Chamonix: Same bed, different dreams

"No es la persona que cambia, solo el delantal blanco"

- Sergio Vodanovic, El Delantal Blanco

---Day 1---

On the road again

I got pretty close to Geneva on my way to Chamonix. Feels like I should hop on over there. There are epic mountains in this region that remind me of Utah. These ones are rougher around the edges.

Lower Chamonix

I made it to Chamonix! Time to figure out where my lodging is at. 

A helpful sign

As you can see, I'm loaded up with both backpacks. 

Towards downtown

I had to switch to me boots because there is melting snow everywhere.

Arve River

This river goes through the Chamonix Valley and eventually combines with the Rhone River in Geneva. The water is perfectly clear snow melt, and the riverbed is sand and big round river rocks. There was a man sketching this scene next to me.

More helpful signs

Paroisse Saint Bernard du Mont-Blanc sits in the background. I'm on my way to the Musee des Cristaux.

Les Cristalliers

I read about the history of crystal seeking on Mont Blanc. An excerpt from the Chamonix website:

We know that the Englishmen William Windham and Richard Pococke (in 1741) came to Chamonix to "see the crystals":

"Crystal seekers go in August to the bottom of these rocks and hit the rock with peaks. If they hear resonate, as if there is a hollow, they work and open the rock: they find caves full of crystallizations. We would have liked to go, but the season was not yet far enough; The snow is not yet melted enough. (Windham)

Pyromorphite

I like a type of crystal called Pyromorphite. It's green and looks like moss on a log.

Quarts Morian

As with the sushi, I kept track of my points as I went through the museum. There was a good amount of Amethyst, but I think I crashed the minecart with this one @Paul, @Tyler, @Camille.

Air India Flight 101

Mont Blanc is the tallest mountain in Europe, so it's no surprise that several airplanes have crashed into it while trying to descend into Geneva. In September 2013, a Savoyard mountaineer discovered a box containing jewelry and precious stones, mainly emeralds and sapphires (worth over $300,000). The Wikipedia page has a list of various other items that have been preserved on the mountain. 

Ready for bed

I turned in early for the night to work on some homework and watch a Rocket League tournament. I stayed at the Gîte le Chamoniard Volant hostel. At 27 euros per night, it's a perfect homebase for exploring Chamonix. After checkout, they will let you store your stuff and use all the facilities for the whole day. Downside is zero security (the building is unlocked 24hr) and lots of roommates. Two guys from Bulgaria stay in my room and they had the same sleep schedule as me which was helpful. I sat on the empty bed above me and one of them yelled at me to get off because someone was going to sleep there. No one ever showed up.

---Day 2---

Food for the day

After my trip to Peru, I realized that food at tourist locations is not always the best. Restaurants ended up being expensive, which is fine, but then the food didn't even taste that good. Since Chamonix is a somewhat isolated tourist town, I decided to bring my own food to keep my costs low.

Walking along the train tracks

La gare Montenvers

My first activity for the day was the Montenvers train that takes people about 500 meters up to the Mer de Glace glacier. This picture shows what I believe to be the original locomotive.

Present-day train

On the train

An old picture of men building the upper station

Gondola at the upper station 

A gondola takes people from the upper train station down to the glacier level. There's also a hotel here.

La mer de glace

Behold the glacier! 

502 stairs

It is currently 502 stairs to get down to the glacier cave. About 30 steps are added to this path each year to reach the glacier that is currently in a receding age. In the 1700s, it was in a growing phase and started to push into the town of Chamonix. The bishop sent word for a priest and had the glacier exorcised so that it would stop destroying the town. About 30,000 years ago, this glacier filled the entire Chamonix valley. It was sort of a sad visit because I know this glacier will probably not exist in a few decades. There's a lot of political pressure around climate change topics and I consider myself an environmentalist. At the same time, I'm a realist and acknowledge that this trip and the town of Chamonix wouldn't exist if this glacier hadn't receded. I'm sure in a few thousand years, after humanity's reign on earth, this glacier will return to its former glory. 

Ice Cave (Manmade)

They are already digging the cave for next winter since this one will be melted over the summer. This place next year will be a few more stairs to the next ice cave. There is also a hydroelectric generator that was built underneath the glacier to take advantage of the melting ice water. (How do you build something under a glacier?)

An interesting fact about glaciers

Glaciers are not formed by ice, but snow. As snow builds upon itself, it is compressed into ice. The air between the ice gets captured as well, which fills the glacier with air bubbles. Scientists can capture this air and see how it compares to our current air composition.

Jim and Marcy

These are my train travel buddies from Connecticut! They are here because it's cheaper to ski in France than the west. 

I'm not homeless, yet

I think my plan is working to blend in with society. Who's going to mess with a guy that looks like that?^^ 

and is eating raw carrots and cucumbers?

L'Aiguille du Midi

As you can see in the picture, this is a pretty steep cable car. 2,800m.

First Cabin of an ariel lift system in France

This cable car was inaugurated during the first winter Olympics that were held in Chamonix in 1924 (100 years ago!).

Mountain Tunnels

The Aguille du Midi is built into a mountain peak by Mont Blanc. It's a combination tourist attraction, action sport transportation, and telecommunication center.

French Alps

Tip of the fortress

Steel Tunnel

I don't know why, but somebody decided to built this metal tunnel on one side of the building.

The Void

There's a transparent box people can step into.

Building the cable car

The original building was an observatory for astronomy and ice science.

Downtown

---Day 3---

Getting the parachute ready

For my last day in Chamonix, I decided to go parachuting! We took the Plan Praz lift up to the ski area on the opposite side of the Valley from Aguille du Midi. The sun hits this side of the valley in the morning which warms up the air and keeps parachutes up longer.

Lift off!

Taking off was surprisingly easy. All you do is run. It would make parachuting not as expensive of a hobby than I thought. All you need is a parachute and a ski lift pass.

Selfie with my guide, Richard

Richard said that in the summer, parachuters can go all the way up and down the valley and stay airborne for up to 90min.

Chamonix from above

We got surprisingly close to the trees because its where the hot air moves up the valley, I think. It was not cold at all and not very windy either. Honestly, the trip was a huge success. I was afraid it would be cold and miserable, but blue skies and 46 degree weather kept me in good spirits.

Goodbye Chamonix

A mustache really changes a smile, doesn't it? I feel like a true European traveler. I realized that I didn't back too much and was able to fit my second backpack in the bigger bag. I also burned my nose pretty badly, despite spending a considerable amount of time indoors... Anyway, don't forget sunscreen in the mountains.

Graziella at Lyon Perrache Station

I met a wonderful woman from Marseille named Graziella. The name is Italian, but she's French. She is on her way to visit friends in Brest on the West Coast of France. Unfortunately, our bus is driving away as I take this picture. Yep, we missed our bus. Flixbus had apparently rented busses from another company that were not painted the obvious green as you can see in the picture. Moral of the story, don't assume you know what the bus you need looks like. ALWAYS check the route number. 

Outside Lyon Perrache

The situation deteriorated as I realized I had missed the last bus back to Clermont from Lyon. It was 12:40am and station security kicked me out onto the street. The next bus wasn't until 8am which left me 7hrs to kill.

At first, I was really anxious. There seemed like a good place to sleep behind the column in the picture because it was dark and nobody would mess with me, but it smelled a lot like urine. It was probably urine... I decided to head into the city.

Ready for bed!

My goal was to find somewhere to sleep where I wouldn't get in trouble with security. The guys in the homeless camp I passed earlier had gone to bed already, but I found a wooden bench in a plaza that faced some bushes and was isolated; it seemed like a good place to sleep. It had gotten a lot colder at this point and a wooden bench wouldn't conduct as much heat from my body.

I left my bag on myself to stay warmer and I ended up watching the stars. It was a partially clear night and the stars left me reflecting on life. I slept for an hour and woke up feeling calm. I knew my core was staying warm enough because I didn't start shivering; my feet got really cold though. Around 5am, I walked to the other side of the city.

Outside the bus station

My night sleeping on the street wasn't too bad and I would probably do it again (with a sleeping bag of course). Although nothing terrible happened to me, I understand the instability, insecurity, and challenge of not having a place to sleep. Homelessness is like camping, but there's no hot shower at the end. You are stuck here forever, wandering from one part of the city to another-- without purpose. There's a man sleeping on the second bench in the picture with a bunch of blankets. He seemed a lot warmer than I was. This man and I shared the same bed that night, but I think we had very different dreams.

I won't forget to mention my rat friends. There are a lot of rats in Lyon. I can't imagine what Paris is like.