Lundi de Pâques: Chamonix-Mont Blanc et Annecy

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 11:47 PM Posted by Stephanie
Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter praising the Lord that “He has risen, He has risen indeed”!

In France, unlike in the US, Easter Monday (Lundi de Pâques) is a holiday, so instead of going to class, I enjoyed an excursion through my school to Chamonix Mont Blanc!

L'Aiguille du Midi, the glacier & Mont Blanc

And did you know that Mont Blanc is the 2nd most popular tourist site in all of France. Can you guess what is number one? I bet you think it is the Eiffel Tower in Paris right? Wrong! It is actually Mont St Michel, in Bretagne. And Patrick and I are going there in June; I cannot wait! After my study abroad experience, I can officially say that I have been to the top 2 tourist destinations in France!


It was an early morning, buses left at 7h30, but the weather could not have been any better! Clear blue skies, sunny and not terribly cold. Our first stop, however, was not at Mont Blanc, but in Annecy. Annecy was on my list of cities to visit, so this stop was perfect! We had about an hour there, so not too much time, but it was just enough. Annecy is a small town situated on Lake Annecy.

Lac d'Annecy
When we first were driving up to the town you couldn’t see anything and I was just thinking that it was a small French village and nothing much to it. But as soon as we turned the corner, we were head on with Lake Annecy and boy was it sparkling like diamonds in the sun with the mountain peaks in the background! Instantly I was ready to start exploring this adorable little town! Not only that, but there were canals and small bridges throughout the entire town as well! It reminded me of Venice, but on a much smaller scale of course.

Annecy

canalways

I walked around the town and took in the beauty of Annecy and also walked up to the chateau, but it was not open yet. The walk up was still worth it though to see the views!

I was able to walk around the park surrounding the lake as well. There were many statues and water fountains hidden in the park as well as a running/walking path right next to the lake where you could see the many paddle boats and canoes tied up along the shore. It was absolutely beautiful!


About an hour later, we made it to Mont Blanc and let me just say that it is even more spectacular than I remember! Back when we lived in Prague, my family visited Mont Blanc on our way from Italy to France and my Dad and I took the telepherique from the Italian side to the lookout point for Mont Blanc on the French side, but being on the French side of the mountain this time was a completely different feel for me. Mont Blanc seemed so much larger and prettier now than it did when I was younger as well as much steeper and higher. And for those of you who didn’t know, Mont Blanc is on the border of 3 countries: France, Italy and Switzerland and is 4810m high (about 15,780 ft)!

Mont Blanc in the background

  

I took the telepherique up to L’Aiguille du Midi, the lookout point, which is 3842 m high (12,598 ft). Chamonix, at the base of the mountain, is 1032m above sea level (about 3,385 ft) and to get up to the top it took about 15-20 minutes, super fast in my opinion!
Half way point (see the tip on the very top of the mountain? That's where I was going!)

Once I got up to the top, I then had to take an elevator up to the highest point of the mountain to see the best views of the valley! And want to guess how cold it was up there? -18˚C (-1˚F)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even with wearing gloves, my hands were burning from being so cold; it was ridiculous but I must say that the views totally made up for it! I didn’t stay up there for more than 10 minutes, but after, I went down to the several other lookouts to enjoy the magnificent views!

view from the top! Absoultely breathtaking!

I was up on the mountain for a few hours, then headed down to explore the city of Chamonix. Chamonix is an adorable little mountain town, with a stream running through the center of town and endless views of Mont Blanc from wherever you are. There was a lot of shopping you could do with some of the bigger name stores like Billabong, Roxy, Burton, North Face, etc and all of the buildings had that old, rustic, wooden feel, which made me feel like it was right out of a movie. And surprisingly, I heard more English being spoken than French. I mean this is an international city, but it just wasn’t something I was expecting.

Here are some pictures of the town of Chamonix: Enjoy!




I had a fantastic time and am so grateful the weather was so perfect and I was able to enjoy God’s creations! London this Thursday…cannot wait!!



Love,
Stephanie :)

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Lundi de Pâques: Chamonix-Mont Blanc et Annecy

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter praising the Lord that “He has risen, He has risen indeed”!

In France, unlike in the US, Easter Monday (Lundi de Pâques) is a holiday, so instead of going to class, I enjoyed an excursion through my school to Chamonix Mont Blanc!

L'Aiguille du Midi, the glacier & Mont Blanc

And did you know that Mont Blanc is the 2nd most popular tourist site in all of France. Can you guess what is number one? I bet you think it is the Eiffel Tower in Paris right? Wrong! It is actually Mont St Michel, in Bretagne. And Patrick and I are going there in June; I cannot wait! After my study abroad experience, I can officially say that I have been to the top 2 tourist destinations in France!


It was an early morning, buses left at 7h30, but the weather could not have been any better! Clear blue skies, sunny and not terribly cold. Our first stop, however, was not at Mont Blanc, but in Annecy. Annecy was on my list of cities to visit, so this stop was perfect! We had about an hour there, so not too much time, but it was just enough. Annecy is a small town situated on Lake Annecy.

Lac d'Annecy
When we first were driving up to the town you couldn’t see anything and I was just thinking that it was a small French village and nothing much to it. But as soon as we turned the corner, we were head on with Lake Annecy and boy was it sparkling like diamonds in the sun with the mountain peaks in the background! Instantly I was ready to start exploring this adorable little town! Not only that, but there were canals and small bridges throughout the entire town as well! It reminded me of Venice, but on a much smaller scale of course.

Annecy

canalways

I walked around the town and took in the beauty of Annecy and also walked up to the chateau, but it was not open yet. The walk up was still worth it though to see the views!

I was able to walk around the park surrounding the lake as well. There were many statues and water fountains hidden in the park as well as a running/walking path right next to the lake where you could see the many paddle boats and canoes tied up along the shore. It was absolutely beautiful!


About an hour later, we made it to Mont Blanc and let me just say that it is even more spectacular than I remember! Back when we lived in Prague, my family visited Mont Blanc on our way from Italy to France and my Dad and I took the telepherique from the Italian side to the lookout point for Mont Blanc on the French side, but being on the French side of the mountain this time was a completely different feel for me. Mont Blanc seemed so much larger and prettier now than it did when I was younger as well as much steeper and higher. And for those of you who didn’t know, Mont Blanc is on the border of 3 countries: France, Italy and Switzerland and is 4810m high (about 15,780 ft)!

Mont Blanc in the background

  

I took the telepherique up to L’Aiguille du Midi, the lookout point, which is 3842 m high (12,598 ft). Chamonix, at the base of the mountain, is 1032m above sea level (about 3,385 ft) and to get up to the top it took about 15-20 minutes, super fast in my opinion!
Half way point (see the tip on the very top of the mountain? That's where I was going!)

Once I got up to the top, I then had to take an elevator up to the highest point of the mountain to see the best views of the valley! And want to guess how cold it was up there? -18˚C (-1˚F)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even with wearing gloves, my hands were burning from being so cold; it was ridiculous but I must say that the views totally made up for it! I didn’t stay up there for more than 10 minutes, but after, I went down to the several other lookouts to enjoy the magnificent views!

view from the top! Absoultely breathtaking!

I was up on the mountain for a few hours, then headed down to explore the city of Chamonix. Chamonix is an adorable little mountain town, with a stream running through the center of town and endless views of Mont Blanc from wherever you are. There was a lot of shopping you could do with some of the bigger name stores like Billabong, Roxy, Burton, North Face, etc and all of the buildings had that old, rustic, wooden feel, which made me feel like it was right out of a movie. And surprisingly, I heard more English being spoken than French. I mean this is an international city, but it just wasn’t something I was expecting.

Here are some pictures of the town of Chamonix: Enjoy!




I had a fantastic time and am so grateful the weather was so perfect and I was able to enjoy God’s creations! London this Thursday…cannot wait!!



Love,
Stephanie :)

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