Tramway du Mont Blanc, France
japra | Oct 10, 2007 | Comments 4
We had a couple of rainy days during our stay in the Chamonix area. On one of those days, we decided to take a train up the mountain to Nid D’Aigle. We figured we’d be inside the train most of the time, so we wouldn’t have to worry about getting too wet.
The Tramway du Mont Blanc opened in 1907. It is a rack and adhesion train that climbs 5,900 feet to an altitude of 7,800 feet at Nid D’Aigle. The line is just under 8 miles long but it took us about 70 minutes to make the trip up.
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Here is the very cute Victorian ticket booth in Le Fayet, located just across from the town’s train station.
Our tram was the Jeanne. According to Wikipedia, the line’s trains were named after the three daughters of the owner at the time of electrification.
Here we are inside the tram. The guy in front there isn’t the driver. He was the “lookout”. I think he was the one who sounded the horn at the road crossings. He had a manual windshield wiper that was quite useful on this cold and wet day..
I didn’t take a lot of photos during this trip–I think I must have been foggy in the head. But here’s what I do have..
This is about where we left the tree line and the rain turned into snow. There were a few cows roaming the side of the mountain. Look how big that cow bell is! Apparently, herdsmen put these bells on their animals to help identify which cow belonged to whom–a more charming version of an ear tag. There were some shops in Annecy and Chamonix that sold these bells..
The train made several stops along the way. One in a nearby town, one at a resort maybe half way up, and one just sort of in the middle of nowhere. A family of four got out at the nowhere stop and I thought, ‘What in the world are they going to do way up here?’ Then I saw a little dog come running down the hill followed by a man and a woman. Everyone was so happy to see each other! It was really fun to think about that for a while. I had a whole story spinning in my head.
.Finally, we emerged from a tunnel into a land of snow! It was a breathtaking surprise during our “summer” vacation. Unfortunately, we were in a bit of a rush because we either had to leave in 10 minutes, or hang around at the top for another hour and a half waiting for the next tram. The company had cancelled many of its trains due to bad weather.
Roxi didn’t mind the “bad weather” as it meant SNOW in August!
But after all was said and done, the clouds were too low to really enjoy any views, so we just decided to go back down..
Next time: Aiguille du Midi
Filed Under: Blog • Chamonix • Destinations • France • Outdoors • What to Do
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
Magnificent! (Did I say that already?)
Lauire–Yes, but you can say it again ;-)
I’d say ”breathtaking,” but I don’t have enough breath at this altitude!
Mimsy
Mimsy–It took a little getting used to that cold, thin air!