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Friday, June 19 Class was held as usual on Friday morning before several of us headed back up to the Col de la Forclaz for some more hang-gliding. This time, Christie, Nicholas and Jason made the leap with our fearless hang-gliding pilot, Noël Veyrat. Noël rigged up a camera on the wing so that we were able to get the shots below, taken during the three flights that afternoon.     At 5:30pm, we all gathered at the Mairie for the annual vin d'honneur in the town hall reception room. Short speeches were given by Vice-Mayor Schmidt, AFA President Yvette Millot and AFA "Prime Minister" Christine Barbe. The Vice-Mayor pointed out that the town has purchased an American flag, since we seem to come back every year! The speeches were followed by cookies and drinks (orange juice or "Kir", a black-currant liqueur and white wine cocktail) and by the annual group photo on the steps of the Mairie.  Saturday, June 20 While we had originally planned to have a free day on Saturday, we were able to get a bus to go back to Chamonix: the weather reports promised a perfect day, and we decided to try one last time to approach Mt Blanc in the hopes of getting a good view of the highest Alps that we had failed to see on Monday. This time, we were not disappointed. As the bus neared Chamonix valley, the mountains loomed ever larger over us, and upon arrival in the town of Chamonix we headed straight for the Mt. Brévent cablecar. Though not the highest mountain reachable by cablecar, Mt. Brévent offers the best overall view of the Mt Blanc chain. (It is seen above the church in the photo below). After a switch from 6-passenger cars to a large cabin which runs along cables a mile high (some students were apprehensive despite their teacher's assurances that the cables "rarely" break), we were able to get the view that had eluded us earlier in the week.    On top of Mt. Brévent, we had our picnic lunch and enjoyed the view as we basked in unseasonably warm weather and peered across the valley through the clear mountain air. Several of the students elected to walk down part way, which took over an hour down winding trails and across snow fields.  Even those who dread long bus rides on winding mountain roads gladly volunteered that this excursion had undisputably been worth the discomfort. The entire Mt Blanc mountain chain was clearly visible, as can be seen in the panoramic view below. The picture, composed of eight photographs and covering 180º,cannot begin to convey the size of the vista which filled our field of view.  After a couple of hours on the mountain, we went down into the town of Chamonix to buy postcards and souvenirs before once again boarding the bus for the ride back to Faverges. By this time, the temperature on the valley floor was getting close to 90F, and we were all glad to get back home, exhausted by the long ride and the repeated changes in altitude. The photos below show Tony and Paula perusing postcards, Christie choosing posters, and the tired and sunburnt students on the bus.   
The next report will probably be posted on Tuesday evening. |
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