Chamonix, day two
The first order of business was a quick ride. The apartment is not far from the Joux Plane which meant that there was no way I was leaving my bike in Grenoble. Sunday morning I got up as early as I could, which was tough considering Friday night and yesterday's packed day, went into rally driving mode to get to Samoens, got the bike ready and sped off within a few minutes of getting to the town center (which is really pretty). Some kind of MTB event was happening and there were a lot of fit people in armor and fancy looking bikes cruising around town. No time for ogling this morning though! I followed the signs to the col and soon found myself on some pretty steep terrain, but with amazing views of the Mont Blanc. The climb is quite tough -- I think it merits it's reputation, and particularly because the slope is so variable and generally hard. Towards the top, you get a few spectacular hairpins with views, and it eventually opens up to a gentle slope to the col. Overall, I think it's a fantastic climb which I highly recommend. I was pretty bummed not to be able to do a longer ride and at least descend to Morzine, but I guess I gotta leave something for another day. Instead, I sped back down the hill and rallied back to Passy. I told Hank about how pressed I was and funnily enough he had the same experience when he rode it -- family/friend obligations made for a quick out and back as well.
video:
Next it was family time! After some quick internet research we decided to take the Gondolas up the south slope of the valley to Brévent. This turned out to be a rather expensive trip, but then again, it's Chamonix after all! The kids of course loved both Gondola rides to the top, and nearly gave us heart attacks with all of their running around. At one point Alex managed to almost open a gate which led to ... a fairly healthy drop.. into a bed of pillows, for any grandparents that might be reading this!
From there, it was back to the Chalet to pack stuff up, clean, and start the drive back home. At the Crolles payage, I amazingly saw another McLaren!! This one was metallic orange. We also saw a convoy of porsches on the road between Albertville and Megeve. I counted at least 25, of all makes and years... mostly in a row. Crazy.
