Chamonix - Mount Blanc in the French Alps

Chamonix was everything I imagined, and more. We wanted to hike the trails in autumn, hoping to see a snow-capped mountain or two. They were all there plus living glaciers, in glorious sunshine and then in our last 2 days, we had freezing rain which magically turned into snow !

We did 2 major hikes; first a high valley hike from the Plan d'Aiguille to the Montenvers Hotel, overlooking the Mer de Glace on Day 2, having seen it the easy way on the previous day by cogwheel train.

On Day 3, we drove leisurely over to nearby Annecy Lake, then on Day 4, we blew our last sunshiny morning on an arduous (and somewhat dangerous) hike to Lac Blanc (main picture). I wanted to spend more time up in this heavenly place but the cloud system had begun to move in. So we beat a careful retreat down to the Col des Montets mountain pass, where our rental car was parked by the roadside.

Day 5 was all rain & allowed us to rest & recuperate. When we saw the thermometer dip towards zero Celcius, we decided to re-visit the Col des Montets & saw our first snow flurry, yay. That night, we had a cosy Michelin-starred dinner right in our hotel (the Best Western Le Morgane). On our last day checking out, we had one last foray up the mountain pass & were rewarded with the first real snowfall of autumn !

Paris in the Autumn 2011

 

24 years ago, while in London for business, we decided to spend a quick weekend in Paris. Even with fickle weather & a little point-&-shoot camera, it still made a romantic first impression, leaving us wanting for more. Thus it was a natural choice for my wife when she developed travellers' itch soon after we successfully settled our elder son in Melbourne earlier this year. I quickly made plans & envisaged us spending a week of romance in Paris plus another week exploring the French Alps.

In line with my philosophy of travelling light, I took the opportunity to buy a new pancake lens for my Panasonic G camera system, the 14mm F2.5. It turned out to be a great wide-angle lens for lowlight indoor shots as well as a compact prime lens for landscape photography while on the move hiking the mountain trails.

This time round, the weather was fabulous. Autumn was showing in the changing leaves & the cool crisp air made walking a joy. We didn't miss the crowds of summer & were thrilled to have blue skies every day in Paris!

Each day was filled with sensuous sculptures & exquisite paintings inhabiting magnificent palaces & grandiose museums. Of course there was the compulsory Eiffel Tower climb & we even cruised the River Seine in the glow of the evening light.