Today saw us leaving Bourg d'Oisan, head over a couple of mountain ranges, down a stretch of autoroute, turn right at Albertville, then head north and turn right to get to Saint Gervais les Bains. It was bound to be a gorgeous drive as we were going over the Col de la Croix de Fer that Neil rode earlier during our Bourg stay, however when Neil rode it there was very low cloud and it was covered in snow. Today had a very different look as the skies were clear blue. The drive did not disappoint and was stunning, with ever changing scenery with gorges, twisty roads, and open paddocks with grazing cattle. There was even a lake to add to the beauty.
When we were about 30 minutes from our new home in St Gervais les Bains we turned off the main road to cross over valleys. This is when we saw our first sighting of the grandaddy of all the French mountains - Mont Blanc. It was enormous and covered in snow sparkling in the afternoon sun. I instantly thought these mountains are something special. We made it to our accommodation in great time as it was the shortest drive between houses and luckily the chalet was empty the week before so we could get in early. The website for the chalet does not do it justice at all. It is the top floor of a traditional Swiss-style chalet, all wood with huge chunky beams everywhere (the lower ones Neil curses as he keeps bumping his head). It has three huge double bedrooms all with ensuites (Callum thinks it is really cool he has his own shower and toilet). The chalet is in a small hamlet of about 5 chalets just off the road, so very quiet. We look down the valley to the valley below from one balcony, and have views of snow peaked mountains from the other. After a quick debrief from the chalet company representatives, we unloaded our car, had a quick lunch in the chalet, then headed off to Chamonix so Neil could pick up his latest rental bike. Driving through the valley to Chamonix, Mont Blanc dominated the view with it's many glaciers (thank goodness again for the panoramic glass roof on our car). Chamonix is quite a built up little city catering for everything tourists and adventurers need, from skiing to mountain biking to paragliding (it was constantly raining paragliders from the skies above us), and looks like it could become quite lively in the evenings. I have to share that I had the most delicious apple crumple ice cream while taking in the sights of Chamonix and am looking forward to an encore when we go back. Anyway, ice creams eaten and bike collected we headed home to unpack and settle in to our new digs.
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