Chamonix

29-9-07. Finally the clouds cleared and....damn. There are some hot mountains here.

Took the first tram of the day to the top of d'Auigile de Midi, to catch some incredible views of Mt Blanc and the Drus. Tres froid! (That's COLD for you non-Frenchies.) Minus 10 degrees celcius. Spent some time on the observation decks -- snapping photos, dodging tourists, and watching the skiers and climbers depart.

Warmed up in the cafe (can you believe there's a cafe at the top of the world?). Then trammed back down to the mid-station, where we began a 3 hour traverse hike to the Glacier de Mer.

Took the detour to Point de Signal for an amazing view of the glacier, other super cool mountains, and down to Chamonix.

Took the train back down to save our legs (and Jeff's hip) for the next hike; and so we could have time to get a move on. Jumped in the car and took the tunnel to Italy. Dude - we're in a whole new country now. And it's surprisingly different for 10K by the crow flies.... Spending the night in Courmayeur (mini-Cham) and moving on to Lago di Como tomorrow.