Oldies On Tour

Up early this morning, as we were advised that to go up in the cable car, it was better

Aiguille Du Midi cable car

to leave about 7am, so I walked the dogs, Geoff made the tea, breakfast was going to be taken on the top of the mountain, we did notice whilst we were drinking the tea, that the cable car had not moved, but we walked around the corner, to see this huge queue, and to find that they were having trouble with the electricity!!  We waited for thirty minutes, I was in the cable car queue, Geoff was in the queue for the tickets, we waited another half an hour, and still no movement, so we decided to go back via the bakers for breakfast. About 9am I took the dogs for a long walk in the woods, they had a good chase around, I

Aiguille Du Midi Car Park

then noticed the cable car had started to move, so when I got back we re-joined a queue, and waited for our turn, it did not take long, and because they were packing us in like sardines, (50 per car) we were soon heading up the mountain.  With a bit of skilful planning, we managed to get on first, instead of

Aiguille Du Midi

pushing in, we held back, and managed to stand right in the front, it was amazing.  We quickly rose to 2317m in the first

Aiguille Du Midi

cable car, and we had to transfer to another one, where we rose to 3842m, the top of Mont Blanc is 4810m. The scenery, was absolutely indescribable, all I could keep saying is WOW!!  The temperature was 15 degrees at the bottom, and 0 degrees at the top, we had been warned about this, and had dressed accordingly. When we approached the top, it seemed we were going to hit the side of the mountain, it was the scariest bit, and both Geoff and I were struggling for breath, it was a horrible feeling, but was not going to deter us at this point.

Wow! Just amazing

We had been advised to go on the Panoramic route, which goes over the top, and into Italy, so onto another cable car, this time, there was just four of us, and we happened to get another Welsh couple, so that was good.  We had to pay an extra 24 Euros for this trip, and it was worth all the money, and possibly

Amazing views from the top

more. How they have managed to build the cable cars up there we have no idea, but so glad they have.  It was so peaceful up there, and so magnificent, neither of us could think of words to describe it, the scenic route took about 45 minutes, you could just make out people camping in the snow, wouldn’t fancy that, but all seemed very happy, maybe 20 years ago!, A lot of people go up in the cars, and walk down, which is fine, if you have a guide with you, but

Crevices opening

dangerous.  There were huge crevices opening, in the glacier, guess that is where the snow is melting, but it was all just amazing.  When we came of this cable car, we were both feeling

Fabulous views

short of breath, I was feeling queasy as well, not sure if I was hungry, or the altitude, anyway we went and bought a roll and a drink, which seemed to help, although we still struggled to breath properly, obviously not fit!! We then did the return trip, well it just seemed to drop straight down, and we went through the clouds, which were funny, and down to the

Aiguille Du Midi

next level, where we entered the last cable car, what an experience, well worth the money, just for the scenery alone.

Back to ‘Rosie’ walk the dogs, then we had to go out again, we had bought a one day pass, which meant we could do other

Sooty and Geoff on the Mountain Train

trips, so we were going on Montenvers – Mer De Glace a gentle 1913m, we catch a mountain train, so we can take the dogs with us. Catch the free bus, and go to stop 18, which is the railway station, then over a bridge to another line, and onto the mountain train, it took us 20 minutes to get to the top, certainly not a patch on the other trip, but as it was all thrown in, we

Montenvers Mer De Glace

thought we would make the effort.  We caught the cable car with the dogs this time, to go down to the glaciers, but as

Glacier

there were 380 steps to go down and then come back we decided against it, as we had been in one in the morning. Once you have been on the Aiguilles Du Midi, everything else will seem tame, but we walked around, had a cup of tea and we shared another roll, and then caught the train and bus back. As we got off the bus, there was a beagle running loose, which was annoying Sooty, well Sooty grabbed his ear, and would not let it go, despite us shouting at him, anyway the owner apologized and we helped him catch his dog, Sooty is in disgrace for biting. Back at home, Geoff made me a lovely cuppa, and we just relaxed, oh boy a fantastic day to remember

We have experienced our first day of bad weather since we left Catriona and Mike’s in May, how dare it!!  Reminds me of Blighty, and all the bad weather they have had this summer!      We spent the day doing jobs, washing etc., cleaning; it was actually quite nice to stay still for the day. The evening was spent playing games, eating, and drinking.

Off to bed, when suddenly we heard the rain lashing against ‘Rosie’, then the thunder and lightning, this was when Bella joined me for reassurance!,  then an almighty crash, (5am) we first thought we had been hit by something, maybe a tree, we both jumped out of bed, looked out of the windows, then opened the door, to find our awning blocking our entrance, it was ripped one end, and the extending arm had broken off, fortunately one of our tables had taken most of the  impact, so only table ruined, did not damage the van, Geoff wound it in a bit, then we left it, to sort in the morning.  Needless to say, I spent the rest of the night, thinking about how we could get out of this one!!

Up first thing, and we borrowed a pair of steps from the owners of the campsite, our neighbour’s had also been woken by the noise, and fortunately offered to help, we had to completely put the awning out, to start again, Geoff was winding, I was on the steps, and Steve and Wendy were holding up the corner that was broken.  We almost got it in, but not quite so had to start again, this time I was on winding duty, Steve was up the ladder, and Geoff was holding the dodgy corner tightly, this time it went in perfectly. Repairs to be done when we return to Spain, we are going to buy an umbrella for a sunshade.

Chamonix

After breakfast we packed everything away, and moved onto Chamonix, we parked in a huge car park, which has all the facilities, except electricity, this allows you to either walk into town, or take the free bus, they encourage tourists in France, unlike England, there are about fifty Motor homes here at present, all bringing money into the Town, paying 12 Euros to stay overnight, plus anything up to 100 Euros for ski passes, we are going to catch the cable car tomorrow to the Aiguille Du Midi, very exciting.

After lunch we took the bus to town, and wandered around, Chamonix it is interesting

Chamonix

Chamonix

going to different places, and seeing different things.  They had water rafting, the river was running quite fast after all the rain yesterday, and everyone seemed to be enjoying it.

Lots of restaurants, and cafés, shops with lots of different cheese’s and meats, I sent Geoff in to buy some, but he said they were very expensive. A mixture of shops, with expensive clothes, and walking boots, jackets, in the winter I guess it would be all the ski accessories.

Chamonix

We stopped for a cup of tea, and of course we had a fresh cream cake between us, as we are going out later for a meal, it was scrummy.

We meandered back to Rosie, checking at the times of the cable car, as the weather is overcast, but a comfortable 24 degrees, it has been a very pleasant day.

Walked to the bus stop again, hopped on, and went into Town, we looked at all the restaurants, and ended up down by the river, a fantastic

Chamonix

ambiance, they had a three piece group playing music, and the menu was really good.  I had French Soup, Duck which was cooked to perfection and a lemon pancake to finish, Geoff had 12 snails, Roast Lamb, and a Grand Marnier Pancake, followed by special brandies, very nice, plus Geoff treated me! Feel a bit squiffy now though, one too many wines, still I should sleep tonight.

Tramway station with toilets

Having taken the dogs out, and left them with the air-conditioning on, we set off down to St.Gervais, where we were to catch our tram to the highest point we could go on Mont Blanc. Straight to the ticket office to purchase the tickets, to find the 11.40am was not running,  we would have to wait until 12.45pm, so having our tickets we decided to grab some lunch back at the campsite, walk the dogs again, and leave later. When we returned, there was quite a queue for the train, and we were thinking we would probably have to stand, but there was plenty of room for all. What a fascinating journey, slowly climbing up, the views were spectacular, and still

Mont Blanc views

we kept climbing.  We stopped at several stops on route, then eventually stopped one stop before the end, 

apparently they could not get right to the top, as they were doing repairs, which was a shame, because we wanted to see the glacier, we took some pictures from the top, and then caught the tram back.  The journey up to 2115m took 45 minutes, so the trip was well worth doing, but we were both disappointed

not to see more, perhaps if we come back, we will do it again.

Back to base, where Geoff cooked a barbecue, sausages and lamb chops, we had a lovely bottle of wine, plus some brandy. We played dominoes Jane’s way, which meant I was always had minus points, but it was funny, I then went to bed very light headed.

Mont Blanc Area

Having had the day yesterday, not doing much, we loaded the  bikes again, after we had been shopping in Aix Le Bains, we left this morning about 8am, we had to be out of campsite by 9am, to avoid paying for another day.

We have headed north again, and are going exploring around Mont Blanc tomorrow, we

St.Gervais Camp Site

hope to catch a little train, and go up as high as we can, so we have to find some warmer clothes, and walking boots, the temperature has certainly dropped now, we are about 25 degrees today, they are even threatening rain!

St.Gervais Camp Site

Our journey has taken us nearly two hours, and we have twisted our way up this mountain, with hairpin bends, and drops that I did not like, I hate these sorts of roads, eventually we found the campsite, having had to phone the owners first, we had not gone far enough, just keep coming up the mountain he said.  It is a lovely site with lovely big pitches, when we found ours, we thought it was atleast two, so we have spread ourselves around, as we will be here for a few days.  The dogs are happy as they are on grass again, and it is definitely cooler here.

In the afternoon, we took the bikes for a ride into town, we had a wander around, but not

St Gervais

much to see, we stopped for a drink, 9 Euros for a small beer, and an orangina, we are definately in tourist land now.

We then went on to a little place called Megéve, again, we had to do the twisty roads, on the map it looked straight, which is why I suggested it,  10km of twists and turns, with cars  trying to overtake us, bit scary, but we did it.  There

Megéve

was an international horse jumping show going on, not quite what we were expecting, we wondered around there, then got on the bikes, and found the village.  It was very tiny, very pretty, looked very expensive, in fact someone described it as the Monaco of Mont Blanc, they had several horse drawn carts going around, as no vehicles were allowed, but we managed to go further than most, only because we were on the bikes, it was certainly worth the effort.

Back at the site, we walked the dogs, and then had a lazy evening.

Today we did some more washing, and cleaning, then set off to find a place that we had been to a couple of years ago with Herbert and Liz.

Annecy

We set of for Aix Le Bain, thinking it was there, but we could not find it, and we

Annecy

followed the Annecy road, eventually after driving 26 miles, we ended up in the centre of Annecy, what a pretty place, a tiny village on a river, with lots of shops and lots of tourists.

Annecy

We strolled around, enjoying the ambience of it all, another vibrant place, with lots of little bridges, over the river, the pictures will give you a better idea.  We stopped and had a cup of cider, yes cup, very strange, Geoff had a lemonade, and an ice-cream, I resisted the temptation, but ate half of his instead.

It is the first time we have been on the bikes in such a busy area, we were stuck in traffic, drove on the cycle lanes, and today we became proper bikers, over-taking everyone and getting to the front of the queues.

Set of back, the round trip was over 52 miles,  we are really glad we bought the bikes, it has enabled us to see lots of places, that we would not be able to go to with Rosie, so another good investment.

Not sure where we had our picnic Liz and Herbert, but Annecy was well worth the visit.

Jobs all done, we are off again on our travels, the scenery is amazing, and although we have only done 80 miles, the landscape has changed again, the nearer we get to the

Journey to the Alps

Journey north

Alps the greener everywhere gets. We still have the traditional trees lining the roads, and the fields of sunflowers, but the backdrop of the mountains are lovely.

We arrived at about 11am, quickly sorted ourselves out, and then did the boring things, like changed the sheets, washing, and cleaning, whilst Geoff was doing the water and the looe.  We have most facilities here, it is an Aire, but next door to a campsite, so you can use their showers etc., we have no electric, and we do not think you can use the generator, so Geoff cannot have his coffee, but we are back on wifi, and our log is once again up to date.

Le Bourget Du Lac

We went for a walk with the dogs,past a sailing club, but the lake has been turned into a private beach, and dogs are not allowed, which is fair enough, so we headed to some woods, where we found an observation post (hide) with

Le Bourget Du Lac Reservation

views over a reservation, with loads of different birds enjoying the wetlands area.

Today has been catch up day, tomorrow we will start exploring again, we both had long awaited showers, and an early night.