23-07-2106 Paris to Chamonix
We finished our day in Paris with a frantic packing of our bags. More gear was needed at Anne’s parent’s house for the trek, so we headed there for dinner, gear, and a short night’s sleep. Getting out of Paris was quick and fun in the little Citröen. The windows were down and we were crammed in the vehicle with 4 large backpacks, plus miscellaneous food from Anne and Thomas’ refrigerator.
When we arrived at the Cochet residence, it looked much different than the last time that we saw it in 2012. We had a tour of the construction site in the winter of 2012, and the house was almost finished. I did not take pictures, since we were short on time and Jean Claude (Anne’s father, the chef) prepared a wonderful dinner of fish, potatoes, vegetables, and two desserts. He does not speak English, and I do not speak French, so the dinner is always fun with the continuous translation.
Our couple of hours of sleep went by fast, and we awoke to Anne making eggs and espresso. We grabbed what we could and hopped in Jean Claude’s van for drive to the train station.
Early morning train station mayhem.
At the train station, Thomas printed our tickets from the machine and we got on the southbound train to Chamonix. The ride was quite pleasant, but it seemed that a lady with a baby lied about her seating arrangement, so Thomas had to sit in the area between the cars. We watched the French countryside go by in a blur since the trains are so fast.
There was a short stop to change trains, so we grabbed some lunch at one of the bakeries. Once on the train for Chamonix, we whipped up a little sandwich action, French style; Camembert cheese and ham on a wonderful baguette. Then something funny happened: when Thomas opened the Camembert, the rind was so stinky that the entire train car knew what we were up to. The 4 guys behind us were laughing at the smell, and the older woman across from us held a handkerchief to he nose in disgust. Even though she was French, she decided to change cars. We just “Out-Frenched” the train! Go us!
When we arrived in Chamonix we were greeted with giant steep mountains which blew our minds. The air was cool and I could see glaciers and waterfalls. I could not believe how different it was, and Paris just a 4 hour train ride away. We walked over to the hotel, got our keys, and headed out for dinner.
Looking for our hotel in Chamonix
Flowers like this were everywhere. The river below was flowing super fast.
Me and Anne sporting our new glasses!
Dinner was at a nice restaurant for Katherine’s birthday just a short walk from the hotel. Of course, we had some tasty French food and took our time, as is the custom. Thomas and Anne had the staff bring Katherine a fake, large birthday cake with sparklers and had Merengue music blasting, and the entire restaurant clapped for her. Suffice it to say, Katherine was not amused.
Happy birthday, Day 1
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