Where We Be
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| Chamonix: Mer de Glace |
You could tack on a visit to Mer de Glace ("Sea
of Ice") Glacier at the end of your Grand Balcon
Nord hike -- after all, you're more or less right
there when you finish the hike. However, we
were tuckered out and saved it for another day.
In any case, from the top of Montenvers Cog
Railway, you actually take a short gondola ride
down to the glacier (plus about 200 metal stairs).
Why? Because that's how much the glacier has
receded over the past several decades. Yikes!
At the bottom, you'll enter a hand-carved (yes,
hand-carved!) Ice Cave inside the glacier. This
sounds a bit hokey but is really quite cool. The
cave was waaay bigger than we were expecting,
with hallways and rooms and ice sculptures and
placards and freezing-cold glacier water drip-
ping from the ceiling and blue ice everywhere
and people people people milling through the
various passageways. Not sure we’re doing the
glacier any favors digging into it like that, but it
was quite the unique attraction and we’re glad
we made time for it. Afterwards, the Montenvers
Cog Railway brings you back down to Chamonix.
Note: We did the Mer de Glace on an overcast
day because it's not all that weather-dependent.
of Ice") Glacier at the end of your Grand Balcon
Nord hike -- after all, you're more or less right
there when you finish the hike. However, we
were tuckered out and saved it for another day.
In any case, from the top of Montenvers Cog
Railway, you actually take a short gondola ride
down to the glacier (plus about 200 metal stairs).
Why? Because that's how much the glacier has
receded over the past several decades. Yikes!
At the bottom, you'll enter a hand-carved (yes,
hand-carved!) Ice Cave inside the glacier. This
sounds a bit hokey but is really quite cool. The
cave was waaay bigger than we were expecting,
with hallways and rooms and ice sculptures and
placards and freezing-cold glacier water drip-
ping from the ceiling and blue ice everywhere
and people people people milling through the
various passageways. Not sure we’re doing the
glacier any favors digging into it like that, but it
was quite the unique attraction and we’re glad
we made time for it. Afterwards, the Montenvers
Cog Railway brings you back down to Chamonix.
Note: We did the Mer de Glace on an overcast
day because it's not all that weather-dependent.
| Because the Mer de Glace retreats some 100 feet each year, workers hand-carve a brand-new ice cave each summer |
| A hat and raingear help stave off icy dripping water |
| A gondola descends from Montenvers cog railway station to the Mer de Glace |
| Here you can see the gondola and metal staircase from the base of the glacier. In 1910 the glacier was way up there! |
| What a strange attraction! The ice cave has existed in one form or another for some 80 years, having been first created in 1946. |
| Mer de Glace used to reach right up to this overlook and the adjacent train station |
| Piano and living room set with fireplace! |
| A rare passageway with no people |
| French fries for €8? What a bargain! |
| Ice climbers ascend the face of the glacier -- giving some perspective on just how big the glacier still is |
| "Traffic jam" at the entrance |
| Weird lighting effects as we exit the ice cave |
| The ice cave is wrapped in tarpaulins to stave off the summer heat. The glacier itself is largely hidden beneath a layer of rocky debris. |