I don't have much of an oragnising structure for this blog, sometimes it's a week or so catch-up, other times a cobbled together theme of rumination, and every so often it's a whole post dedicated to one big walk. As is so this time.
I'd be flattering myself if I thought the kids would someday read these blogs and reminisce on the year when their parents uprooted them and traipsed them around the world. But if they did, I wouldn't want them to think that we had our best days when they were in school! There is a trade off: when we do things altogether, or one-on-one parent-child, there is an indefinable richness to the experience, something that only the effervescent presence of the little humans who we have toiled to bring into the world, keep safe, and nurture into themselves can bring. When I do something individually, or as a couple, there is a cost to the freedom, a feeling of something missing, a part of us missing, Felicity and Toby's irridescent energy and the fizzing playfulness of their minds, missing. But that freedom is still good, the freedom to go hard, to go long and to spread our own adult size wings. And if the whole family is 100%, on my own I am 10% (a lonely shell of my family self!), but with my wife it's more like 50% (I'm not sure it's meant to work like that, but maybe you get the point). It was good again to spend the day together.
Let's have some pictures before the write-up:
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| Going up, looking toward the Mont Blanc side of the valley, a little windier than it has been |
The kids are in school only 4 days a week because they have long days, 8.30-4.30. This means that we have just under 8 hours to pound out a grand hike. And so, 9 minutes after drop off on Friday, we were on the bus to Argentiere and by 9.15 we were passing the sign that said 3.5hrs to Lac Blanc. We knew from experience that these were conservative estimates but we also knew we had 1200m of vertical to digest. The strategy on these long ascents is slow and steady, and stop every hour for water and a stretch.
And so it was that, despite a couple of wrong turns, a brief snack break and a few necessary clothing refinements (there is a sharpness to this late October chill at times), we reached Lac Blanc shortly after 12. This was our second big mountain hike since about a decade ago, the first being a couple of weeks ago to the Brevent. Like that day, this certainly didn't disappoint and it reminded us of a photo of the two of us some 13 years ago on a Venture Europe trip by another Alpine lake. That picture still serves as our screen saver at home, reminding us of how we met and where our passions lie. It's so good to be back in this majestic landscape, and all the better for having achieved so many of the hopes and dreams that our 30 year old selves held all those years ago.
We spent 20 minutes revelling in the drama and serenity of these ancient mountains, as well as one or two minutes rueing the fact that we didn't have an hour or two more to loaf around this scenic living room. Then it was time to pack up the picnic, take a couple more pictures and start the long descent back to the valley. Planning as we were to take the bus from a stop closer to Chamonix, our return route took us through the earthmoving scars and metalwork of the Flegere ski area, before ducking off onto a pretty, mossy and rocky path down through the forest. A final jog along the road ensured that we caught an earlier bus which left us with a precious extra half hour to shower, drink tea and become momentarily horizontal-with-good-book, all before pick up. There was still a hockey practice and prep for the weekend tournament to orchestrate, but all these family obligations run a little smoother buoyed by the satisfaction of a grand day out, chez life partner!
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