En route south via alps
Trip Start
Aug 29, 2005
1
10
26
Trip End
Aug 01, 2006
Combloux,
France
Sunday, October 30, 2005
We had an absolutely magnificent 3 days in Combloux (near Megève and Chamonix) in the alps - sunny and ~~warm! We pulled out the longjohns and fleece for the first morning walks! Combloux is a lovely little village nestled in the French Alps - with an absolutely fantastic view of Mont Blanc, Europe's highest mountain at 4808m. It is unlike any ski area I have seen before with the grassy lower slopes dotted with somewhat Swiss style wooden houses and cows with brass bells and wooden knockers around their necks - a veritable Heidi landscape. The ski lifts go between these homes, so you literally could ski right to your back door. Wild. Went into Chamonix - really deep in the valley - no sun on the centre of town until probably 1 pm! Brrr. We had a few layers on that morning - kids in long johns and fleece suits
??Future mountain climbers or sunseekers
. But once we got to ½ way up Mont Blanc the sun was out and Ted was wishing for his shorts again! We went up by cogwheel tram, built between 1897 and 1908 - exciting for not just Aidan! Then did a bit of a hike down to the 2nd largest glacier in the Alps (Mer De Glace) - this view not as impressive as the Columbia icefields nor of the glaciers in Yukon, but the surrounding peaks and deep crevasses here were magnificient. A mountaineer's paradise. Unfortunately the Grotte de La Mer de Glace was closed for the season, so we were not able to go 'into' the glacier. The small cities/towns in the area are (some) very resort like with some incredible looking hotels probably built in the 1920's. We are very lucky that really by chance I mentioned to my prof in Sancerre that we wanted to come to the alps - her parents' apartment is small but adequate and what a spectacular view - to open the curtains to a snow covered rugged jagged mountain (Mt. Blanc) each morning and to see the sunset colours on it...
Lots of walking - and mostly always up or down a hill!
Took a VERY VERY windy road (even more so in our Boxer!) south through the mountain passes to reach the completely different landscape of northern Provence and their highest mountain at 1909m - Mont Ventoux. (regularly included in the Tour de France as I understand it). The mistral definitely blows through here - very windy and the landscape to show it. Now into the land of red tiled roofs. Hope to get another visit to Ventoux once my parents arrive.
Short visit to Avignon and the famous Pont and Palais des Papes. Yet another cobblestoned centre of town worthy of exploration. Visited the market at Carpentras - really quite big, loads of different items for sale - finally we now look like proper 'marketees' with our woven basket
Heidi's land
.After a couple of wine dégustations of Côtes de Rhône wines (do you know that there are apparently > 30,000 different wines in France - never a hope), headed to Pont du Gard. This UNESCO World Heritage site is part of what was previously a 50km long water supply canal and aqueduct system used to carry water from ~Uzès to Nîmes. Three levels to this very impressive aqueduct. Would have carried 20,000 cubic metres of water/day!
Then hit the A9 motorway and headed to Montpellier and Béziers. Now we felt like we were in the Mediterranean plains - palm trees, more desert type scrub in areas. But what a change to go north 45km - to the edge of the Languedoc National Park and Hérépian - trees, trees, trees. Fir, cedar, pine, chestnut, and oak. Met with the last few days of a 3 week rain - apparently rather unheard of in this area.
Ah, to the life of being settled in one spot for 4 months and being able to explore one area well! More tout de suite.....JTAI
