Up high in the Alps

Next up in our fun-filled France days was a high-speed tram up to the top of the Aiguille du Midi, super awesome!  A highlight for sure, one of the best touristy things to do while in Chamonix.

We put on all layers of warm clothes and stood as close to Mont Blanc as we could (without special equipment).  So thankful that we had clear skies and sunshine - and a great bunch of friends to share it with:

Next time we also want to try the little gondola balls that take people directly over a huge glacier and down into Italy:

An ice cave near the Aiguille, and I assume this sign says something like, "Don't even think about walking over here":

We had the best view of the valley and beyond, including the first few miles of the UTMB course over the Col de Voza (the little ski area on the left):

Peekaboo...

We took the tram halfway down, to the Plan de l'Aiguille, to start a hike.  And admire the mountain flowers:

Shedding some clothes and getting the lay of the land below:

We traversed along the mountainside to the north, enjoying the changing views and various shapes of rocks:

The Mer de Glace (sea of ice) glacier and another patented Dani pose - someone save this girl already  :)

Dani, John, and I ran down the hill while Cathy and Robyn took the cute little train.  The trail crossed the tracks and we happened to see the train at that spot:

Back together again, and now with the required baguette resupply (so French):

Last spring Robyn had asked about hut-to-hut hiking possibilities, and I managed one phone call in French to a lovely woman at a refuge (French hut) who helped me make a reservation.  Maybe in the future we can string together more overnights in the mountains, but for now I was happy with this minor accomplishment.  No internet reservation system for these!

On top of that, we were going to overnight at Miage, one of our favorite places in the Alps.  I had been there with my French friend Sandira many years ago (possibly once as a teenager and once on a Europe tour) and always remembered it as a special place.  I looked forward to sharing it with our friends.

Starting on our hike, we found the "start/finish" of the Tour du Mont Blanc trekking route - possibly the inspiration for the UTMB race:

I was guessing that the race would not take us up these stairs (it did not - there's a nearby dirt road climb instead), but we were following TMB (Tour du Mont Blanc) hiking signs:

Excellent yard art:

It's a steep climb up to the Col de Voza and I was happy to see that in advance of the race.  We had a bit of rain off and on that day, never too challenging and we still had good views:

But we don't have our ski passes, whatever will we do?

We had a wonderful hike over to the Contamines valley and were so excited to be spending the night at Miage.  We even had our own little chalet - so adorable!

Welcome to our hobbit house, with a downstairs bed and an upstairs bunk area, a sink and a toilet (plus shared showers available in another building) - love it!

Hard to believe there's another refuge even higher up, but this is Mont Blanc:

The Miage valley is so magical, with its serene ambience and water flowing everywhere.  We went for a walk to the large waterfall across the way:

The view back toward the refuge and distant ridge:

Also great was the evening meal.  Always nice to work up an appetite and then have an amazing supper.  A group shot while waiting for it to arrive:

It was so good, we ate without pausing for a photo - until dessert:

John discovered an older bathroom with a stand-over toilet like we remembered from our time living near Grenoble - we probably saw these mostly at ski areas.  Still a curiosity:

Robyn is curious too.  Between this and the Grand Canyon groover, it's any wonder she doesn't ditch us for friends who have only normal toilets.

Starting our hike out the next morning - thank you Miage!

John and I took Dani over the hill to Le Truc ("the thing") that we had last seen during the 2008 Grande Traversee des Alpes stage race:

Typical Alpine setting with cows:

We found Robyn and Cathy further down and continued our trek to the valley and toward St Gervais.  I didn't know it at the time, but the trail we followed turned out to be part of the UTMB course.  Yay for unintended race scouting!

We saw some parapente people (paragliders), although they are almost invisible in the sky in this picture:

I always enjoy roaming around St Gervais, ever since I stayed here with Sandira and her family when I was in high school.  Such a quaint and fun little town:

Turns out there are permanent orienteering courses in some of the parks here, so we took a picture of one of the controls:

Back in Les Houches at the end of our wonderful 2-day hike:

Our friends took a trip to Lake Como in Italy for a few days, so John and I had to entertain ourselves.  Seemed like a good time to do some UTMB race scouting, so we headed to the train station (which, of course, has a view of Mont Blanc):

Our train brought us over the hill to Vallorcine, the last crew aid station of the race, and we trekked back to Chamonix on the trails.  It was a fun hiking day, plus I would be very glad to have already seen the end section of the course by the time I got here during the race.

Especially the big climb up from the col - it's rocky, steep, exposed to the sun, and can seem never-ending if you're tired (like after running ~90 miles).  Finally up on flatter terrain:

Such a pretty place, glad we had time to take it in together:

John and I made a detour above the race course to visit the Lac Blanc - I'd seen a postcard photo, which is how we have found several of our more memorable hiking destinations.  On our way there, with many more hikers than we were used to seeing, walking around Lac de Cheserys (which also has a rather spectacular backdrop):

It was worth braving the crowds up the little ladders, finding a relatively quiet snack spot above the lake and watching the birds who were watching for crumbs:

Apparently an iconic picture-taking location:

We descended back to the race route and over to the Flegere refuge, marveling that the hiking/running trail goes right across the outdoor patio of a café along the way.  So European.  I was happy to see the final UTMB descent down into town, and then we walked over to see the start/finish line under construction:

Seen in a bakery - but not purchased (no need to get ahead of myself):

August 2022 was shaping up to be a really good month.

A taste of France and Italy

In August we were fortunate to spend 3 weeks based out of Chamonix, France for my UTMB race.  Even better, Robyn, Cathy, and Dani came along for the first two weeks!  We had a tremendous time exploring the Alps.  I've always wanted to stay in that valley and really get to know the area.  So happy we were able to make it work and our friends were able to join us.

I have a zillion photos from those weeks that I'm attempting to pare down.  Still, this needs to be a series of posts to break it into something manageable.

One of the great things about the Alps is the ability to take a tram halfway up the side of the mountain and then go hiking from there.  The Chamonix valley has a whole bunch of options for that, and we took advantage of many of them.  Our first hike started from Plan Praz, already with great views all around:

Never getting enough of this scenery:

We had to pause for a photo at the Col du Brevent, remembering our two passes through here during the Grande Traversee des Alpes in 2006 and 2008:

I loved climbing up the ladders and explaining how this was part of a race we did:

Over to the switchback trail on the way down toward Les Houches where we were staying:

The Christ Roi statue that we could see from our house across the valley:

Robyn did an amazing job creating delicious meals using various fresh items from the market - so very French!

I believe this is us walking to the train station the next morning, a bit of Abbey Road in France:

We had been looking forward to a via ferrata course, something new for our friends.  There were various levels of comfort with this idea...

John led the way up the first easy section while we discussed how it's totally natural in Europe to let people loose on something like this, without a waiver or anything:

Cathy the rock climber loved it, Dani was a little scared but intrigued, and Robyn managed to make it through even though I think she was terrified at times.  Thank you John for helping us figure it out!

The first cable crossing, and I'm guessing Too Cool Racing would love to add this to one of their adventure race courses if they could:

Getting higher and steeper:

The most scenic via ferrata course I've even seen, and a hilarious pose from Dani:

John took pictures while ON the long cable crossing, and it's rather amazing he still has the same phone after all this time (and I perhaps just jinxed him):

John's view back to Robyn and Cathy (and more amazing mountains):

Phew, that was awesome and at least a couple of us were relieved to be done!  I snagged a shot of the long cable crossing with Mont Blanc in the background, so pretty!

Yay team, we did it!

The view from the back patio of our AirBnB never ceased to inspire us.  We loved where we were staying:

Next up - Italy!  We took a bus through the tunnel for a day trip to Aosta.  Just a little experience in another country for some different food, a different language (my favorite language), and some exploration of really old places.  We bought tickets to a set of archeological sites, including this underground area:

It was neat seeing ruins through the eyes of people who hadn't been to Europe before.  Just a small glimpse of all the ancient wonders and things to see in all the countries on this continent:

We sampled a bunch of the local food, including a very small (and very strong) cup of Italian coffee - yep, that's about the right amount!  I didn't even ask if they had decaf.

Modern art:

And the grand Italian finale, the best pizza of the entire trip (Pizzeria Farina Del Mio Sacco).  Thank you for finding this place, Robyn!

I'd say we were off to a good start!

New York City!

Last year while floating down the Grand Canyon on a raft, Robyn and I talked about how we enjoy New York City, and wouldn't it be fun to see more of it together?  Eventually we concocted a scheme to spend several days there on our collective journey to France, along with John plus Cathy and their daughter Dani.  I love it when a plan comes together.

The mural outside our AirBnB in Brooklyn (and life imitating art, as we do):

Ready to roam around the city together:

While moseying along on the Highline Trail (a place we almost always go), we spied something new.  The Little Island - recently constructed and covered in plants and winding walkways.  And things to stare at:

Skyline view from the Little Island:

What a neat spot!  Every city could use more greenery and peaceful places:

Even the underside of the island is interesting to look at, reminding us of the Crowley Lake columns near Bishop, CA:

Back on the Highline Trail, checking out the street running underneath:

Construction appears to be complete at Hudson Yards and The Shed as well:

A brief pause at the library, another respite from city crowds:

There was a funny series of bug-related comics on display there, including cicadas getting shushed by a librarian:

John and I were super excited to get to see The Music Man on Broadway - so entertaining!  Hugh Jackman was great fun, Sutton Foster was wonderful, and they made each other (and us) laugh all evening.  The kids in the show are incredibly talented.  And as we were walking around the theater afterward, we happened to catch sight of Mr. Jackman exiting the building and waving to fans from his car - love it!

Found my subway stop:

Going back and forth from Brooklyn to Manhattan, we spent some time near the river about every day, and we always like the views of the bridges from various angles:

On a walk in Domino Park:

I had put in for lottery tickets to John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" show taping but had not heard back so I figured we didn't get in.  Then the evening beforehand I got an email - would we be able to make it?  Why yes, we sure could!  We were so excited, we got there early and snagged the first place in line:

How lucky it this?  Another awesome NYC experience, this time in a small theater where we were quite close to the stage.  We had to wait a while for it to start (apparently the lawyers were clearing up a legal question), then John Oliver came out to chat with us before taping began.  The process was fascinating, from watching the teleprompter, trying to figure out how John can talk so quickly and time everything right, to seeing the retakes and laughing at John's riffs.  Highly recommend.

On my Sunday morning run I randomly happened to come across the Brooklyn Mile race, so of course I had to check it out - there were some speedsters out there:

The group of us rented e-bikes, toured around Brooklyn, met friends at Prospect Park for a little food festival, then cycled over the Brooklyn Bridge to the Staten Island Ferry.  On our way south:

None of us had been to Staten Island before, so the bit of roaming we did near the ferry terminal was new and different.  Apparently not photo-worthy, however.

Something else new for us - we took a water taxi back to Brooklyn with a view of the skyline at sunset:

Only slightly windy:

A bit of exploring in Williamsburg on Monday morning before heading to the airport - thank you John for this fun photo:

And thank you Robyn, Cathy, and Dani for all the pizza and black & white cookie experiments and an entertaining few days in the big city!