I took a random bus out of Strasbourg and landed in a town (sorry, village) called Dambach-la-ville. If you thought Ribeauville was small (5k), Dambach-la-ville has 3k less people. The bus ride was was pure shocking as we passed through small towns and villages each prettier and more colourful than the other. Apart from the usual churches and cemeteries, there were lots of beautiful houses with wells, flowers in balconies (naturally), creepers and vineyards in their yards (now that is an interesting hobby). There was simply too much greenery and beauty all around.
The village of Dambach-la-ville had nothing to offer apart from...
I took a random bus out of Strasbourg and landed in a town (sorry, village) called Dambach-la-ville. If you thought Ribeauville was small (5k), Dambach-la-ville has 3k less people. The bus ride was was pure shocking as we passed through small towns and villages each prettier and more colourful than the other. Apart from the usual churches and cemeteries, there were lots of beautiful houses with wells, flowers in balconies (naturally), creepers and vineyards in their yards (now that is an interesting hobby). There was simply too much greenery and beauty all around.
The village of Dambach-la-ville had nothing to offer apart from pure beauty. It lies in the heart of a region that provides the Frankstein Grand Cru and the whole village is sorrounded on all four sides by beautiful green vineyards as far as my myopic eye could see. A walk to a nearby hilltop provided a great view of this and other villages which looked like little islands of red-tiled roofs. The sun was out and the church bells, as always, were peeling. I got chatting with one monsieur who was pruning the the grape vines. Seeing my camera he assumed (and i did not change that perception) that I was doing a photo essay for a local festival. He posed very enthusiastically for the camera while explaining to me (en francais naturellement) the grape-growing and harvesting process.
The small town is not much-touristed so everyone knew almost everyone...i was ofcourse the odd person out who knew no one but people were so friendly that i ended up being bonjour-ed by many a local. I saw only one more tourist in the entire village (and that is saying a lot for a place in France, which attracts the more tourists than any other country). Apârt from that solitary tourist, I saw a couple who were cycling from town to town with their backpacks.....they put me to shame...both of them must have easily been over 70! The world is full of enthusiasm :) A visit to the tourist office was extremely embarassing as the old lady at the counter had never seen a tourist from India in Dambach-la-ville. She promptly called all her colleauges to have a look at this specimen!
Almost every house has a 'cave' or 'caveau' (cellar) attached to it where one can do 'visite' (visit) or 'degustation' (taste) or purchase of wines that is produced from grapes grown in their own backyard. I even managed to see some bottling, labelling and packaging of wine.
I meandered about town and completely forgot about the time....when i finally reached teh only restaurant I could spot it was around 1430. The helper there told me that they stopped serving food at 1400 (just like the other restaurant in town). Seeing my face drop, she said that she'll put in a special word the chef so that he could work overtime. I don't know if it was the usual ploy to please the customer or whether it was my 'superior' French skills that did the trick. After lunch I just sat in the sun (that finally showed its face to me) and got a bit of writing done.
It was time to say bye to Strasbourg, so I moved to Chamonix in the Savoy region. Since I can't afford a Mont Blanc pen, I decided to see the real Mont Blanc from up close. The 1924 olympics were held here in Chamonix...and also where the chase in 'World is not enough' was shot. This boring trivia apart, Chamonix is also the place from where serious mountaineers, skiers, climbers, campers and trekkers make their foray into the Alps.
The train journey from Strasbourg to Chamonix was pretty complicated as i had to change thrice. But the last leg was breathtaking as we moved into the Alps. Chamonix, for the geographically-curious, lies near the French-Swiss-Italian border. For the most part the train ran next to a rivulet and I felt guilty at having dozed off and not gawked at the river! But it was more than made up by the appearance of pretty lakes, villages nestled on mountains or between valleys with snow kissed Alps in the distant background. And since the sun was out, most people were in minimal clothing and were angling or just soaking in the welcome sun. A lot of hang-gliding, paragliding, mountain biking was also in full swing. I guess the train passed through switzerland for a while as the Swiss border police and the French border police did their random checks on the train...fortunately, I was spared this 'random' checking (Switzerland is not part of Schengen).
From Chamonix, i went to see 'Mer de La Glace' which is Frances largest glacier set in a pretty valley with snow-laden peaks all around. The glacier moves about 90 metres every year and they have built artificial caves into the glacier and one can walk through them......the ice is crystal clear and one can see for inches deep (photos cannot explain the surreality of the setting....with multi-coloured lights lighting up the cave).
From Chamonix, one can see (besides lots of other peaks) a formidable peak with a fortress looking structure on top....it looks straight out of an Alistair Maclean book from where one had to escape. It was ofcourse no high-security prison but was Aiguille Du Midi. A cable car, incidentally the worlds highest, runs from Chamonix to Aiguille Du Midi. The distance from Chamonix (@ 1000m) to Aiguille Du Midi (@ 3842m) is completed in 16 minutes.....it is an exhilirating feeling. When we got the first 360-degree view of snow all around, there was much oooh-ing and aah-ing in the telepherique (cable car). At the top I ended up taking an overload of photos as there was too much pristine and white beauty all around. One gets a 360 degree view of the snow capped alps (most of which are over 4000m). One can almost touch Mont Blanc (4800m). This area is pretty avalanche-prone so one can see mini-avalanches in progress. Those of you who are trekkers/climbers would love it here. If one has the requisite gear one can venture out into the snow in this weather also....though lots of it looked pretty technical. The view of the Vallee Blanche (from where the Glacier du Geant joins starts and joins upto to the Mer de Glace) is simply stunning....Besides providing camping sites, this glacier also has 20kms of skiing pistes.
I was lucky. When I reached it was clear but then it started clouding up after a while and the snow on the mountains through clouds and the the shade of the sun provided a different kind of ambience. So I got the best of both. After it became cloudy it even started snowing to add to the surreality of the sorroundings. At that height there was a photoshoot for outdoor gear in progress. The model was a 6'2" beautiful London-ite who freelances for such assignments. She said that it gets her to travel to such off-beat places. Now thats life! There are plenty of professions that are enviable (wine-producing in ones backyard apart!).
Chamonix per se has lots of souvenir shops, apres-Ski restaurants and outdoor gear sports shops. The place is full of serious mountaineers with ragged looks, heavy duty backpacks, and complicated looking mountaineering gear like crampons. I got chatting with this group of Australian mountaineers and every second sentence of theirs began with you-know-when-was-climbing-so-and-so-peak. Made me feel totally uncool !
Chamonix has a small rivulet (avre) running through it and is in a valley but all around are really high peaks covered in snow. And though it has been clear for most of the days, sometimes it becomes cloudy and the mountains, snow and the trees change their colours from violet to orange to red and all the other colours in between the spectrum. This makes every vista different from the previous one. After a while i just gave up and stopped taking photos. The weather has been perfect...in between 15-25 degrees here (though it was below zero on Aiguille du Midi).
Visited the cemetery at Chamonix which is full of graveyards of climbers who have been killed in action in the Alps. Met a gentleman from Manchester there who seemed to be a walking encylopedia on Alpine climbers. He was extremely reverential of all the climbers. He showed me Whymper's grave and almost seemed to be in 'his' presence. This is 'Mr. Whymper's' grave he said, as he took off his cap. Then he gave me a long lecture on the tradition of guides in Chamonix and how Ruskin the writer (no no not Ruskin Bond) had visited Chamonix. After a while, it became difficult for me to continue with my artificial smiles as he started giving me details of the climbers lives.....
Also visited a nearby town called Argentiere which was totally empty since it was the off-season. The tourist office was also closed and even the locals seemed to have been away. THe only other people I saw there were a Bengali couple (of all the places in teh world. Hats off to their travelling spirit!).
Apart from that, have not done much here in chamonix. Saw a spanish movie with french subtitles (total greek incomprehension!)...am doing lots of reading and a bit of writing. Have decided to just chill here and rest for a couple of days. After all, I need a break from all the travelling ;)
France Part III
- After a meal one day, instead of saying "L'addition S'il Vous Plait" while asking for the bill, I said "Le Subjonctif S'il Vous Plait"....I guess the nightmares of French grammer will never cease to haunt me ;) Or maybe the Vin Rosé Alsacienne was a bit too strong for me.
- I used to think that Paris is the city of love, but love is apparently a disease that seems to affect all of France. Everywhere couples, no matter what their age, can't seem to keep their hands or lips off each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Being so close to Switzerland, Chamonixès gourmet speciality is fondue. Every restaurant offers atleast ten different kinds of fondue. Calories galore !
