednesdays;

we bought a normale (pig, we think; he had several

varieties, including from some animals not normally

associated (by Americaines) with sausage), a smoked,

and a walnut sausage...

And enjoyed an afternoon snack of sausage, cheese, wine...

Dined, and then watched the alpenglow on the Bauges;

OK, we also dumped, did the wash, cleaned the camper

out a bit, took a walk....

Still More Route des Grandes Alpes

Still more of the Route des Grandes Alpes...

White-water rafting on one of the upper tributaries of the

Var; actually, the water is kind of a milky-gray, glaciers

not far away; it is not warm...

Beyond Briancon (I think), an over-sized metal statue of

Edward Whymper, pointing the way...his Scrambles

Amongst the Alps (1869), chronicled his many adventures

and first ascents, including his seven attempts (and

ultimate triumph and tragedy) to scale the Matterhorn;

it initiated the great age of (largely British) Alpinism

and the literature of mountaineering

OK, so now we're in the Hautes Alpes

The pass not taken (the driver over-rode the navigatrix);

at this point, we turned left and headed for Grenoble, on

real roads

Typical scenery along the way

Later June, the Alpine wildflowers are in abundance; me

assembling a bouquet