The touch of French Alps in Chamonix

May 2022

Landed in Geneva. The following morning we pick our rental Polestar up, I get familiar with the car and off we go, direction Chamonix!

The drive is beautiful. Swiss lakes change into small and later huge mountains all around us. Altitude rises and so does the excitement!

It’s our first time trying an electric car so I make sure to find every possible parking with a charger in Chamonix. We find what we think is the most central parking, we spin around going from the first floor all the way to the top, but the charger is nowhere to be found. No stress, we still have 80% battery! All ready to breathe the fresh alpine air in, we open the trunk and… hit the ceiling. Something you absolutely don’t want when you don’t pay for an extra insurance! Oh well, mood is still good – we put our backpacks on and walk out!

We start browsing the little town, but instead of watching our steps, our eyes are fixating on the mountains. If there is anything I really miss in Denmark, it would be this. High altitudes, fresh air, rocks, snow.

Mont Blanc seems even more majestic than we had thought it to be. We decide not to go all the way to Aiguille du Midi, but rather stop halfway. This way we can see both the valley and the peaks and also not freeze to death!

The cable car is approaching Aiguille du Plan, our station. Martin’s eyes are closed and his fists are holding the rail with the strongest grip. Life is tough when you are scared of heights! Luckily, we are here!

Skiers trying to find the last bits of snow. Fellow tourists trying to chug a few Blancs under the Mont Blanc, before noon. Me trying to spot a mountain goat. Martin trying his new GoPro out. Not all of us succeed, but we make the most of it!

We take pictures, throw snow balls at each other, I attempt to climb up the rocks while Martin asks me not to be a daredevil. Afterwards, we join the fellow tourists and chug a Blanc under the Mont Blanc as well.

When we get back down to the city, we browse the cute little shops and get lunch, while trying to get advantage of (already quite high) prices before we hit Switzerland. I order food for at least 3 people and eat… yeah, a third of it.

Our day, however, doesn’t end in Chamonix. We want to stop in Yvoire, a cute medieval town on the shore of Lake Geneva. So we sit back in our car and drive, leaving the Alps behind.

We can’t find a charger for our car in Yvoire either. I start to panic while Martin keeps his straight face. It’s unusually warm for May and we both wish we could just take a dip in the lake. This little quaint town is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen! We stroll, I dream about living here (as everywhere I go) and we hit the last part of the road for the day.

We park by a big mall where we are sure we can find a charger. And we do, but it takes us 1,5 hour and multiple breakdowns to actually charge the car.

Finally, after a day full of changing scenery, being in two countries, in the mountains and by a lakeshore, we reach our hotel. They have a vending machine so I go buy chips. It takes my money, but the chips are stuck. So much luck, Adriana! Well, you didn’t need it anyway.