Chamonix 2006

Total Mileage

2006-07-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

The total mileage for the trip was approximately 2300 miles

7777

2006-07-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

On the run up the M6 our odometer was approaching the 7777 mark. We pulled in for fuel and after a couple of laps of the carpark we were able to capture the moment on the camera.

The final leg

2006-07-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

After a night in the holiday inn express we were now on the final leg of the journey home, the long trek up the M1 and M6 for the ferry from Stranraer. We had plenty of time so at least we weren`t under pressure.

The great gearbox hunt

2006-07-09T23:30:00.000-07:00

We managed to get an earlier ferry and made tracks fro south London to pick up a T5 gearbox which John had bought off ebay. As we headed in the M3 we were trying to follow some dodgy directions.........when I hit some familiar territory in Wandsworth I knew we had come to far. We eventually found the gearbox and hten hit the M25 again for the final run up to the Holiday Inn at Junction 9 on the M1...........at this point there were a few pointy heads..........John`s brother had been tasked with finding us a taxi to get us back to the Rose and Crown where he had a chinese and some beers waiting for us.

Lunch near St Quentin

2006-07-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

We made a decision to come off the autoroute at St Quentin for lunch. We were going to go into the town centre but we bumped into this restaurant just beside the toll plaza. It was full of french families out for their Sunday Lunch.......turned out to be incredibly good value.

Blatting on French Roads

2006-07-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

What a great way to spend a Sunday morning, blatting through the French countryside. Lots of cyclists out and bout, they obviously got lost on their way to the Tour de France. Here we are waiting for Tim and John to catch up.......

Overnight in Troyes

2006-07-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Troyes was a great place to stop........good hotel, reasonable food, plenty to look at, the only downside being the price of the beer although Tim`s discussion with the waiter was rather entertaining.

Lunch by the Seine

2006-07-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

Whatever you do in France make sure you stop for lunch at lunchtime. We had driven on and stopped at 3pm by which point everywhere had stopped serving food. We managed to find a bikers cafe for some croque monsieurs.........and they threw in some biting fleas for free........

A run in with the Gendarmes

2006-07-08T12:50:00.000-07:00

So there we are minding our own business when I look in my mirror to see two Gendarmes on motorbikes...........next reaction check speed.......thankfully we were being sensible. The Gendarmes passed me and John and positioned themselves in front of Dusty and Tim...........and pulled them in. Turns out they were a little upset about overtaking across a solid white line......they fleeced Tim and Dusty 90 euros each and then we were on our way.......just as well they didn`t inspect my front tyres.

Another tour casualty

2006-07-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

On a rather spirited drive up the N5 from Geneva through the Jura Mountains we came across a rock in the road. Dusty managed to straddle it, I drove around it but Tim caught it with his front wheel. The rock was spat out gouging the sideskin and cracking the rear arch.

Packed and ready to go

2006-07-08T07:30:00.000-07:00

Time to start the return journey. First task is to get the girls to Geneva airport for their flight back to Belfast, then its a morning of un on the N5

Sunrise departure

2006-07-08T06:30:00.000-07:00

After 3 days of inclement weather we were gld to see the sunshine for the start of the return journey. A beautiful sunrise made up for being out of bed at 5.30am

1000 miles from home...........

2006-07-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

...........and what`s on in Chamonix........a celtic music festival

Nise7ens return to the bowling alley

2006-07-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

In a follow up to the infamous 10 pin bowling session in Portsmouth a couple of years back we all decided to embarrass ourselves again. In an effort to keep it semi respectable we tried playing sober..........certainly didn`t help my game much.
Victory went to John Mckillop with the most impressive technique going to Jo. Fastest ball of the day went to Tim.

Tim spotted fielding hailstones

2006-07-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

During the thunderstorm it started to chuck down some rather large hailstones. At one point Tim was witnessed holding an umbrella over his bonnet........

Caught in a thunder storm

2006-07-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

We all decided to drive to Sixt for a walk today, halfway there the skies darkened and we saw the first fork of lightning. We decided to find some shelter to see if it would pass. We found a little delicatessan and vacated the cars as the heavens opened. After waiting for about an hour we decided it wasn`t going to clear, the storm was rotating above us and the lightning was getting closer. In the end we put the hoods on and had a fairly nervous drive back to Chamonix.......we even had 4 wheel aquaplaning at one point.

No beer but a cracking view

2006-07-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

With clearer skies today we managed to get a much better view of Mont Blanc

Some mistake surely

2006-07-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

It seems that someone forgot to tell the landlord we were coming.

Never trust women with snow

2006-07-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

For some reason this snow found itself down Tim`s back......

Another mountain, another nutter

2006-07-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of days we have sat on our balcony and watched people taking to the skies from the top of the mountain. Today we found one of the launch sites. At times there seem to be more than 20 people in the air at any one time.

A new day a new mountain

2006-07-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

Today we`re climbing Brevent, well actually we`ve come up in a mini cable car which was a little bit hairy. Lets just say nobody was saying much in our car.

The Ice Grotto

2006-07-03T18:15:00.000-07:00

It`s not every day you walk inside a glacier. An ice tunnel leads to a series of caves each with its own ice sculpture.

Time for a wee dander

2006-07-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Having taken all sorts of dodgy transport today we thought we`d resort to some good old fashioned walking to get us down to the Ice Caves. Of course as soon as you start walking the rain comes on, and here we are stood up a mountain beside a glacier with thunder and lightning all around us.

Mer du Glace

2006-07-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

At the end of the train journey the view which awaits is spectacular, the Mer du Glace glacier, snaking through the mountains.

On the train to Monteveners

2006-07-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

After lunch we jumped on the rack and pinion railway which runs from Chamonix to Monteveners where you can get access to the Mer de Glace glacier.

At the top

2006-07-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

Just to prove we made it to the top.

You always bump into a nutter

2006-07-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

No matter where in the world you go there always seems to be a bunch of nutters doing something dangerous. This guy was part of a group which had climbed up rather than taking the cable car.

L`aguille du midi

2006-07-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

Against his better judgement we`ve managed to persaude John to come up the mountain in a cable car. We did this last time we were here but the view is fantastic and well worth the trip up. In the end te skies weren`t quite as clear this time although we did get some gret cloud shots which I`ll post on our own website when I get back home. There was a brisk wind at the top which was adding quite a wind chill effect to the temperature as well.

A day of relaxation

2006-07-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

After four days of driving in high temperature sunshine today was very much a day for recuperation and relaxation, getting some washing done and exploring Chamonix to see what is on offer.

MGM Ginabelle Chamonix

2006-07-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

At last we have arrived at the chalet where we will spend a week. It is up to the usual MGM standard we are used to and the view from the balcony is fantastic. It is located just beside the station and within a couple of minutes walk from the centre of Chamonix.

The first casualty of the tour

2006-07-01T18:40:00.000-07:00

Apart from Tim`s ongoing mapping issues and a couple of dodgy oil pressure senders the first proper breakage on tour was John`s front wing stay. Despite a quick stop to cobble it together with a bit of stick and some gaffer tape it wasn`t going to stick the pace so a proper repair or removal would be required.

Lunch at Lake Geneva

2006-07-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

After getting held up by traffic on the N5 into Geneva and taking a couple of wrong turnings we ended up having a late lunch on the grass at the side of Lake Geneva. The Alpine Rally was starting off from the Hilton Hotel where we were parked so the cars were all in the underground carpark.

Overnight in Besancon

2006-06-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

Tonight we stay at the Hotel de Paris in Besancon. After being told off for making too much noise whilst parking the cars and finding out that the hotel had no bar we thought we`d pick a dud. As it turned out there was a bar next door.....where they just kept refilling the glass.......and then a great little restaurant by the river.
The beer was flowing so well that Tim wwas even talking about feeling the waioters leg.........which was a bit worrying.

Pitstop at Le Hohneck

2006-06-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

After what can only be described as a damn good thrashing on the best road of the trip so far we pulled into a little hill top bar for some refreshments. This was one of the roads I got from the bikers websites and there were certainly plenty of bikers using it.

L`abbaye les promontres

2006-06-30T06:15:00.000-07:00

The overnight halt was in an old abbey in Pont-a-mousson. We had arrived after dark so it was only this morning that we got to appreciate just where we had booked in. Luckily they weren`t too busy as I had booked for the previous night by mistake.
The abbey has been turned into a conference centre, gallery, hotel.

A less than desirable sausage

2006-06-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

After Epernay we were haeading west to Pont-a-Mousson. We stopped off in Vitry-en-Francois for dinnerw which turned out to be less than satisfactory.........lets just say "andouilette" is not the same as the sausages we get in the UK. Added to that Dusty left some stuff behind and an incident with Jo`s dinner meant we wouldn`t be recommending La Grillardin as a stopping point in the future.

Relaxing after a glass of champagne

2006-06-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

Some of the nise7ens tourers relaxing.....or is that sobering up after a complimentary glass of champagne.

Moet et Chandon

2006-06-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

The first cultural activity of the tour was a visit to the champagne house of Moet et Chandon in Epernay at the heart of the Champagne region. The tour began with a brief introduction to the champagne house before taking us on a tour of the extensive underground cellars. The amount of labour and time that goes inot making a bottle of champagne is extraordinary.

Overnight in Arras

2006-06-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last night we stayed in the Holiday Inn Express in Arras. Great hotel, if a little hard to find using GPS, and a beautiful French town. The two cobbled squares in the oldtown are well preserved and it seems to have more churches than your average Northern Ireland village

Thumbs up for toll road transponder

2006-06-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

The automatic payment system for the toll roads has been fantastic, you pay a dpeosit and are sent a transponder. For any month you use the transponder you are charged 2 euro plus any tolls incurred. All these fees are charged directly to your credit card. What this means is you drive up to the toll booth, wave the transponder in the air and awway you go. For anyone who has used the toll roads in France in a right hand drive se7en, you will appreciate the convenience this little device offers.

Making good progress

2006-06-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

After a reasonably good run down the M25 and M20 we managed to get transferred onto an earlier Ferry to France so we were now about an hour and a half ahead of schedule.

Pitstop at the Rose and Crown, Harpenden

2006-06-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

If you`re in Harpenden then pop into the Rose and Crown. John`s brother made us all feel welcome and his chef Fred provided a fine selection of sandwiches which Pete tidied up. We arrived a little earlier than expected due to our early start so the lasses were still on their way from Luton airport. After some lunch and a little time spent getting the extra luggage strapped onto the car we were off.....destination Dover

Early start then!

2006-06-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

We were reasonably impressed with the Larne to Fleetwood ferry, the stena line service is much better than the old P&O offering which really was a truckers only outfit. Food on board was good, as were the cabins. The wakeup call at 4am wasn`t quite so welcome but it did mean we were leaving a rather foggy Fleetwood at 5.30am.

Tim couldn`t resist a fettle

2006-06-27T18:45:00.000-07:00

Here we are, half an hour into the tour and Tim`s fettling already. We let him off this time as the car has completed less than 100 miles. He was getting some "pinking" on the run down to the ferry so out with the laptop to knock the ignition advance back a few degrees. It looks like there is still some mapping work to be done on this car.

Lined up and ready to go

2006-06-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

We`ve all made it to the ferry terminal on time. The weather is looking good so hopefully the crossing should be a smooth one.

Todays the Day

2006-06-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

The car is prepared, the bags are packed and the Ipod is charged, time to set off for Chamonix. The first leg will be from Larne to Fleetwood on the overnight ferry with the truckers, needless to say the girls are flying direct to Luton where we will pick them up tomorrow morning en route to Calais.

Welcome to Chamonix 2006

2006-06-19T13:07:00.000-07:00

This blog will record our se7ens touring trip to Chamonix in the French Alps. We set of on 27th June for a 2 week road trip along with 6 friends. Enjoy!