Chamonix 3.2022

 Dear S + P,

Sorry your ski trip to Chamonix France was postponed 2x due to Covid, but it was my fortune to be able to spend time with you and travel there from Morges.

Oh how happy I was to plan a trip to meet NYU BFF in France.  We don't ski-but had the time of our lives exploring Chamonix.  Two MUST-DO'S

1. Cable Car up to Aiguille du Midi
2. Little red choo-choo train to Glace de Mer

Ever since S told me they were staying at :

I followed on IG and saw cabaret ladies and partying every day like this:

I took this pix, yes we were there!

Train took about 3 hours & we had to change 2x but made all connections comfortably

We researched other hotels which would be a bit more quiet but figured it would be better to stay at the same hotel so we could hang out.  So glad we did, every day we were greeted by breakfasts like this and furiously snuck sandwiches out for lunch.  On the last day we got massages/facials 😃

OMG this is our 1st impression of Chamonix, so beautiful it doesn't look real.

ALLRIGHT! Time for girlfriends to meet!  We haven't' seen each other since my Dad's funeral

Mussels, fondue, raclette everywhere

Night #1 S + P had a group dinner so we ventured out & found mussels

Day 1 took Cable Car (2, we had to change 1x) to Aiguille du Midi.  In the summer you can take a 3rd to Italy (we will be back)

Cable Car straight up to Aiguille du Midi

Many skied down.  Saw lines of people waiting to go down, reminded me of people climbing Mt. Everest

So beautiful we couldn't stop taking pix, like kids in a candy store.

We rested a bit we took the Cable Car back down; then got lost looking for the train to Glace de Mer. Train station is behind the main Chamonix train station over a green bridge.  A train just arrived and we were surrounded by old people with walking sticks so knew the next train would be crowded.  Only one problem our tickets didn't work in the turnstile so the lady told us to go around and buy new tickets.  We were furious since we purposefully bought the one day combo tickets to save money.

I saw people buying tickets in the machine and bought a whole new ticket to go to Mer de Glace which was expensive!  Over 50 Euro.  When I showed the lady at the turnstile she gasped in exasperation and probably said, "Stupid tourist", closed the gate so no one else could go through and ran us to the ticket counter to someone who spoke English.  She said we bought the wrong tickets - we were meant to just pay an extra 3 Euro for the combo ticket and we would have to write to the main office for a refund.  She tried to show us how to fill out the form and took pity on us and refunded our money in CASH-Euro, jackpot.  Yes, there are still NICE PEOPLE in this world! Thank you.

By this time S's sciatica snapped in and she had to sit down.  They ended up not going with us and waved as we ran and the original ticket lady let us get on this packed train.  Felt bad leaving them behind but they went and had a nice lunch.

The train was so crowded David and I didn't sit together but then realized we could have--it was a beautiful, magical ride.

You basically had to walk down steps for 30 minutes to get to the ice cave.

Kept wanting to stop and take pix but David said we should do that on the way up as we rested.  Smartly laid out, not straight up but horizontal platforms (i.e.; flat 😆) with benches for resting.  We made alot of friends on those benches. These are skiers walking all the way back up with heavy boots

These dumb tourists from Paris asked us to take their pix so D did.  When we asked them to take our pix the man didn't wait for his wife to get out of the way so we have all these pix of us with his wife's back to us. 😒

Here's the pix the man took with the wife cropped out

It was so cool inside

See the cave all the way in the back?

Due to global warming, the snow and ice have all melted here.  😢😢

Disappointed we had dinner at the restaurant to see the cabaret show but never saw this!  Luckily they walked into the restaurant just as we were outside and got to see some!

Some things never change.  Girls just want to have fun.

So happy to stumble in to this restaurant after being turned away from the Michelin star restaurant.

Local specialty of bread pudding wrapped in BACON

David's veal chop was the best

This was the best.  Local salad with a soft cooked egg & you guessed it, loads of BACON!

Last night around the firepit.  So much fun, yes we hung out like the young people

Oh the memories!  I want to go back in the summer.  Thank you S + P.