白朗峯：你還好嗎? (Dear Mont Blanc, wish you well)

 

Le Bivouac, Chamonix, French Alps

Arrived here quite early which was good to avoid the crowd as it's full house when we left.  The tomato salad was freshly made and in a light dressing.  The bread was also very fresh.  These 2 were already good enough for me.   I was further surprised with their grill too.  The chicken thigh and hamburger steak were very juicy and aromatic.  I'd like the way they made such a simple spaghetti.  Freshly cooked and tossed in light butter with a hinch of sea salt and parsley.  

La Poele, Chamonix, French Alps

When I passed by this restaurant, I thought it was a place for chicken as there is a happy hen on the big board at the entrance.  I overlooked the eggs laid by the happy hen, but noticed it too late after I ordered a 3 course meal for a salad/steak/crepe.  Noticed quite many others order omelette.  So  2 days later I came back and tried the omelette.  The eggs were very fresh and the way the chef batter the egg was very skilful (foamy and even).  However, the 3 course meal was good too.  I'd like the way they didn't put much dressing in the salad.  Very fresh veggie!  The steak was also what I look for.  No need to have any sauce.  Just some ground sea salt is good enough.  The crepe was a bit too heavy with the blueberry jam though.

Le Brevent, on the other side of Chamonix Valley, French Alps

Chamonix is a valley city with 2 sides of mountain range.  The famous Mont Blanc is on the south east and to take a panoramic view to Mont Blanc is on the north west Le Brevent at an altitude of 2,500 meters, vs Mont Blanc at 3,800 meters.  As Chamonix is at 1,100 meters.  That means Le Brevent is on a good angle to view Mont Blanc from the middle point.  It was even mystical this day with cloud and icy mist embraced.

Noted that in the cable car rides up to Mont Blanc and Le Brevent, there were 2 sectors with a change of cable car.

In the icy mist, Le Brevent, Chamonix, French Alps

Walking on the edge of the steep slope, Mont Blanc, French Alps

Have been seeing team by team walking down.  I trust down there scenes must be very breath taking.  Check on photo 2 - even one person walking in solitude.  However, I have seen the helicopter rescuing team with their life saving equipment frequently.

La Moraine, Chamonix, French Alps

Tried this restaurant because of their deco.  It looks very traditional and inside there was a pair of aged wooden skiing skates (made in the year 1,8xx).  There were quite many old photos of how this town was and how skiing was popular.  

Had a pie, seared fishes and a lasagne.  The better one is the lasagne.  The fish was the worst.  Supposed we shouldn't order the fish in a mountain area.  It's really not so fresh.  So this place may be good for browsing rather than eating.

A sunny chilling day in Chamonix, French Alps

It was minus 8 degree celsius, at the altitude of 1,030 meters in this town.  You may get some headache in this cold and thin air, especially for us coming from the sub-tropical seaside city.

The lounging area, Heliopic Hotel & Spa, Chamonix, French Alps.

There's a Starbucks kiosk in the deli of this hotel and is the one and only in Chamonix.  Out of curiosity, I went in for a hot soy mocha, but it was just 10% of an average Starbucks standard.  No coffee aroma.  No choco. flavour and not either soy milk texture.  The only standard is "hot".  So I gave it a 10% of a Starbucks standard. That reminded of the first SB shop in Paris, that they intentionally made the coffee very bland as the French often claimed American coffee is "stocking water".  I absolutely disagree to this statement since SB combines espresso with the traditional American coffee.  That made it a middle of the road.  That brought the coffee culture though I'm not a big fan of SB.

The hotel serves complimentary pop corn at the late afternoon, good for people to lounge in the cozy lobby area.  Once again, I took all these photos in the second when there's no people around.  It was quite busy day and night.