For our last major stop on our Europe 2007 tour, we headed up into the French Alps to Chamonix. There could have been no better place to end up. Nestled in the nook of gigantic, craggly, snowcapped mountains, Chamonix is THE outdoor heaven! We were awestruck from the time we got off the train by the enormity and beauty of the scenery. Sadly for all of you, the pictures just won't do this place justice, so heed our advice - just go there!

Drinking out of our souvenir tasting glasses compliments of Beaune, Burgundy (we're classy)

The view from our campsite

The town itself is much like ritzy ski town meets hardcore adventure traveler. It was full of outdoor stores, burger joints, nice cafes, and afterski bars - just a great atmosphere for us! We, of course, found a beautiful campsite on the edge of town next to a raging river, with a great view of the mountains all around. We spent the following three days trekking up and down the mountains, burning our thighs on some long, strenuous hikes, awarding ourselves with gorgeous scenery and exhilirating views. Luckily, we had wonderful sunny weather the whole time.

We spent our first evening walking around town, staring at the huge mountains surrounding us. We soon realized we may need something sturdier than our tennies to climb the mountains, so we stopped into a boot store. As luck would have it, Walker found us 2 pairs of killer used hiking boots for only 10 euros...Sold!

Our sweet - and cheap! - new hiking boots

On our first full day in Chamonix, we woke up early and hiked right out of our campsite. We started up the east face of the valley, through forest and then eventually above the tree line, until we finally reached the Mer de Glace, a glacier that tumbles down from Mont Blanc. We continued along a ridge for a couple more hours, passing a number of refuges - wooden houses built throughout the Alps for hikers to spend the night (there are even some actually built on the glaciers themselves). After over 8 hours, we descended into town, tired and hungry but high on the Alpine atmosphere! We had dinner in town at a great little burger joint (where we consumed over 2 pounds of french fries - we needed it) that turned out to be a great spot for after-hiking food.

the Mer de Glace glacier

Mmm lunch

Chamonix far down below

The next day we headed up the opposite side of the valley (again leaving directly from our campsite), hiking up (and up and up) to Le Brevent, a peak at over 2500 meters. Just below the peak was a prime paragliding spot, where we could watch the brave souls simply run off the side of the mountain hoping to be lifted into the air. From Le Brevent, we again traversed a ridge, taking us past lakes and over to the backside of the mountains where we could see small valleys and peaks all the way to Switzerland. We continued along and then back down into town, another long 9 hour day of great hiking.

See the paraglider?

There is an insane gondola that crosses from one peak up to another peak over thousands of feet of nothing!

Our last day in Chamonix, we decided our legs could only take another half day of hiking, so we climbed back up to the Mer de Glace and then actually down to the glacier. Each year, a cave is drilled into the side of the glacier, marking its movement (about 10 feet a year). We hiked back down to town in the early afternoon to rest a bit and catch up on laundry. we hit town again for dinner, enjoying our last night in paradise.

So this picture doesn't really do justice to how amazing a sight this was - the sun had just risen over the mountains and was directly behind this peak when we walked past - a minute later and we would have missed it. It was incredible.

The next day, we caught the rickety train that took us out of the mountains, and then spent the rest of the day train-hopping our way down to Nice, to spend our last night in France at the beach. We arrived very late at night, but easily found our hotel just a block from the beach - what it lacked in character and space it sure made up for in location! The next morning, we headed straight for the pebbled beach where we baked and swam for a few hours before catching a flight for London.

Our last stop on the trip, London really brought us full-circle. We bought 3 pounds of flapjacks to smuggle back into the States, and spent the rest of the time enjoying the city and reminiscing about our trip. The past three months we have seen so much, done so much, been to so many amazing places, and eaten SO MUCH great food! It's sure been an adventure, but yes, we're ready to go home now. Stay tuned for our next travels...