Smoke On The Water

Last week it rained. A lot. This meant we couldn't do too much work, which sounds great but is actually quite depressing. We did go to Annecy one day - it's the biggest town in the Haute Savoie department, and has a very pretty old town. We spent the day browsing shops, and ended with a crépe. Last week we also had proper fondue which was delicious and very good fun!

On Saturday there were the closing fireworks for the Geneva festival. As we had the day spare we went in early to watch Ratatouille at the cinema. We then struggled to find a good spot to see the fireworks but we did ok in the middle of a closed street. Most importantly it had a barrier that no-ne else was leaning on where Darren could set up his replacement camera. We couldn't see much of anything low down but the big bangs during the 45 minute display were spectacular and at times relentless!

Yesterday we went up a mountain. We took the train to Chamonix and a cable car up l'Aiguille du Midi. In two stages it takes you to 3777m, a height gain of 2800m in just 20 minutes. It's fair to say that your ears pop! We went up to the top, then took a much smaller cable car across the Vallée Blanche and Glacier du Géant to Helbronner in Italy. We had a beer there (hmm, beer and lack of oxygen, probably not a great idea!) We then came back and took a lift up to the peak of l'Aiguille du Midi, another 60m. At 3842m (12605ft) it is the highest point you can get to in Europe without putting on lots of gear and hiking! Unfortunately the cloud had drifted over us so we didn't get any view at all. On the way down we stopped at the midway point to watch the cable cars go over the edge, then headed back into Chamonix for some food.