• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Trail Stoke

one girls quest for awe-inspiring adventure, great gear, and eternal excitement

  • The Desert
  • The Mountains
  • The Gear
    • Adventure Gear
    • Deals
    • Trail Running Gear
    • Travel Gear
  • The Dog
  • The Life
    • FAI Surgery
  • About
  • Contact

2017 Euro-Adventure Stop 3 – Chamonix, France

November 28, 2017 by Amiee

Lac Blanc Chamonix

Although it broke my heart to leave the Dolomites after only 4 days, I wanted to show Fritz Chamonix, which so captured my heart five years earlier. My reward for recovering from my first FAI surgery was a 2-week trip to Chamonix to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc. It was my first solo trip to Europe  and I managed to hike from Chamonix to Courmayeur, Italy before an early season snowstorm blew me out of the mountains and into a the comfort of a Chamonix hostel for the rest of the trip.

We left Val Gardena after a fantastic morning running the Vallunga Valley and made it to Aosta for the night where I had the most amazing pizza of my entire life. We were so hungry after the drive, we pulled into the first pizza place we found bars on the windows and all and it was like we had wound up in Napoli. Fritz ordered the green salad, which was just a bowl of lettuce and I ordered the tomato salad, which was just a giant bowl of quartered tomatoes.

Fritz stoked on his 'green' salad.

Fritz stoked on his ‘green’ salad.

Best pizza of my entire life.

Best pizza of my entire life.

The pizza! The crust was so soft, yet slightly crusty and the sauce so mind-blowingly robust with flavor, how can pizza taste this good? Fritz ordered the Marinara pizza because he was stoked it was only 4 Euro, but failed to realize Marinara meant only marinara. Crust, marinara, and some chopped garlic – that was it, but still equally amazing nonetheless. This was the real deal. A dog was seated in the chair at the table next to us and rapid Italian and passionate gesturing filled the dining room and kissing, there was so much kissing of the cheeks!

Moody skies at the Eglise Saint-Michel in Chamonix.

Moody skies at the Eglise Saint-Michel in Chamonix.

We arrived in Chamonix early morning and it was FREEZING so we put on literally all of our clothes and headed to the Extreme Cafe for coffees hoping the temperature would at least raise a few degrees before we set out on the morning’s adventure. We took the tram up to the PlanPraz and ended up busting through the clouds and into the sunshine. We hustled up the Le Brevant and then ran all the way to Lac Blanc and then down to Argentiere where we caught a shuttle bus back to our car in Chamonix. The run involved 4,600 feet of climbing, but 7,000 feet of descent – owie – and only one coffee and one beer so we were hungry!

IMG_4070

Fritz and the Mont Blanc Massif.

IMG_4076

The trail to Le Brevant.

IMG_4100

Chamonix’s Lac Blanc.

We stayed at this most adorable AirBNB close to Chamonix, which was hands down the cheapest place I could find in town and you could stick your head out of the skylight of the loft and have an amazing panoramic view of both sides of the valley. Lucette’s was simply a steal at 50 bucks a night and she stocked the pantry with bread, jelly, biscuits, coffee and all sorts of other goodies, which was so nice. We had a blast in Lucette’s charming little studio.

It didn’t stop raining once during our second day in Chamonix, so we took an actual tourist day and ate croissants and went shopping and browsed wine cellars and took naps, it was great! Highlight was eating a juicy garlic potato burger squeezed into a table in the attic at the Poco Loco. We shared a table with a Swedish man enjoying his last beer ever because he was beginning his climb up Mt. Blanc in the morning and he wasn’t convinced that he would survive.

IMG_4173

The view from Lucette’s skylight.

IMG_4162

Reading about Moab in a Chamonix bookstore.

Rose for days!

Rose for days!

On our final morning in Chamonix, Fritz opted for a road run through Chamonix Valley and I headed straight up the mountain on the wildest, steepest switch backs I have ever seen. I followed the course for the Mont-Blanc Vertical KM race and couldn’t see a damn thing. I kept climbing and climbing just hoping for the best since the trail eventually became a series of ladders, cables, handrails, and cliffs. I seriously had so much fun, but there was no way I was heading back down those trails in that fog so I opted for a gondola ride back down to Chamonix where I enjoyed my last croissant and coffee before heading back through the Mt. Blanc Tunnel and back into Italy.

IMG_4199

The view down into Chamonix from my trail under the gondola.

The trail seriously went straight up.

The trail seriously went straight up.

IMG_4223

Until next time most beautiful city in the world.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: The Mountains, Trail Running Mountains Tagged With: 2017 Euro-Adventure, Chamonix, Europe, European Adventures, France

Previous Post: « Giving Tuesday: Putting Money Where Your Heart Is!
Next Post: 10 Things You Can Do RIGHT NOW to Support Bears Ears & Escalante National Monuments »

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Top Posts

  • Return to Running After FAI Surgery Program
  • FAI Surgery Recovery: The First 6 Weeks!
  • Hip Impingement (FAI) Surgery: A Success Story?
  • From Three Hip Scopes to Stoke!
  • Visiting the Great Salt Lake’s Spiral Jetty in Winter

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

2019 Race Schedule

July 20, 2019 - Wasatch Speedgoat SHORTGOAT
September 6, 2019 - Wasatch 100

amieemaxwell

☕️⛰🐶🍺Salt Lake City, Utah 🇺🇸

I still don’t quite understand how one can “ow I still don’t quite understand how one can “own” a bazillion years of geological time 🤔
New obsession, desert ice! New obsession, desert ice!
Not sure if either one of us is ever going to get Not sure if either one of us is ever going to get used to these average Monday morning run views (not a fan of how close he gets to the edge though).
Was worried I’d miss the snow living in the dese Was worried I’d miss the snow living in the desert this winter. Guess I don’t have to 🤷🏼‍♀️
Took my mom on her first slot canyon adventure the Took my mom on her first slot canyon adventure the other week. She said she learned those moves watching Ninja Warriors 😂 We then ticked off another of her bucket list items and had dinner at @hellsbackbonegrill (holy moly carrot cupcake desert, no photos cuz we enjoyed every second!). Now she just needs to buy a horse or at least find one to borrow and her winter in the desert will be complete (although she still has four more months here)!
Day 41 in a tent. Temps never got above freezing t Day 41 in a tent. Temps never got above freezing today. Hotel tomorrow 😜
A few bits of fall in the desert now that I live h A few bits of fall in the desert now that I live here 🌵🍂 💛
When your dog and hubby are sporting matching @sto When your dog and hubby are sporting matching @stormykromerofficial masks and only one of them is wearing it appropriately...
Last night we played bananagrams and I only used f Last night we played bananagrams and I only used flower words. I did not win 🤷🏼‍♀️, yet I did 🎨 💐!
Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

There may be an issue with the Instagram access token that you are using. Your server might also be unable to connect to Instagram at this time.

Gear Deals

Recent Posts

  • A Mostly Dry November Foray into Buckskin Gulch
  • Monday Mojo 22 – West Desert Season & Donkeys
  • Big Mountain to Beer Bar: A City Creek Canyon Expedition
  • 2018 & The Year of 100 Summits
  • Monday Mojo 21 – I Want My Mojo Back!

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress