More Chamonix, by Holly

In Chamonix I really enjoyed relaxing and working at the hotel while David was off on his adventures! (See previous post for that.) Besides his terrifying cable car ride up the mountain, he also took a funicular ride to the Mer de Glace ("Sea of Ice"), which is one of Chamonix's major attractions. It's a glacier that runs through the valley and is pretty impressive.

And on our last full day in Chamonix we went on an hour-long hike up to another glacier, Les Bossons. The hike through the woods was beautiful, although quite steep. As we got closer to the top, the altitude made me feel even more out of shape than I am!





But we were rewarded with a great view of the glacier, which was quite impressive. David liked it better than the Mer de Glace because we could get closer to this one. I don't think I've ever seen a glacier before. Even in the cloudy weather it was brilliantly blue in places, and there were several crazy people climbing on it.



One afternoon while driving into town we had another new experience - a random breathalyser test! David loved it - he'd never done that before and thought it was terribly interesting. Plus he hadn't had any alcohol in several days, so no worries there! A policeman pointed for us (and several other cars) to pull over at a roundabout, then came up to the window and gave us a spiel in French, which seemed to explain its justification under French law. David parlez-vous-anglais-ed him, and the policeman laughed and said, "A leetle." He asked to see a driver's license, then David had to blow into the thingy for seven seconds. He registered 0.0, and we were off. I think this is a great idea - police shouldn't have to wait for drunk drivers to swerve before catching them!

And finally, another major highlight of Chamonix was our re-introduction to the wonders of the French bakery. Our eyes were like saucers as we gazed upon the croissants, the breads, the quiches, the tarts, the chocolate cakes, the custards.... There are some nice things to be had in German and Italian bakeries, but nothing compares to France when it comes to making magic with flour, butter and sugar.



Our favorite bakery was called Aux Petits Gourmands, which we visited more than once!


Not everything we picked out was sinful (although most of it was). In addition to pastries, we got this small loaf of nutty wholegrain bread that was so soft and delicious. With some Swiss cheese and strawberry jam from a grocery store across the street, it made excellent breakfasts at the hotel.


But my favorite was this local specialty called Croix de Savoie - flaky pastry with vanilla custard. Whoa.