France – Habitual Travelers

ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE!

We decided we wanted a new adventure. We love skiing, and being in the backcountry with white snow and blue skies. We planned our trip to go ski the Valle Blanche (off piste) and then head over the beautiful ski town of Zermatt.

We rented a car in Geneva, and drove to Chamonix.

CHAMONIX-MONT BLANC, FRANCE

We are at a hotel right at the base of the tram to the Aqui Du Midi, so we can jump on if the day is clear.

The day was perfect. Sunshine and a few feet of new snow. We hired a guide to ski the Valle Blanche from the top of the Agui du Midi. This is true backcountry skiing. There are crevasses, so you need to wear a harness, and it is an all day run down the mountain, hopefully through beautiful powder.

Scott, with the top of the Agui du Midi behind him.

At the top of the tram.

We took the tram to the top, put on harnesses, (in case you ski into a crevasse), hiked down the steep ridge carrying our skis on our backs, and then skied all day.

The Tram also stops halfway up the mountain for skiers. We are going to the top!

Barb in the Tram with our guide.

At the top, you walk through a tunnel.

Putting on our harnesses.

From the top, you carry your skis along a ridge, and hike down to the ski starting point.

Cravasses, that you don’t want to ski into.

This is the ridge you hike down, before you drop into the valley.

The exhilaration of that first drop in.

Scott pointing back up to the Agui du Midi.

We stopped for lunch. There is one restaurant up on the mountain.

We ended at the Mont Vers Train Station, after skiing over the glacier, Mer du Glace.

Twenty years ago when we hiked up to the Mont Vers Train, the glacier was near the top of the stairs. The glacier has receded so much, they have had to build these stairs.

Hiking up to the train.

Mid Station on the Agui du Midi.

We had an amazing day!

Our tracks.

What a bluebird day!!!!!

The following day we skied at the Brevant Resort on the opposite side of the valley. It was another beautiful day.

After skiing we had dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant in Chamonix, Casa Valerio.

ZERMATT

We left Chamonix and drove to Zermatt. Leaving our car at Tasch, (no cars are allowed in the town of Zermatt), we took the train to Zermatt. We then caught the Gronergat train up to Hotel Rifelalf, at the base of the Matterhorn. (2222 Meters). The hotel is beautiful and we had a room with an amazing view of the Matterhorn.

Hotel Riffelalp. You can only arrive by train.

Our Room.

Out the back of the Hotel. Jump on your skis and go!

The first morning dawned sunny and we awoke to an amazing view right out our window.

We skied the Swiss side of the mountain with a guide.

Our guide, Scott and Barb

Day 2 we skied alone, had afternoon tea, and went bowling in the basement.

The top of the Gronergat Train.

Lunch on the Swiss side.

On day 3 it was cloudy and we took the train down the mountain to shop in Zermatt. Scott found an ice axe at the antique store and Barb bought a new ski outfit at the Mammut store.

Barb’s new outfit.

Antique skis.

The last day was beautiful again and we skied the our guide over to the Italian side of the mountain. It’s good to have a guide because you can get lost, ski into Italy, and not be able to get back to the Swiss side before the lifts close. (It’s a 4 hour taxi drive back around the mountain.)

The back side of the Matterhorn.

Amazing, beautiful fun!

Now we are sending all of our ski equipment home and flying to Morocco and doing a self drive into the desert. Adventure still awaits!

It was a 13 Hour flight from Buenos Aires to Paris. We rented a car and stopped near Dijon and stayed in an old Abbaye de la Bussiere. Beautiful.

The outside

Inside the Abbaye (Hotel)

Our Room

The grounds

We drove further down into Provence and decided to stay at a Castle that has a whole hillside of buildings with different styles of rooms and restaurants. It is call Crillion de Brave. It is on a hill in the town of Bedoin, which is at the bottom of Mount Ventoux, where we plan to bike. You can rent really good Trek bikes, and reserve them ahead of time, right at the base of the mountain. They were just like our bikes at home. We brought our own bike shoes and clothes though.

Crillion de Brave

Enjoying a little pool time and killing ourselves biking.

Crillion de Brave

For one of our bike excursions we hired a taxi to follow us to near the top of Mt. Ventoux, so that when we finished we didn’t have to ride back down. (It turned out that it was a very good idea!)
We started at noon. The first 2 kilometers are relatively easy. The next 3 to St. Esteve are about 7% grade. After that it is between 8 and 18% without any leveling out areas to try to rest your body, then up to Chalet Reynard, which is about 5 kilometers from the top. The last 6 Kilometers are above the tree line and steep. There was snow the last 6 kilometers. It rained on us about halfway up, we got soaked, and then froze on the top. It took us a total of 4 hours 33 minutes with our stops and 3 hours 18 minutes of actual bike time. It is a total of 23 kilometers. My AVERAGE heart rate was 140! I burned 2862 total calories! We gained 1600 meters (5,250 feet) of elevation That was the hardest bike ride I have ever done! The snickers bar we ate on the way down tasted mighty good.

Testing the last 6 kilometers the day before the big ride.

Yes, I am frozen.

I thought I might die.

If you think he looks miserable, you are right. He just did 23 kilometers of 15% grade!

The summit is 1912 meters

That was the hardest bike ride we have done. Riding back down for 5 miles, we nearly froze. Our hands were so cold, it was hard to brake.

Notice that it says 23% grade. They are not lying!

After a nice breakfast the next day we went on a 50 Kilometer bike ride thru some small towns and had a picnic. We enjoyed lots of different bike rides around the area we were staying. We also drove to other hilltop villages, went a market, and basically ate our way around.

Shopping at the Market in ‘Isle de Solange

Town of Gordes. A beautiful town on the top of a hill.

Another bike ride. There seems to be a lot of hills.

Town of Rousillon

French Pastries after a hard bike ride. This is how we ate our way thru France.

After loving all the biking and the place we stayed for 5 days, We turned in our bikes and drove over to Cannes. We got a room at the Majestic Barrier right on the waterfront. Cannes is a lot like La Jolla, but it has an old cobblestone city on the hillside, just above the waterfront. The waterfront is modern and glitzy. We ate at a great restaurant called Avisio.

On the waterfront at Cannes

From the old city

Cannes waterfront

Barb

We drove over to Monte Carlo the next day to see 2 days of the Monte Carlo Tennis Tournament. You’ve got to love the way the roads wind around the mountain. We stayed at the Monte Carlo Beach Hotel right next to the tournament and on the water. It is way too expensive for what it is, but it is right where we needed to be. We bit the bullet. The tournament was great. The center court holds about 6000 so all the seats are great. We saw Tsonga, Juan Monaco, and Murray all play. The next day we saw Djokavich, Nadal and Ferrer. After the tournament we drove back to Cannes and stayed at the JW Marriott.

Murray

Tsonga

And the best of all in my opinion-Scott

Our Hotel-Monte Carlo Beach Hotel (Photo taken from the top seats at the tennis tournament.)

Nadal

We left Cannes and drove to and old castle called Chateau Rochegard. It is above Avignon and Orange off the Bolene exit. We (Scott) put the wrong kind of gas in our car (not once, but twice) and we had to have the rental car company come and pick up the car. (Ooops)

Chateau Rochegard

Oh well, we took the train from Avignon to Paris, (which was okay, but we wouldn’t do it again, we prefer to drive). In Paris we went to a dinner on a nice sightseeing boat. We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel right inside the airport, which was easy for catching our flight the next day.