A Week in the French Alps: Part 2

Thursday, we were picked up at the chalet by a snowshoe guide (again, this is something Hannah set up for us!). The guide's name is Phil and is the owner of British Snowshoe Tours. We stopped to pick up one other woman (actually another American from Pennsylvania, but currently living and working in London), and ventured off the main roads onto completely snow-covered side roads. Luckily we were in Phil's Land Rover, and had no problem reaching the starting point to our hike. Phil gave us a brief description of how the snowshoes worked, adjusted our poles, and we started our hike onto a snow-covered path that didn't look like it had seen a human in weeks. Perfect!


Hannah and Richard had described the experience as very "Narnia-esque". But it was truly something we had to see and experience for ourselves. We were in the middle of nowhere (or at least it felt that way), the only sounds we heard were when we talked. The snow didn't even make a sound; it was the fluffiest, most powdery, lightest snow I have ever seen/felt. Truly a winter wonderland!

Phil stopped along the way to point out animal tracks, various types of trees, or in this case- why certain trees were marked with numbers (they were basically plot numbers to show ownership of land from 'way-back-when').

We hiked up a fairly steep trail for about an hour before reaching a little hut that, in the summer, sells drinks and snacks. I stayed there to take a short break, and the other 3 continued to hike about 10 minutes higher to search for a lookout over the "Mer de Glace" glacier.


It was so cold, a thin sheet of ice formed on my camera lens- hence the very hazy look to the next several photos!



A little celebratory 'vin chaud' after completing our hike!

My hair is literally frozen!

Matthew spent Friday morning skiing with Scott, Bene, and Jen. Friday afternoon, Matthew took me back out and was very patient with me while I built up my confidence on the ski-school slopes before trying out some real runs (and by 'real' I am definitely talking about green runs!).

Saturday morning, Matthew, Scott, and Scott's 2 daughters headed back out for a few more hours of skiing. When they came back, we all ate lunch, left Freddie with the two little ones, and headed into Chamonix. We took the Montenvers train (the last rack and pinion railway in France) up the mountain. It stopped at an incredible overlook onto the Mer de Glace. "The Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) is a glacier located on the northern slopes of the Mont Blanc massif, in the Alps. At 7 kilometers long and 200 meters deep, it is the longest glacier in France." (Wikipedia)

Sophia, Chloe, Josh, and Enya on the Montenvers train.


After some incredible photo ops, we took a cable car a little further down, then walked down 350 stairs in order to go even further down, before being able to walk into the ice caves.


The cable cars to take us to the ice caves.
Walking down the stairs to the entrance of the ice caves.Time to walk back up the 350 stairs!
We had one more amazing meal at the chalet (thanks to the culinary talents of Richard and Hannah) Saturday night. And, unfortunately, Sunday it was time to head home. Luckily, it was only a 4 hour drive back to Clermont-Ferrand. After a week of winter activities, we were tired!

I have a ton more pictures (of course!), and I will be posting just a slide show as soon as I can get them all uploaded!