We're not ready for winter yet!

We are always amazed, even a little surprised, at how much the weather, culture, and language can change with a little 3-hour drive. We left the hot Italian coast and headed north to the Alps, our goal for the night being the village of Aosta. It's a nice little town in an Alpine valley with a view of Monte Bianco, or Mont Blanc if you go another 20km. We were walking around the town and came across a crowd of Italian flag waving kids, well-dressed folks, and lots of serious men in dark sunglasses. We asked what was going on and received a look as if we had just crawled out from under a rock. "Il Presidente!" Apparently the President of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, had come to bid us farewell. He even waved at us, but we didn't have time for him as it was getting late. We continued up into the mountains and had a rainy and cold last night in Italy.




The following morning we crossed over into France through the 7 mile long tunnel that goes under Europe's highest point, Mt. Blanc. And just like that it was goodbye to ciao and hello to bon jour. Winter seemed to have fully settled in the town of Chamonix and it was time to make good on my promise of springing for a hotel when it got close to freezing. I spent the good portion of a winter ski-bumming on the cheap here years ago so having a nice little hotel room overlooking the town square is a luxury. Having a cozy little bar decorated with antique climbing and ski equipment directly below us doesn't hurt either.




Our first day here we had visions of hiking and exploring the mountains. The weather had different plans so we settled for an excellent farmer's market, a puppet show by Noelle, and some French lessons. We splurged for a rotisserie chicken for lunch, much to the delight of the kids who vow never to eat cheese and baguettes again.




This morning I awoke to the sounds of the barmaid below us setting up the outside tables so I knew the rain and snow must have stopped. I pulled back the shades and you could actually see the mountains! France does a few things very well, one of them being pastries. I bribed the kids out of bed with some pain au chocolat and we set out to explore the valley. You can imagine how disappointed the kids were when I broke it to them that we couldn't venture too high as a fresh coating of snow made the trails too icy. We hiked on some of the lower trails down the valley to another village, enjoying views of the huge glaciers and craggy peaks.







Jolene and the girls were starving at this point and caught a bus back to town. I continued down the valley a while longer, arriving in a village a few minutes before the last train left back to Chamonix. Allie and Noelle must have been famished as they were munching down the previously sworn off baguettes and cheese when I returned.




A break in the weather is forecast for tomorrow and we'll be back with Dagobert and on our way to Switzerland for a few days.