Chamonix M’ont-Blanc
These last few weeks in the Alps have been lovely. Andy and I have enjoyed our time, getting to know the area and, we have begun to host friends and family; this will continue through the month of March.
Weather is a very important topic during winter months in Chamonix Mont-Blanc. One wants bluebird ski days and we have had a lot of those but we have also skied on heavy snow. So far, just when it gets too slushy, we are rewarded with some new snow and more terrain to enjoy.
Our first visitors were Ron and Will, longtime friends of Andy from business school. The skiing was good and the company was entertaining. Highlights of our time together were some wonderful meals: dinner at Garde à Manger (translation: pantry) for a superb meal of charcuterie, croziflette, gravlax and wine; lunch just off the slopes of Grands Montets for the most authentic Savoyard cuisine at Crèmerie du Glacier (not so easy to ski after all that crème); dinner at Le Comptoir des Alpes for gourmet French cuisine; and a superb wine tasting at a local shop with lovely live music. I even baked and cooked a bit; one cannot go out for every meal (or at least I can’t)!
This past week, we have enjoyed the company of our “boys,” George (28) and Matthew (24). They saved their vacation days to be with us and it has been a joy to have them here. While I have been skiing for 55 years and getting slower with each year, George and Matthew have only gotten faster. They are so comfortable on skis. I can thank my father, George Taback, for putting me on skis in 1969 and Andy, for agreeing to make ours a ski-family. No, there have not been many beach vacations for us Frankles. Together, we skied different mountains each day but the highlight of our alpine adventure was our guided day in the Vallée Blanche, the largest glaciated domain in the Alps, the Mont Blanc massif.
This experience is thanks to Ron who skied this terrain with his family two winters ago. But here’s the thing; while Ron remembered the Vallée Blanche as one of the most memorable days of his life, his wife Stacy did not. Stacy, a superb athlete, in great shape, whom I trust implicitly, shared her experience with me and subsequently got me very worried about this day. But how could I miss it? And how could I miss experiencing this once-in-a-lifetime excursion with my family? With great trepidation and butterflies in my stomach, I agreed to go.
We engaged Yves, an experienced guide who was trained in rescue, to spend the day with us. We met Yves early Wednesday morning, on the plaza in front of the Aiguille du Midi cable car where he outfitted us with a harness, crampons, carabiners and avalanche equipment. And yes, this made me even more anxious. We ascended 3,812 meters, in two cable car rides to the Aiguille du Midi where we took in spectacular views and further prepared for our descent. I might add that the weather up there was cold, cloudy and windy so I was happy that we took our time (I was definitely procrastinating) with the hope that the weather would improve. This was one place where there was no line for the ladies room and a long line for the men. I was definitely in the minority, adding to my anxiety. What was a 60+ year old (under 5’) Jewish girl from Long Island doing up here? Skis affixed to our backpacks and crampons under our ski boots, we were ready to proceed through an ice tunnel to the ‘arête’. We were attached to each other by rope (which would save us should one of us fall) and we walked along a ridge with a 50-degree pitch to the left and the right. But worry-not, a safety rope on either side guided us while we marched down the snowy path as Yves instructed.
Yves directed us not to ski in front of him. That would never be a problem for me, especially when Yves explained that he knew where the séracs and crevasses were (lovely to look at but not to fall into). The beginning of our ski down the Vallée was quite challenging; it was steep and deep. Old East coast skiers like me are not great with these conditions and it took a while to acclimate. The good news was that Yves had us stop a lot because I needed to catch up and honestly, we had to experience the gorgeous views. The sky and the wind had cleared up and thankfully, the light and visibility ended up in our favor. Yves pointed out where climbers (who were specs in the snow above) were climbing beyond the Aiguille du Midi to challenge nature (and I thought I was challenging nature – hah!). After we finished the steepest and most difficult terrain, we stopped for lunch at a hut called the Requin Refuge. How do staff, food and supplies get to the middle of nowhere? The Refuge staff have to ski down from Aiguille du Midi and sometimes the food is delivered by helicopter. Once again, we had the classic Savoyard menu, heavy on the cheese!
After lunch, the skiing was a bit easier. The Mer de Glace includes beautiful blue ice “waves” and we skied in an elevated valley between the peaks. One of the most interesting and surprising takeaways was the sound of rocks and pebbles descending the mountainsides. It was almost impossible to see what we were hearing but the sound was constant. Perhaps it was amplified by an echo.
As we finished the skiing the Mer de Glace, we were able to use the new gondola to get up to the Montenvers Train Station. This gondola, thankfully, opened in early February and saved us from hiking up 550 steps in ski boots, carrying our skis. Stacy, this would have changed your entire experience! Thank you, New Vallée Blanche Exit Gondola! We took the charming retro-train back down to Chamonix Mont-Blanc and after returning to the apartment for showers, we rewarded ourselves with a fondue dinner. All in all, this was a day that none of us will ever forget!
And New York
Sadly, we had to return to New York for three days last week as Andy’s dear cousin, Anna, age 94, died. Andy managed her care with the help of Nana who made sure Anna was active and comfortable, living a dignified life and never alone. Anna was born in 1929, in Hungary. She and Ann Frank were born three days apart but Anna survived Auschwitz and lived a good life in spite of the horrific tragedy and loss that she endured as a teenager. I dedicate this post to Anna’s memory, one of the most determined and strongest people one could ever meet. If you are interested in reading Anna’s testimony which was written for Yad Vashem, please email me and I will happily share it. Her story is one of survival and I was incredibly honored to be part of her family. May her memory be a blessing.
À bientôt!
The Innocents Abroad, 21st Century Version 