Day 16 - Sixt Fer a Cheval to Chamonix

Tuesday 22nd September 

It was an interesting drive today from peace and tranquility of Sixt Fer a Cheval, through Cluses in the valley below, then the big climb up to Chamonix, in the French Alps, but bordering the Italian and Swiss Alps.

The road was a great experience but I had to keep telling myself not to take the slip road for the Mont Blanc road tunnel. For some reason I kept thinking I'd end up through the tunnel by accident finishing up in Italy and with a big bill for using the tunnel 😲

Anyway, I managed to control those negative thoughts and made it to the Carrefour supermarket in Chamonix village for some much needed supplies.

I can park and overnight here for free.

It's not especially scenic on the carpark, despite being directly beneath Mont Blanc, but it's only five minutes into the village centre, so it's an ideal place to spend the night.

Chamonix Village

After a walk around the village at lunchtime, I came to the conclusion I'm actually too close to Mont Blanc to actually see much of it.

But there is a cable car from the village centre that goes to l'Aiguille which is a peak next to Mont Blanc, just very slightly lower.

So after walking Louis we headed back to Ed to get a fleece jacket and headed back to the cable car.

What an experience, fast and efficient but ever so slightly frightening.

There's actually two cable cars, you change at a mid way point for the second one that goes as close to the summit as you can get. There are lots of options for walking around and taking in the dramatic scenery of such a brutal and unforgiving landscape.

Chamonix village dissapearing into the distance

Mont Blanc Europes highest peak at 4807m

French, Swiss and Italian Alps, what a fantastic view

I didn't get the elevator up there ! a step too far lol and I can't imagine the view was much different

Beautiful, but so brutal

There are also bars,  restaurants and souvenir shops of course.

I didn't bother wandering off too far, but went straight to the next cable car.

It's quite a complex up here and there is even an elevator that takes you up further to what looks like a mast on the top and a small viewing platform 😲

At this point a fear of heights was kicking in from somewhere, so I passed on the elevator.

It's surprising what the lack of oxygen does to you. I began to feel a little wobbly so I decided enough was enough and followed the return to Chamonix signs 😂

It was an unforgetable experience though and one I'm so glad I did.

I don't think I'd like to do it in winter with the wind blowing a gale though, it's about 27c in the village and 3c at the top.

What's amazing is how the engineers constructed all this infrastructure on the top of a mountain with sheer vertical rock faces, quite an achievement.

Here's a plan of what's up there

Anyway I was glad to be back in the village and Louis slept through the whole thing but was very pleased to see me.

I bought a bottle of the local brew for tonight, and tomorrow, it comes fitted with a bung to save drinking it all in one go, I suspect it's quite strong