Vive la France

August 8 & 9

Friday morning was a short jaunt under a mountain to a whole other country.  Europe can be really fascinating that way.  Saturday was an adventure of a different sort.

On Friday, we woke to our usual breakfast of wonderful croissant.  The manager has gotten to know us a little, and specifically made pain au chocolat for the kids, which they gobbled down. He is quite a character, and I've learned that his French is better than his English and so we chatted over breakfast about his family, his job, the state of Italian politics and ideas of beauty in Asia.  He is very attentive, but then I think we are actually the only guests in this hotel.  There was another family on Saturday morning at breakfast, but other than that, I haven't seen or heard a single other guest.  

After a couple weeks travelling on our own, we were looking forward to sharing some adventures with Aya, Kenji and Miya who were on the French side of the mountain, so we tunneled over.  Ok, so really, we waited in a line of cars and the paid 55€ to get to the other side, but you get the idea.  My first time under the Mont Blanc tunnel was when I was 17, in a bus load of teenagers, more tired from the early morning than anything else.  At the time, I was amazed that human engineering could actually succeed in tunnelling under the largest mountain in Europe, and that you would also be changing countries as you travel through it.   It seems, yet again, that I was again the only one in the vehicle who was truly amazed by this feat.  The kids just thought it was long, and Kohji nodded politely at my repeated remarks of amazement.

I've always been curious about Chamonix, with its deeply steeped climbing tradition.  It was indeed that interesting combination of wealthy playground and climbing mecca.  In fact, both Chamonix and Courmayeur are similar that way.  Restaurants and fancy stores line main pedestrian walkways, with outdoor gear and clothing stores catering to both serious mountaineers and weekend peak gazers.  The main walkway is primarily crowded with families and vacationers, but peppered within the crowds are hikers fresh from the trail with dirty boots, bulging packs and a look of pleasant fatigue focused on the earliest possible hot shower.   Whereas Chamonix's streets are broad and the buildings relatively non descript, Courmayeurs boasts old world charm with stone tiled roofs, narrow alleys, quaint little gardens and a feeling of history.

Where Chamonix won out was on the view of the mountain.  While in Courmayeur, Monte Bianco gazes down on the town, on the French side Mont Blanc dominates the skyline and looms over the town.  This is indeed a town dedicated to the mountain as evidenced by the prominent and large Ecole des Guides on the central square.  

On Friday, we started the day a little later than usual arriving in Chamonix late morning. The idea was to meet the Suzukis in France, cable car up, and take an easy hike down to a cable car station.  Having loaded up with salami, prosciutto, Fontana cheese (local cheese), we headed for France through the tunnel.  Other than a 20 minute wait to get into the tunnel, it was surprisingly easy to change countries.  No one asked for passports, no one even looked in the car.

 As soon as we came out of the parking garage in Chamonix, the first thing to catch our eye was a paraglider high above.  With a second look, we realized there were dozens of them drifting above, playing in the wind currents coming down from the mountain like large colourful birds against a bright blue sky.

I confess, after two week of travel, it was a bit if a relief not to struggle with language, and be able to read everything again.  It gave my brain a much needed day of reprieve.  After meeting up with the Suzuki clan, all 7 of us headed up to the Planpraz station, and then onto Le Brevent to step out into a void.  The kids were all rather thrilled to be together, and right away made a happy little hiking trio.  

Nothing like the power of other kids to keep'em going on the trail.  Well that, and another parent with treats!

While sunny in town, there were clouds up at the peak, so we actually stepped off into a cloud.   It was a relatively small one though, and so we didn't face a field of white.  The view, I fact, was one of those mountain vistas impossible to describe, but breathtaking.  The valleys and peaks spread out like a magnificent emerald quilt.  

It was the perspective on the Mont Blanc glacier though that truely astounded.  It felt like you could walk right into it despite the fact that it was across a valley and half way up Mont Blanc.  The descent was actually down a ski trail and relatively short, but it felt like we had landed on the top of the world thanks to that glacier view.  

We passed a number of climbers, reminding us that these are indeed climbers' mountains.

Arriving back at the Planpraz station, we walked past the jumping off point for the paragliders who were lined up waiting their turn to run off a perfectly good mountain strapped into man made wings.  From our vantage point, we watched them run over the rounded edge of a hill and pop up a few seconds later on an updraft with the mountain as their backdrop.

Back on land, and after a much needed treat and an oddly fascinating giant chess game, we crashed Aya and Kenji's hotel.  This was by far the most kid centric hotel I've ever seen.  

A playroom with free gummies, a library filled with movies and books, mainly for kids, and the coolest pool ever.  The kids (and by kids, I am including Kenji and Kohji) took to the pool, while Aya and I sat on the balcony and watched a mountain storm brew.  In fact, the skies opened up just as we were about to go out to dinner, as a violent thunder storm rocked the town.  After trying unsuccessfully to cower in the hotel restaurant (they were booked solid), Aya and I headed up to get rain gear only to be shuttled out again thanks to a fire alarm.  Or rather, we were the only ones who seemed to think that an alarm was cause for evacuation.  After circumventing the building in the rain, we came back into the lobby to see our families exactly where we left them!

When we finally headed out the rain had stopped and the sun was actually basking the peak in its dying light of the day.  We found an odd little French/Asian fusion place for an enjoyable dinner, with a waiter who knew how to cater to kids.  After which, the Miller clan headed back through the tunnel, after oddly being stopped by customs just before the tunnel.  We have no idea what they were looking for, but one look in our car convinced them to leave us alone.  We suspect it may have been the smell of the feet after a day of hiking!

Saturday morning was a little less successful, as poor Aya and Kenji made the decision to come over to the Italy side for a little hike.  Not only did they have to wait for an hour and a half just to get into the tunnel, the hike we took them on was really nothing more than a maintenance road for the ski runs.  Who knew?  It did take us to the Monte Bianca Refugio, which was really quite a comfortable place to spend an hour, complete with toys and games for the kids, and according to Kohji and Kenji it also had good desserts.  It also gave us a chance to wander Courmayeur a little more, and check out the main pedestrian walkway.  We used our time there to people watch and get a better feel for the crowds that come to this side of mountain.

The day wasn't a total loss though, as we did manage to find a restaurant slightly off the main strip in Courmayeur with a wonderful little garden seating area.  It was perfect, giving us the chance to relax and not worry about the volume level of the kids.  Good company, good wine, really what more could you ask for from life.

Of course, when we got back to our hotel a little later than usual, we found that we had been locked out of the building.  We are actually the only guests in the place, and had had a problem with our access card earlier in the week, so we didn't actually have one.  After ringing the bell for 5 minutes, Kohji used his rather stellar break and entering skills to scale the building onto our balcony and jimmy the lock.  My approach was to go to the hotel next door and ask them to call as we knew that the manager spent the night at the hotel.  Let's just say Kohji broke in around the same time as the manger opened the front door, so we had some serious explaining to do.  It actually may be the one thing from this trip that the kids remember the best - watching their dad break into a hotel room by scaling the wall!

The parting shot tonight, is just well, cool.  Good night from Courmayeur.