Chamonix

Nestled into a valley in the Alps Mountains near where the borders of Switzerland and Italy are, there lies a jewel of a a village called Chamonix. It is at the base of Mont Blanc and it has all the charm one would expect from an Alpine skiing village. With fantastic vistas spread out no matter which direction you look, this is a postcard perfect place for capturing those moments you would like to last forever.

It was here that I got savor two treasures of the French culinary tradition, crepes and fondue.

These two words are definitely part of the American lexicon though I doubt that most people have actually a crepe or fondue in the wild. Crepes are thin, pancake like discs that are slightly sweet and are often rolled up with fruit or veggies and dusted with sugar though the one I had was open faced, covered with Grand Marnier and set on fire. Fondues are traditionally cheese melted down with wine and/or cognac in which bits of stale bread are dunked although I’ve had a version done with chocolate and strawberries and another with beef broth and flank steak. In either case, I left that town stuffed to the gills.

The coolest thing for me in Chamonix though was the gondola ride to the top of Mont Blanc. This is a mountain that we could see every day from our balcony at the chateau and is is visible for miles. As the tallest mountain in the Alps it is known as the Roof of Europe, and the summit is 15,782 feet above sea level. The gondola ride takes you up to Aiguille du Midi which is at an altitude of 12,602 feet above sea level. The photo to the right is looking up at the summit of Mont Blanc from Aiguille du Midi and mountaineers often take the gondola up and either finish the climb to the top or enjoy an afternoon hike back down to Chamonix.

One of the first things you notice coming off the gondola though is that breathing is very different than down on the valley floor. Somehow, you just have to take deep breaths to get the amount of oxygen that you’re used to. Not having done any type of altitude training prior to going up there, it takes the body a little time to adjust to the decided lack of oxygen at that altitude. By the time that we headed into the bar (yes there is a bar there) I felt able to breath normally which prompted me to have a couple of glasses of wine up there on the top of the world. All I can say is that I’m glad that I stayed away from the Jaegermeister shots prominently displayed in the establishment. That wine went to my head faster than just about anything I’ve ever drank. I hadn’t lost motor control but another glass most definitely would have caused significant problems. The cool thing though is that once back at the bottom it was if I hadn’t drank anything at all.