Chamonix Mont Blanc

Wednesday brought us into the French Alps.  Bill had done some research and found there were some cable cars that we could take to the top of Aiguille du Midi.  So we had to rent a car in order to get all 9 of us over to France.  It worked out surprisingly well.  Bill and John were in the rental with Josh and Julia.  Me and Natalie were in her car with Stephen, John, and Abby.  Off we went to the Alps.  About an hour plus from where they live.  The mountains were just breathtaking as we were driving.  A note - the border patrol never once asked for passports or any identification.  Kinda sad as we would have loved to get stamped.  Kinda scary because of no protection.

We made our way there and then bought the tickets to go to the top only to find out that the very highest cable car was not in service due to very high winds.  C'est la vivre.  (Such is life.  Oh well!)  We still enjoyed the views.  Yup it was cold and I wouldn't recommend wearing shorts but it is summer and we didn't think about the elevation.  It is interesting to see people all donned in their hiking paraphernalia while we were in shorts and light-weight jackets.  They had on hats, boots with ice spikes attached, gloves hanging from their winter coats.  

After the ride up and down we were hungry so we ate at a place that served omelets.  Over 70 different choices.  They were yummy.  Kids ate pasta and pizza.  Everyone was happy!!!  We walked around the quaint town.  All-in-all a great day.  And Stephen got to be in the Alps.  We were hoping to get into Italy but we were a little too far west.