A day trip to Montenvers.

In the Fall, when one of Dan's best friends from college was out to visit us, we decided to take a day trip to Chamonix and Mont Blanc, something that is not uncommon for us to do any given weekend day. However, we wanted to make it special and change things up a bit. We decided to do something that was new to us as well as our friend, allowing us to see one of our favorite towns in France in a new light. 

You may remember from a post a few months back when we were thwarted from taking the telecabine up to a popular hiking point on Mont Blanc, called Plan de l'Aiguille du Midi (2317 m.), because Oswin was too young. Someone suggested that next time we try to take the train up to a different point on the mountain, known as Montenvers (1913 m). Well, this is the story of that train ride. 

When we arrived at Chamonix we were amazed at the difference from when we had been there just two weeks before. On the occasion of that thwarted telecabine ride we found a surprisingly 70 degree day, one that far from had a shortage of sun or greenery. Fast forward to two weeks later when I almost slipped and fell getting of the car because of an icy patch. It was so so SO very cold. There was snow and ice in certain spots. It was fast becoming ski season in Chamonix, and all we were missing was a big pot of fondue to warm our bones.

After walking through the town a bit, we headed over to the train station to purchase our tickets and waited for our cogwheel ride. The journey took about 30 minutes, and the scenery was beautiful, though Oswin was far more interested in the people on the train than the surrounding Alps. 

We arrived at the end at the Montenvers station to see one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. Just look at that peak! 

It took my breathe away. I hadn't researched anything about Montenvers before heading up, and its sheer beauty was a very welcome surprise. There are steps leading down to the glacier below, but as it was slippery and we were sans appropriate footwear (and avec enfant), we decided to wait to head down that path until things begin to thaw in the spring or early summer.

We stayed at the top for an hour or so, explored a crystal cave, took lots of pictures, and had a hot chocolate, before heading back down the mountain to the slightly warmer Chamonix. The sun was beginning to set, so after a little more wandering around this alpen ski town we headed back to the car to make the drive home.

If you're heading to Chamonix I highly recommend taking the trip up to Montenvers. There was no age minimum for kids, so it's nice to have a kid-friendly option for going a bit higher on the mountain. It's beauty is awe-inspiring, there are paths to be explored, and you might as well as see this beautiful glacier before they all become a thing of the past. I will say that if you're going with kids, leave the stroller at the bottom or in your hotel. We saw several people really struggling with their strollers, both in finding a way to fit on the cogwheel train with the other passengers, and trying to maneuver the icy paths. Carriers all the way for those babes, if you ask me.

A la prochaine friends...

Honey

Oh, and hey, speaking of carriers, don't forget that we've got our first giveaway going on right now for a Sakura Bloom ring sling! This giveaway will close at 11:59 EST on Friday the 23rd, so head on over to get those entries in now! You can enter once, or as many as eight times, depending on your social media following/liking/etc. preferences. Here's the link to enter!  Bon chance!

Lyon: The Christmas Market that wasn't.

We've been lucky for most of our past European Christmas Market excursions over the years to find that most exceed our expectations...but what about the ones that don't? Well, I hate to end the 2013 European Christmas Market tour on a bit of bummer, but Lyon, you're making me do it. 

Just a few days before Christmas we decided to squeeze in just one more Christmas Market, and as we hadn't returned to Lyon in almost 2 years, it seemed as good a reason as any to make a day trip to the gastronomic capital of France. We researched online that they hold quite a large Christmas Market, and it seemed like a great way to round out the year.

We stopped for a quick "taco" (which was actually more like a rectangular burrito with potatoes inside) at "Starting Coffee," mostly because they had Wi-Fi and we needed to access a map online. The "taco" was surprisingly good, even if it wasn't actually a taco, and the gentleman behind the counter was very nice. We told him we were going to the Christmas Market, and he warned us against it. "It's not very good. People have been very disappointed. There is a better one across town." 

Wah-wahhhh.

We finished our "tacos" and decided to check the market out anyway, as we had made the trek to Lyon for that very reason. But oh was local wisdom ever correct. There was a tent with about 20 vendors, none selling anything Christmas related. Aside from a man selling some nice Jura wood toys (whom we bought a little car from), everything else fell along the lines of street market wares. In addition there was one vin chaud stand selling pretty horrible vin chaud, a few food stands, and a kind of petting area with farm animals and pony rides.

Yep. we drove an hour and half to see farm animals. Because we don't see enough cows, chickens, horses, goat and donkeys everyday.

(Who am I kidding, I can never see enough donkeys.)

The animals were the big attraction, and the three of us just kind of stood there looking at each other. 

So this was the Lyon Christmas Market. A bit of a bust.

Truth be told, the market was apparently spread throughout the city in small clusters like this, however we trekked a large part of that city and came across no other segments of the market. No signs directing you to find it. No lights up to spot from far away. We literally searched high and low (Lyon has many steps), and we found nothing. Even our burrito place was closed. Lyon was against us that day.

We didn't let the non-market scenario get us too down though. Lyon is really fun to walk around, and quite the exercise. We went to a children's book shop and picked up a few last minute Christmas presents for Oswin, and wandered around a used book shop and found a copy of "Frankenstein" in French for a friend back home. It made my heart so happy to see how bustling the children's book shop was. Parents were literally elbowing each other to get to books, grabbing piles of books and carefully reading through them before making purchases. Two days before Christmas and the love of reading was still alive and well in France. 

We walked around different parts of the city then we had two years ago, finding the main shopping area and plenty of festive lights...none of which were attached to a Christmas Market. Papa picked up some of Mama's favorite tea for Santa to put in her stocking, since Santa was pretty busy. Dan is such a good helper.

Oh Lyon, we love you so, but we will not be returning for your Christmas Market next year...wherever the rest of it was hiding. 

A la prochaine friends...

Honey 

Also, keep an eye out for Tuesday's post, as I'll be hosting my first giveaway! Exciting right? And hint hint, it rhymes with "Bakura Sloom." Wink wink!

Over the ocean and through the fog

Phew. I feel as if I'm coming out of some sort of physically painful and mind numbing fog, that horrible fog known as jet lag. A jet lag made worse by the company of a toddler's jet lag. Which has been made more difficult by the fact that Dan is far away, and I'm lone she-wolf for the next week and a half. 

That's right folks, for those of you who follow along on the ole Instagram account, Les Duggans made the trip across the ocean about five days ago: Dan to work at the lab in Chicago, and Oswin and I to visit my parent's at the beach in Southern New Jersey. We were really excited to make the trip, but there were moments at the beginning where I had just wished we had remained back in SwitzerFrance, to be completely honest. Despite the fact that I have my parent's to help me out here, there are times where Oswin only wants Mama, and other times where she is very definitely missing her Papa. She did a great job during the 9 hour flight, no crying, no fussing, and was a trooper for the two hour ride that followed from the airport, but this kind of travel can be hard when running the show solo. I honestly do not know how you single parent's do it, you amaze me and you are my heros.

But now the day is seeming brighter, mostly because I think Oswin and I are through the worst of the jet lag. We're actually going to leave the house today to walk down to the beach and see the ocean, and I'm even thinking about going for a run today or tomorrow on the boardwalk, which means I'm beginning to feel a little more like myself. We're missing the hell out of Dan, but this trip is flying past, so I know we'll see him soon. 

On that note, let me tell you a story. On Oswin's first trip to the United States, about a year ago when she was a wee 5 month old, Dan spent the majority of our trip working in North Jersey, and Oswin and I were with my parent's in South Jersey. The trip was beyond exhausting and I spent half of it in tears, between dealing with my own jet lag, the jet lag of my infant, and dealing with the rigours of keeping my nursing supply up to the level it needed to be. Dan had planned to come down and spend the weekend at my parent's house after those first five days of work, and I welcomed the idea with desperately open arms. I needed a break. I needed a hug. I needed some time to eat a meal and drink a cup of coffee without interruption. Dan pulled up in his rental car and we were all eagerly anticipating how excited Oswin would be to see her Papa, whom had never spent 5 days away from our little dragon. Dan walked in the door, Oswin took one look at him and WAILED. Wailed like a freaking banshee. She was so angry at him, you could almost hear her screaming the words "You bastard! Where have you been?!" through her infant screams. Anytime he came near her or held her she screamed at him, but if she was handed off to me she immediately stopped, and commenced scowling at him. Girlfriend was pissed. This continued for two solid hours. My mom cried, because she felt so bad for Dan. 

The following morning all was well and forgotten, and she was back to cooing and loving on her Papa like nothing had happened. Philadelphia is obviously very much in her blood: we need to yell, we need to get it out, we need you to know that we are pissed at you and here are all the reasons, and then we're cool. But man oh man, hell hath no fury like little Smaug's scorn. 

Which leads me to this interesting tidbit: when we meet up with Dan at the airport, we will not have seen him in two weeks. TWO WEEKS. We won't see him until the terminal. May God have mercy on his soul (and the souls of all those waiting to board our flight and hear our potentially screaming and pissed off toddler).

But that's worry for a week from now. Instead I'm going to concentrate on heading down to the beach with my little dragon, and finding some really great shells to collect. Maybe we can offer them as a peace offering to Dan once the yelling has subsided.

A la prochaine friends...

Honey 

The Montreux Christmas Market

Shortly after returning home from our road trip to Germany for the Freiburg Christmas Market we found ourselves on the road again, this time en route to Montreux, Switzerland. We were excited to add another new Christmas Market to our current list, as well as to return to one of our favorite Swiss cities. This was our first trip back to Montreux after a few years, and it was just as great as we had remembered.

There's something funny about the ecosystem that is this small Swiss town on Lake Geneva. Despite being surrounded by Alps, it has a somewhat tropical climate. And when I say tropical climate, I mean that tropical plants grow naturally, all year round. Palm trees, on Lake Geneva, while staring at snow capped Alps. You get the picture.

This Christmas Market was very different compared to what we had just left in Freiburg a few days earlier. It was also very different then the other Christmas Market on our Swiss list, Basel. But it was different in a very quintessentially Swiss way. In one word, classy.

Seriously, classy. You won't find many ornaments for sale at the Montreux Christmas Market (I saw about 3 different kinds, with the cheapest being in the 7-9 CHF area for one Christmas ball), but what you will find is a makeshift little "chalet camp" (for lack of a better term), that screams luxury. Log cabins were erected with roaring fires (though as it was pretty warm when we there, only a few were lit), one could choose to drink their cheer and eat their snacks either outside in a festive chalet courtyard, or an "inside" area on the lake, and people congregated en masse. Even the smaller vin chaud stands offered covered areas, decorated in a chalet theme (of course), with heaters. Heck, the port-a-potty was the nicest I've ever seen, and was heated. The Swiss know how to do luxury and comfort, that's for sure.

The style at this market was also different than we've seen at other European markets, with plenty of big fur coats, high high high heels, and leather pants to dot the Christmas Market landscape along the lake. This was reflected in the goods being sold at the market, as there were plenty of leather goods, fur hats, and fancy gloves being sold for the luxury lover on your Christmas list.

We also experienced what was the second most beautiful sunset I've ever seen in my life. (Here was the best.) It really looks like we were in Tahiti, don't you think?

There were artisans at this market as well. This stand featured a glass blower who was making goods on the premises, and he certainly had quite the crowd to perform for. This was as close as I could get to snap a picture.

Something surprising about Montreux's Christmas market? No bratwurst. Yes yes yes I know, it's the French speaking part of Switzerland, but it's a Christmas Market!  What did they have plenty of? Very expensive tartiflette, and churros. Yep, churros. I was unaware that churros were so big in Montreux.

All in all I would definitely return to Montreux's Christmas Market, but more for the people watching and Swiss cheer than a typical European Christmas Market feel. This was no Freiburg, but that's ok. We had a lot of fun, were able to walk the beautiful paths along Lake Geneva under palm trees, and ate some overpriced potatoes and cheese. I also may or may not have procured a set of nesting dolls with Freddie Mercury on it. Winner winner poulet dinner!

Next time I'll remember to pack my leather pants though...

A la prochaine friends...

Honey