France (Part 3: French Alps)

• Annecy
  Annecy is one of the most charming towns in the Alps, set at the northern tip of Lac d'Annency and surrounded by snowcapped mountains.  Its small medieval quarter is laced with canals, flower-covered bridges and arcaded streets.  The main attractions we visited:  the formidable Palais de l'Isle, a 12th century prison in the middle of the Thiou Canal; the turreted Chateau d'Annecy, set high on a hill above the town, with views of Vieil Annecy and the crystal-clear lake beyond.
  

• Brévent, Chamonix
  Since the weather forecast was not very stable for the next few days, we decided to go to Chamonix in the early afternoon and went up to Brévent today (although our Mont-Blanc Multipass would not be valid until tomorrow so we needed to buy additional tickets to go up to Brévent today).  From Chamonix, you can take the gondola to Plan Praz (1,999m), then the cable car to Le Brévent (2,525m).  When we were waiting in the gondola, a middle-aged Asian woman came in to ask us if she could share the gondola with us.  It happened she is Woanyu's friend who takes Woanyu's online Zumba lesson.  It's such a small world full of coincidence:  they never met in the Bay Area back home, but now we were sitting in the same gondola in French Alps!
  At the top of Brévent, it has a great panoramic view of the Chamonix Valley including a stunning view of Mont Blanc.

• Parc de Merlet
  Perched at an altitude of 1,500 m above the valley of Chamonix, the Parc de Merlet offers a breath-taking panorama of the Mont-Blanc mountain range.  You can immerse yourself in a vast space dedicated to animals for a leisurely hike through the forest and sunny meadows. The unusual closeness with many animals is surprising and would nearly make you forget that they actually live in the wild.  During the summer months, it's required to reserve your entry time to the park in advance. 

• Chamonix Chalet
  The chalet is in a small village just outside the busy Chamonix.  It is a newly built chalet (just finished in 2022) and equipped with all modern amenities and incredible views.  It's a perfect base for us for the next few days.

Day 15 (7/4) ...

• Aiguille du Midi
  The Aiguille du Midi is a 3,842-metre-tall (12,605 ft) mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps.  It is a popular tourist destination and can be directly accessed by cable car (the highest cable car in France, and 2nd highest in the world) from Chamonix that takes visitors close to Mont Blanc.  It is a two-stage journey. The first leg brings visitors to the Plan de l'Aiguille (2,317m). The second stage, without any support pillar, traverses Les Pelerins glacier before rising up the North Face of the Aiguille du Midi at the top station (3778m). A footbridge connects the cable car top station with the Central Piton terrace. An elevator inside the rock rises the visitor the final 42m to the top terrace at an altitude of 3,842m.  We booked an early cable car (6:25AM) and most other passengers were climbers who were very fully equipped with ropes and climbing gears.  When we got to the top station and viewing terraces before 7AM, there were still no other tourists yet. The views along the way and at the terraces were just incredible and speechless.

In December 2013, a glass skywalk called "Step into the Void" opened at the top of the Aiguille du Midi peak. The view is 1,035 m (3,396 ft) straight down, and one can see Mont Blanc to the south.  Since we were one of the earliest tourists, we could enjoy the experiences and views without waiting (Woanyu actually went there twice so I could get pictures from different angles). 

• Panoramic Mont-Blanc
  At the top of Aiguille du Midi, we took on the Panoramic Mont-Blanc cable car for a 30-minute (one-way) dream trip above the glaciers.  This amazing 5km gondola journey passes over the Géant glacier, giving you spectacular views over snowcapped mountains, ice falls, crevasses and the Mont Blanc massif, and arrives at Helbronner, on the Italian side of Mont Blanc.  Since there were not many people waiting for the gondola, we could have the entire 4-seat gondola to ourselves (I could even setup my tripod in the gondola for our selfie).

• Helbronner
  Pointe Helbronner forms one part of the French and Italian border high in the mountains. It is 3,466m high and can be reached by cable car (Panoramic Mont-Blanc from Aiguille du Midi in France or Skyway from Courmayeur in Italy).   The platform on Pointe Helbronner offers a remarkable view over the Aosta Valley and the Piedmont region. The French-Italian border splits this platform although I did not really see any sign of the border and no one checked our passports :-).

• Plan de l'Aiguille
  We got off the cable car at Plan de l'Aiguille on the way down from Aiguille du Midi at about 9:30AM.  Plan de l'Aiguille is the starting point for many great hiking trails, including the Grand Balcon Nord Trail.
  

• Grand Balcon Nord Trail
  We took the Grand Balcon Nord Trail, from Plan de l’Aiguille to Montenvers, for our main hike in this French Alps trip.  It's about 6.8 km (4.2 miles) with total descent of 622 meters (2,040 feet) and total ascent of 235 meters (770 feet).  It is a very scenic hike that overlooks Chamonix and its surrounding mountains.  The first 2/3 of the trail is gentle downhill with great mountain and valley views.  At a trail split, we took a longer route toward Le Signal.  The trail started to climb on a series of tough switchbacks and then the trail became more rocky.  We were very amazed by how the trail was built by skillfully stacking the surrounding rocks and large stone slabs. 

When we reached the top of the climb at Forbes Signal, we could see many fantastic photo-ops amongst the rocks, with the peaks and the glacier as a jaw-dropping background, and Mer de Glace snaking its way into the mountains.  This point is named after the Scottish Dr. Forbes, who discovered many principles of glacial movement by placing rocks on the glacier and measuring them from here. To this day it is one of the finest viewpoints over the Mer de Glace.

We arrived at Montenvers at about 1:15PM (almost 4 hours of hike).  Since the downhill from Le Signal to Montenvers is quite steep (about 1,000 feet in 1 mile), our knees had been pressured a little bit too much.  We decided to skip the Mer de Glace Cave today, and took the train back to Chamonix for our next stop.

• Tramway du Mont-Blanc -- Bellevue
  We drove to Le Fayet to take Tramway du Mont-Blanc for a relaxed scenic train ride.  It is the only railway in France reaching over 2,000 meters above sea level.  The line is 12.4 km (7.7 mi) long. The first section of the line, to the Col de Voza, was opened in 1907.  The line reached its current terminus (Nid d'Aigle "Eagle’s Nest", 2380m) in August 1914 when work was suspended because of World War I, and never resumed.
  Due to the Tramway du Mont-Blanc renovation and development project, the arrival at the Nid d'Aigle is closed until 2026.  We decided to get off the train at Bellevue and had some snack and beer at the nearby restaurant La Chalette.   We had about 45 minutes (3:55PM to 4:40PM) to relax and take pictures before we boarded the train back down from the mountain.

Day 16 (7/5) ...

• Flégère & L'Index
  Facing south and looking onto Mont Blanc, the Flégère area is the departure for classic hikes to magnificent mountain lakes with a view over the Mont Blanc mountain range.   We took the new gondola (built in 2019) from the village of Les Praz (1060m) to the La Flégère site (1877m), and continued with the chairlift to the L'Index (2595m).  My original plan was to hike to Lac Blanc from L'Index.  But more and more cloud started to move in when we reached to L'Index and we also found many sections of the trail were still covered by snow, so we decided to just enjoy the panoramic views and did not take any risk to hike under this unstable condition.

After came down from the mountain, we did some quick grocery shopping at a local store in Chamonix and had a nice lunch break at our chalet.

• Grotto de Glace
  After the lunch break, we took the train to Montenvers to visit Mer de Glace Cave (Grotte de Glace).  To get to the ice cave, first ride the gondola from Montenvers to the glacier moraine. And  then descend farther on a long series of staircases (~500 steps) to get to the edge of the glacier where a man-made cave is cut into the living glacier.  Since the glacier has been retreating, the steps have to be further down every year.  The year markers of the glacier positions along the stairs are the true witnesses to the climate changes of our time.

• 4D Immersive Cinema
  The weather continued to be unstable (windy and drizzling), so we decided to go back to Chamonix and went to the 4D Immersive Cinema which is free with our Mont-Blanc Multipass.  It is the first multidimensional cinema dedicated to the mountains.  The audience is standing behind a bike-like platform with 3-D glasses, and we will feel the movement and wind and vapor when we follow a majestic eagle as it flies over the Aiguille du Midi and the Mont-Blanc mountain range.

Day 17 (7/6) ...

• Skyway & Helbronner
  Before we left the French Alps, we headed to Italy through the Mont Blanc Tunnel.  The agreement between France and Italy on building a tunnel was signed in 1949. Drilling began in 1959 and was completed in 1962; the tunnel was opened to traffic on 19 July 1965.  The tunnel is 11.611 km (7.215 mi) in length and it reduces the route from France to Turin by 50 kilometers (30 miles) and to Milan by 100 km (60 mi).  The tunnel passes almost exactly under the summit of the Aiguille du Midi. At this spot, it lies 2,480 meters (8,140 ft) beneath the surface, making it the world's second deepest operational tunnel.

We got to Courmayeur in Italy at about 7:50AM to take the Skyway cable car to Punta Helbronner at an altitude of 3,466 meters.  Although we have been to Punta Helbronner 2 days ago from Aiguille du Midi, it was still an incredible view that we stayed for about half an hour to take more pictures.  We were also surprised to see a thin layer of fresh snow from last night at the top of the observation deck.

The Skyway cable car is quite unique that the 80-person cabin will make one complete rotation during its ascend or descend so we can have 360-degree views without moving around in the cabin.  We got off at the middle station at Pavillon Du Mont-Frety at an altitude of 2,173 meters to walk around to enjoy the views and one of the highest botanical gardens.

• Geneva
  We left Italy, went back to France, and now entered Switzerland to Geneva.
  Geneva, population of 200,000+, is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland.  It’s a global hub for diplomacy and banking, and headquarters of Europe’s United Nations and the Red Cross.  We walked to the famous Flower Clock (L'horloge fleurie) and to Lake Geneva to see the 140-meter high Water Jet (Jet d'Eau).

After lunch, we visited the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre, a Romanesque church dated back to 1150 at the highest point of Geneva's old town features some Gothic elements.  We went up its towers for the fantastic views of the old town and Lake Geneva.

• It's time move back to France again and continued our trip to Burgundy.

[Somme & Normandy] [Loire Valley & Bordeaux] [French Alps] [Burgundy & Champagne] 

[France Gallery] [Back to Photo Page]