The following morning we drove to Chamoix which is at the
base of Mont Blanc in France. As we weren’t in Switzerland we decided to do a
little bit of shopping and get our laundry done which took most of the day but
we did manage to explore the town and get tickets for the gondola up to the top
of Mont Blanc ready for the next day.
The following morning we got up early as we planned to be on
the first gondola of the day at 8.10 to the top of Mont Blanc, well actually a
slightly lower peak just in front of Mont Blanc, and this involved cycling to
the station and getting there before 8am which we managed to do, although we
weren’t first in the queue. Promptly at 8.10 we were herded onto the cable car
with about 60 other people and started the ascent to the middle station. I
stood at the back with my eyes firmly closed cursing Rich, especially when he
said don’t open your eyes. The cable car seemed to go on for ages but then we
reached the first pylon where the car rattled and then swayed violently; I
think Rich lost all blood in his hand at this point. It then continued for a
few minutes before going over another pylon and doing the same before reaching
the middle station at 2300mts above sea level and got off the death car but
were quickly herded onto the next one which would take us up to 3800mts. This
one was worse as it seemed to take longer and Rich said it was more vertical at
the end but it did not have the same issue with the pylons and swaying which
was a small mercy.
I leapt out the car and on to stable ground as quickly as
possible and we started admiring the views as it was soo clear and we could see
for miles. There were tonnes of snow glistening in the sunlight and we had to
put our sunglasses on to stop us being blinded, despite the fact that it was -2 degrees. There wasn't a cloud in the sky so the view from the top meant we could see for miles. We climbed up the metal viewing
platform to get some stunning views but I wasn’t a fan of the metal stairs with
holes in which meant you could see the vast drop below. After this platform we
continued inside and around to see the various views and exhibits. The first
thing we found was the exit for the crazy people climbing to the top of Mont Blanc.
This involved walking out on a ridge which was no wider than your two feet and
had sheer drops either side and continuing along this for a little while before
it started to angle down and continue until they reached a basin. They could
then walk in the snow around the peak we were on before reaching Mont Blanc and
starting the climb. We looked closer at the ridge later in the day once the
climbers had all gone and there is no way you would get me near that, it looked
deadly and neither Rich or I are snow walkers (meaning we usually fall over as
soon as a snow flake hits the ground).
Anyway we continued into the centre where there were the
pictures of significant people who had climbed Mont Blanc and then we climbed
some stairs to the exhibition of what the altitude does to your body even being
up at the 3800 metres. Essentially there is 30% less oxygen and you can feel it
everywhere. The stairs were hard to climb and all your muscles ached with each
step making it feel like you had been exercising hard, rather than just
climbing 10 steps. We decided we didn’t want to stay up there too long so on we
continued to the outside views where we could get great views of Mont Blanc and
we could see the climbing continuing their walk. Finally we headed into their
main attraction which is essentially a glass box which you could stand in over
the sheer drop down the mountain. After posing for the obligatory photos we
decided to head back down to the mid station to catch our breath.
Once at the mid station this time we got off the death car,
this time I had managed to open my eyes for part of the ride, and we headed off
in search of a glacier. It was a 2.5 hour walk across the hills to reach it but
it was a nice walk, apart from a steep climb up one hill which was unnecessary
although did lead to a nice view point. Once we found the glacier we stopped
and had some lunch to decide if we wanted to continue the walk down to the town
or go back up to the mid station and catch the cable car back down. Given that
walking to the mid station required uphill walking and a cable car we opted for
the downhill walk but little did we know that the downhill walk was going to be
so long or difficult. It took another 2.5 hours to get down to the bottom and
left us with sore legs. We then had to walk back to the cable car station to
get our bikes to head back to the van. That evening we went out for dinner, as
we deserved it, and I managed to get some fondue with bread and meat while Rich
had a steak and chips.
The following morning we got up and headed back to
Switzerland, stopping on the way to fill up with cheap petrol and food in
France.
