Geneva

We woke up Friday morning and after enjoying our last breakfast at the Park Hotel Suisse in Chamonix we boarded a bus for Geneva. We had our day all planned out. Check in to the hotel and then explore the city's top tourist spots... the Jed d'Eau (large fountain on the edge of Lake Geneva), the Horloge Fleurie (clock made of flowers), the Cathedral Saint-Pierre, and then explore Old Town. Things did not go as planned. We checked in to the hotel ok and headed out on foot stopping for lunch in Old Town.

While we were enjoying the warmth inside the weather outside, cold already, took a turn for the worse. The wind kicked up and started to snow with little snow flakes pelting our eyes. But we're only in Geneva for one day so we put our heads down and went in search of the Cathedral first because it was nearby. While we found the Cathedral, we never found the entrance. We walked the entire perimeter and never saw a door to enter.

Next we headed towards the fountain but as we neared we noticed it wasn't running. Apparently once the temperature drops below -2 degrees celcius, the fountain is turned off. At least we knew how cold it was...

We approached the flower clock only to find it covered with snow so you couldn't see any flowers. So we returned to old town to explore the shops and enjoy the city. However, most shops were closed but we were able to stop into a few to warm up occasionally.

The weather seems to be getting worse the longer we stay in Europe so I guess it is a good thing that it is time to return home to sunny-ish San Francisco.

Into the Whiteness

Have you ever heard those stories about pilots that are caught in cloud and lose all perspective? They can no longer tell which way is up and unless they learn to trust their instruments they fly into the side of a mountain or into the ocean or something? I never really understood this phenomenon until today. We got off the gondola at the Flegere resort and all we saw was white. We were standing in the middle of a cloud and could barely see a few feet in front of us. But since we paid for the day and had not skied this part of the mountain we decided to give it a try. Although we couldn't see it at the time, there was a chair about 50 feet in front of us and we took it further up the mountain and we thrilled when we exited the cloud and were surrounded by blue skies and white capped mountains. Unfortunately, our excitement didn't last long since the only way to go was back down into the cloud. There were moments when the only way I could tell which way was down was because I could just make out Colleen's bright orange helmet or Lisa's maroon jacket below me. It is the closest that I've ever come to being blind and I did not like it. After making our way back up to the top and into the sunlight once again we decided to return to the Brevant resort and see if the visibility was any better.

I will say that Brevant was better in terms of visibility since we were able to stay above the clouds, the spectacular conditions that we experienced the day before were a thing of the past. What were once open fields of light, fluffy powder had turned hard and chunky making and the groomed runs were hard packed and slick. Rather than waste a lot of energy trying not to hurt myself, I decided to end the day early and intact. The highlight of the day was that for the first time since we arrived at Chamonix-Mont Blanc we actually were able to see Mont Blanc. Forturnately it looked exactly as it was drawn on the ski map and we were able to get some great photos (coming soon once I get a better internet connection).

Thursday was our last day in Chamonix so we decided to take the day off from snowboarding and see what other activities were available to us. After considering eliminating many we decided to take the Montenvers railway up a mountain to Mer de Glace. From the top you have stunning views of the surrounding mountains and the Chamonix valley below. After taking some photos we boarded a cable car down to the glacier to see the Ice Grotto. This is a cave built into the glacier. They build a cave twice a year and you can see from the locations of the previous caves how far the glacier has moved in the last six months (apparently it moves 1 cm per hour). After returning to the city we spent the rest of the afternoon peaking in various shops and admiring all of the wares. Ever since we arrived in Chamonix we had talked about having fondue for dinner and since this was our last night we decided to give it a go. Colleen found a great spot for dinner on TripAdvisor so we thought we'd give it a go. It was a cute little restaurant run by an older couple that spoke very little to no english which proved difficult when they tried to explain that they serve house fondue not savoyarde fondue. She attempted to demonstrate the difference with a spoon but even after all her warnings I decided to give it a try. Turns out, I really like house fondue. It is not nearly as heavy as what we saw others eating elsewhere so if you are ever hanging out in the Alps, I suggest giving it a whirl.

Next stop, Geneva.

Chamonix

We woke up early on Sunday and headed to the Lyon train station in Paris to start our real vacation. Not that Paris wasn't great, just that the whole reason we came to Europe was to go snowboarding (skiing for Lisa) in the Alps. The train station was hopping at 7:30 AM unlike the rest of the city which was still asleep. The first leg of our voyage was to St. Gervais and from their we connected to a local train to Chamonix-Mont Blanc.

Getting to Chamonix was easier than I expected. I thought for sure there would be moments of great doubt all along the way but it was really quite easy to navigate the french train system. At the station in Chamonix, the information booth attendent provided us with a map and sent us on a ten minute walk to our hotel. I was particularly happy at this point that I was not lugging my snowboard as well as my suitcase over the icy roads. After checking in and unpacking we headed out in search of food and gear, food first. Our guide book suggested the burgers at Poco Loco and we gave it a try. Along with our food we tried out a local favorite, demi panache, half beer half 7-Up. While a little apprehensive, it turned out to be quite refreshing.

Upon arriving at the snowboard rental shop, Colleen and I quickly realized that Chamonix is a skiers area. Not that I was really surprised but you would think that they would at least have a few snowboards in each size. Instead, Colleen walked out with the only 151 and I with the only 155 in the shop and neither appears to be in that good of condition.

On Monday morning we woke a little later than planned. When I asked Colleen what happened to the alarm she informed me that it went off but is was too cold and too dark to get out of bed. When we did finally get up, we all agreed with Colleen's description and it stayed true all day. Not only were we boarding (skiing in Lisa's case) an unfamiliar mountain (Brevant) using unfamiliar equipment but the visibility was so poor that we could tell if there was a bump in front of us until we already gone over it. It snowed throughout the day and a large part of the mountain was closed due to avalanche control so we primarily did the same two runs over and over. Fun, but not the most exiting day of boarding.

Waking up Tuesday was a whole other story. First of all, we figured out how to set the automated wake up call system so Colleen couldn't decide on her own whether it was time to rise or not. Secondly, we looked out the window to see blue skies - only the second time in France that we've experienced this. Colleen and I had found an actual snowboard shop the night before and got new snowboards for the day and were excited to try them out on the slopes. We decided to try out Les Grand Montets for day 2 and spent the entire day playing in great fields of powder (with a few rock gardens sprinkled throughout). The new boards combined with the great visibility led to a great, but exhausting day of boarding. Additionally, we were able to see the amazing mountain ranges surrounding us for the first time. As I looked out I kept thinking that the alps should be called the Sierra Nevadas which translates to snow-covered saw tooths. The mountains were very jagged with tall, narrow peaks.

We still have two more days in Chamonix before heading to Geneva and if they are anything like today this will turn out to be a great trip.

Bonne Annee - Happy New Year

What better way to spend New Year's Eve than with sidewalk crepes and cheap champagne? We had eaten such a late lunch that a real dinner was out of the question. As we walked in search of a bottle of champagne to ring in the new year we happened upon one of Paris' many sidewalk creperies and decided that would be a perfect amount of food to keep us energized until midnight. Lisa and Colleen went the sweet route with nutella and chestnut butter but I decided on fromage (cheese). Our attempts at buying a nice bottle of French champagne for the occasion were foiled when the only bottle shop we new of was closed. Instead we purchase a four pack of mini bottles for about 7 Euros. Not exactly high class, but it was all we could find. Since we still had a few hours to go, we decided to stop at a nearby restaurant and share a bottle of wine before heading to the Champs Elysees for the countdown. The street was lit up thanks to GE and MasterCard but we were a bit disappointed by the lack of countdown. We figured it must be midnight when we saw bottles popping and home-style fireworks go off.

Next we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up at night. This seemed like a good idea but by the time we neared the tower the lights had gone off and we had to walk a long way back to our hotel through all the crowds in heals. And did I mention it was freezing?

Apparently France has yet to really embrace their capitalist side since the city is nearly shut down on January 1st. This really reduced the amount of things we could do. Our plan was to visit all of the outdoor places starting with the Arc d'Triumph. Figures that this was the coldest day that we have experienced so far. It was even snowing when we left our hotel although it didn't last, the sun never came out and it never warmed up. After visiting the Arc, we boarded the Metro to the Eiffel tour.

Did you know that radio saved the Eiffel Tower? Apparently they were about to tear it down when radio caught on and Paris discovered the need for a radio tower. Pretty amazing that one of the most recognizable and visited tourist destinations in the world is only around thanks to radio. But I digress... we arrived at the Eiffel Tower only to see that every tourist in all of Paris was already there. It is the only tourist attraction in the City open on New Years Day and therefore the crowds were ridiculous. We stood in line for about 25 minutes before deciding it was far too cold and far too crowded to wait any longer. I estimate that if we waited two more hours we could have made it to the ticket booth at which time our feet would be too cold to to climb the steps. Instead we moved to a nearby cafe for some hot wine (vin chaut) to warm up.

Just as we were leaving the cafe, the lights to the tower came on and glittered (apparently they do this on the hour). We were in the perfect spot for photos and when we got our fill and turned around we learned that about 50 other people found our same spot. I felt like a movie star being shot by the paparazzi. But then I walked by and realized that the Eiffel Tower was the real movie star.

On January 2nd Paris re-opened and we were able to spend our last day in Paris in full tourist mode. We ordered tickets for the Louvre online and had to head to a FNAC store to pick them up (I highly recommend this method to avoid the hours long lines at the Louvre). Since FNAC is just a few blocks from the Arc d'Triumph, we decided to return and climb to the top. It was the first day with clear skies and the view from the top is supposed to be (and is) one of the best in the city. After enjoying the view, snapping more pics of the Eiffel Tower, we hopped on the Metro, Louvre-bound.

Once in the museum we headed straight for the Mona Lisa via the Winged Victory. I was able to see the Winged Victory up close and personal but couldn't get closer than four rows back from the Mona Lisa. I tried to push up to the front but was neither big enough or aggressive enough and eventually just got too hot to try anymore. I was able to catch a glimpse of her from the back and from the view finders of many more aggressive patrons. After checking out a few more highlights my blood sugar had dropped too low to go on so we stopped at the food court for some grub before heading to our next, and final, tourist destination.

Our last stop of the day was the Sainte-Chapelle Cathedral. If you haven't checked this out, I highly recommend it. It is a rather small cathedral but the walls are covered with stained glass depicting various books of the bible. It is really a site to see.

Next stop - Chamonix-Mont Blanc.