Are We There Yet? November 15, 2006

Today we are traveling to the town of Chamonix in the French Alps and situated at the base of Mont Blanc and in the central eastern part of the country. Our starting point is Les Eyzies which is in south west France and about 280 kilometers (175 miles) from Chamonix which is mainly east (slightly north) from the starting point. To reach Chamonix a mere 280 kilometers away we had to first go mainly north (SLIGHTLY east) approximately 230 km to Paris during which we changed trains in Perigueux and Limoges. We arrived in Paris Austerlitz Station but were leaving from Paris Gare De Lyon which meant a 15 minute walk across the Seine, of course in full pack. As I write this we are on the Paris to Annecy leg. When we arrive in Annecy we will transfer to a train to St Gervais Le Fayet and once there to a train that will take us to Chamonix Mont Blanc. We left the hotel this morning at 6:15 in order to catch the 6:32 train. We are scheduled to arrive in Chamonix at 7:43 tonight. A quick calculation will tell you that we will spend over thirteen hours traveling the as-the-crow-flies 280 km (175 miles). Using the “I don’t have anything else to do so I’ll guestimate these distances measurement system” it appears we will travel somewhere in the neighborhood of 850-900 kilometers if you follow the route through Paris, which unfortunately we have to do. Paris is the main hub for trains in France and to travel due east or west in the middle or southern reaches of the country without going to Paris would mean finding your way through a maze of local trains and stations. Not a good alternative.

Now before, if you haven’t already said it, say to yourself “I don’t feel sorry for you guys, it’s your choice to be there and beside you don’t have to get up and go to work in the morning” let me say that I don’t feel sorry for us either. We are seeing France, maybe every last inch of it, and the weather again today is beautiful. Almost too warm at around 18C (65F), but still very nice. My problem is that I had nothing else to write about today and thirteen hours of travel time to kill, so this will take care of about an hour. If we arrive on time in Chamonix without any problems I’ll leave this as is for publication. If excitement comes our way I’ll add on later. Scroll down from here to see if we made it.