Tuesday 5/7/19 – Part 2 – For this entry I took this cute little red cogwheel train up to the tiny village of Montenvers (pronounced mohn-tuh-vehr). It’s claim to fame is it sits over top of France’s largest glacier at eight miles long. It’s called Mer de Glace (pronounced mayr duh glahs which means Sea of Ice). There are also gorgeous views up the white valley (Vallee Blanche) of splintered, snow-capped peaks. Sadly the glacier is slowly receding (that darn climate change again!) and they say eventually the train tracks will need to be extended to catch up with the ice. In 1860 this glacier extended all the way to the valley floor.
One of the large peaks in the pics is Aiguille du Dru at 11,700 feet and is a favorite of rock climbers. It was first scaled in 1860, long before the train was built, and was recently free-climbed (no ropes, belays, etc.). Crazy!
Again I’ll let the beauty of the pictures do most of the talking. Enjoy!
Jeff
The Wandering Italian 