Ski holiday -3 The Aiguille du Midi

The weather was forecast to close in a bit later on in the week, so we chose to visit the Auigille di Midi while there was still only a little cloud about. The Aiguille du Midi is one of the peaks of the mountain range around Chamonix. You access it via two cable cars and a lift, and you find yourself at 3842 meters high, or just over 12,000 feet. In an aeroplane you'd start needing oxygen at about this height. It was high, and very cold, but the views were spectacular.

The cable car building in Chamonix is a fine piece of architecture, modern in style.




















The Aiguille is the peak you can just about see silhouetted against the little cloud -it's a long way up! The view down into the town is really impressive: those things that look like little hills in the middle distance are the mountains I was skiing on yesterday.




















But it was cold up there: -20, and windy. I took my gloves off to take some photos, and in 5 minutes my little finger had frozen. I could still move it, but I couldn't feel it. Weird. It seems to have recovered though.

Ski holiday -1

Some good friends invited us to go skiing with them, so we went. The wife did most of the organising in fact, and as a result we had a great time in Chamonix. The French railway company SNCF lay on some special trains for the skiing season so we took the train direct from Le Mans that connected to a short commuter train ride from the resort. Our TGV turned out to be a Train of Great Slowness and we arrived an hour and a quarter late for a half-hour connection. But we got there anyway, settled in to the hotel, and sussed out the ski hire for the next day.

The view from the hotel room, and Chamonix town square




















Our wonderful instructor Annette. Her real name is Anne but she is tiny, and the suffix -ette in French means little. And the first view of the ski slopes... It's been a long time since I skied so I hope it all comes flooding back.




















Skiing is an activity, but it's also an atmosphere, a feeling. The quiet of the slopes, the rush of speed, the feeling of stillness when you stop, the cold, fresh air. And the views, of course.