- What you do in Chamonix depends a lot on how the weather is on any given day!
We wanted to go to Aiguille du midi (Needle of the South) a viewing point where you can see French, Swiss and Italian Alps also known for the “Void”. But weather had different plans and the cable cars after a lot of back and forth were declared non operational for the day, we saw people in full ski gear turn back, but not too disappointed. Apparently skiers/hikers book a 6-7 day stay to atleast get a chance one of those days.
As an alternate, the hotel suggested we check out Mer de glace (Sea of Ice), which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. For not only did we get to ride aboard the cute red train of the Montenvers but we also experienced snowfall amidst the majestic mountain glacier.
The train ride takes you through the scenic mountains and the forest to the top from where you get great views of the glacier and the mountains from the viewing platform.
The descend on the other side is pretty interesting. A cable car helps you go down to a point after which the only way further down to the ice museum is by descending on the series of rackety iron steps hugging the steep cliff. If the weather doesn’t chill your bones the descend on these steps definitely will. It is quite slippery and extreme caution is advised. Although, the views it simultaneously offers are well worth it.
At the bottom is an ingenious ice museum with all kinds of structures carved out of Ice.
After making our way back up we stopped at the restaurant on the viewing platform to grab hot chocolate and snacks (food not recommended) before enjoying snow fall❄️☃️ as we waited for our red train back to town.
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