Warning! This is a bit of a pedestrian post (albeit with some pretty pictures), one of those daily diary type entries. This is good because things are just nice and good (apart from some head colds of varying severity 😕)
We’ve been in Chamonix for nearly 2 weeks now. That’s not a very long time, but I feel that we’re settling in quickly. The weather has helped: it’s been pretty much perfect, sunny most days, cool and crisp, around freezing in the morning. The kids are being little troopers with their new school. Crystal has done an amazing job of researching and registering the kids in activities that they want to do. Toby has already been to a hockey practice and a handball practice and Felicity started patinage artistique yesterday. Unfortunately, as seems to be the norm when we move to a new place, a round of colds has gone through the family. Crystal has had this the worst and it’s really put a dent in the activities that she’s been able to do. Meanwhile I feel like the proverbial kid in a candy store. From our apartment you can look out the window and see 3000 metre mountains just begging to be explored. We know that snow will fall soon on the higher ground so it feels like every one of these beautiful autumnal sunny days needs to be used.
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Descending from the Aiguillette des Posettes looking back down the valley towards Chamonix
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| Earlier on the same hike, the Swiss border at Col de Balme |
We are also finding our way around Chamonix. It’s official population is only around 8000 but with so many tourists it has a glut of outdoor sports shops, restaurants and cafés as well as all the day-to-day things that we need like groceries. We don’t have a car but it really doesn’t feel like we need one. We even have the carte d'hote which allows us to take the bus and train up and down the valley for free. We've already taken the train as far as we can in both directions: Servoz on the way down the valley to Geneva and Vallorcine just over the end of this valley.
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The view from our bedroom window
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Our apartment by the athletic track, from the Petit balcon sud
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| Petit balcon sud |
We had a lovely day last Sunday. We've bought a fancy Bluetooth/wifi speaker and a subscription to Spotify. This has created hours of entertainment for the kids which is great, as we had been doing them a disservice by not having enough music in their lives. Anyway, I took advantage of their portion of the lazy Sunday morning and took myself for a run which I really enjoyed, a nice loop along the river up onto the Petit balcon sud along and back down. I then took the kids and a soccer ball to check out where the paragliders land and to take a walk through the forest, which is a couple hundred metres from our front door. Wherever you are in Chamonix you can always see the mountains around you and you’re always aware of the beauty of this place.
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Taking a walk in the valley. This is where the paragliders land, by the dozens
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| Everywhere, mountains |
So, all good for now: perfect weather, plenty of activities for everyone, a nice comfortable apartment with a cool new sound system. Looking forward to welcoming our first visitor on Thursday. Will probably break out the raclette. And then try to show her some of the highlights that we’ve discovered so far.
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Grand balcon nord on a solo hike. The same route we took to the hut, but in the opposite direction
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| Close to Montenvers on the trail from the Plan d'Aiguille |
PS I am writing this as I hike along the Petit Belcon Nord, a thousand metres above Chamonix. Crystal is still too sick to be out and about too much so I’m on my own, and enjoying text to speech!
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Walking from the Vallorcine train station back to Le Buet on a crisp Wednesday morning
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Portrait mode, lovely
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| Just a super little walk, evocative of plodding across frosty fields in England, minus the mountains |
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