Blessed with several days of splendid weather, we took advantage
of the beauty of Savoie; on Thursday, after classes and lunch,
Prof Jeantet and three students went up to the village of Montmin
to have a look at the mountains close up. |
We started at the "Seven Fountains" which are a local
religious shrine. Although claimed by Christianity since time
immemorial, the shrine is almost certainly more than two thousand
years old and Celtic/Gaulish in origin: the Gauls built many shrines
at the spring of rivers, and since the torrent which starts here
runs down to a village which bears the name of a Celtic water
goddess, the pagan origin of the shrine seems certain. Alexandra
rubbed some of the water on some scratches, since the waters are
reputed to be good for afflictions of the skin. |
We then proceeded to the Forclaz pass, from which we had an excellent
view of Lake Annecy. We could see paragliders flying high in the
sky, and could hear the ringing of cow bells all around. |
We went to see some of the cows, of the Alpine Tarine breed, whose
milk is used to make several local cheeses, the most famous of
which are Reblochon and Tomme de Savoie. We all agreed that, for
a cow, this was the life: green pastures, clean air, and friendly
farmers. |
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We had the opportunity to learn when exactly "the cows
come home" as we watched two herds heading slowly back
uphill to the farm for the afternoon milking. Needless to say,
the cows have right of way on the narrow roads.
Friday, we skipped classes
to take part in our first day-long field trip. Since the weather
was excellent, we chose to go to the high Alps instead of to
Geneva. Our bus left Faverges shortly after 8:30 and started
on the long and winding road to Chamonix valley, where we were
to explore the area and take some rides that even Cedar Point
cannot approach.
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Arriving at Chamonix,
we took advantage of the lack of lines to ride the téléphérique
up to the Aiguille du Midi, whose 3800-meter-high summit towers
nearly two miles overhead and from which we can have an unparalleled
view of the mountains.
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We rode a cablecar to an intermediate station, and then embarked
in another for the second leg to the mountaintop. The ride is
especially impressive as there are no supports at all for the
cables between the bottom and top, so that we are pulled upwards
well over a mile in one fell swoop. The photo at right is taken
at the halfway point, where the up and down cablecars pass each
other at a surprisingly fast clip. |
We did a little physics
experiment: Before we started on our way upwards, Prof Jeantet
asked the students to look in their picnic lunches for bags
of potato chips (or "sheeps" as the French call
them). In the photos below, we see Michelle at the bottom
of the mountain, displaying her bag which looks quite normal;
Adam is photographed at the top of the Aiguille du Midi,
where his bag of chips (like everyone else's) has swollen
almost to bursting, showing the effect of the reduced air
pressure at the top of the mountain, which is over 12,000
feet high, well above the altitude beyond which airplanes
must be pressurized.
 
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We strolled from the main station to the rocky piton on top of
which is an observation deck, part of which was being rebuilt.
We were reassured to see that we were standing on very thick,
new wooden boards... |
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We rode an elevator another ten stories to the very top, where
the sun was warm despite the freezing air temperature. We were
still a full kilometer lower than the top of Mt Blanc, and we
watched as microscopically small mountain climbers inched their
way up the huge white mountain.
The view below shows
what we could see facing us: from the mountains of Switzerland
to the left, to the cloud-covered Po valley of Italy in the
center, and finally the Mt Blanc massif at right.
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In the far distance, we could see the top of the famed Matterhorn,
the third highest mountain in the Alps. From our vantage point,
we could see into France, Italy and Switzerland just by turning
our heads a few degrees.
Taking advantage of
the small number of tourists on the platform, we sat down for
the highest lunch we are ever likely to have sitting on solid
ground. Lindsey pointed out that while her face was baking in
the sun, her back was freezing. Fortunately all of the students
had remembered to bring both sunscreen and sweaters, so that
we all were none the worse for wear.
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We took our time enjoying the view and snapping countless photographs.
We agreed to meet at the bottom of the mountain at 2:30 so that
we could continue on to our next destination. |
In the photo at right, we can see Casey standing on a transparent
tile above the chasm. Those who have been in Toronto's CN Tower
may remember the difficulty that one has to trust the strength
of the glass... |
And then it was time to ride back to the valley floor; Angela
gripped the metal bar firmly as she stared through the plexiglass
windows. We were crowded in with several climbers who had been
to the top of Mt Blanc earlier in the day and who were taking
the easy way down. |
Michelle expertly elbowed her way past a number of agitated Asian
tourists so that she could get a good view as the gondola sped
downwards. |
We rode our chartered bus to the train station, where we soon
boarded a cog railway heading to the Montenvers mountain; we learned
that the rail line is now a hundred years old, though the electric
trains are far more recent. |
The train wended its way up the mountainside, passing through
groves of larches and past ancient wooden chalets. The half-hour
ride was smooth but noisy, as the screw mechanism that provides
traction is built for safety rather than quietness, for which
we were all grateful. |
At Montenvers, we had to climb a long way down to the glacier
which now fills only the bottom of the valley floor as the climate
continues to warm. A dozen students chose to walk down, the others
rode a cablecar to an intermediate level, from which we had to
descend the equivalent of another ten stories to the ice cave
entrance. |
We visited the tourist ice cave but paused to view the beautiful
color of the ice which, near the entrance, filters the sunlight
and glows as green as a swimming pool. The photo at right is quite
accurate in reproducing the color, though one must realize that
we were standing inside what is essentially an enormous icebox. |
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The students who had
walked down to the ice cave chose, not surprisingly, to ride
the cablecar back up. The modern cablecars are impressive in
design, and none of the students appeared this year to have
any qualms about riding any of the strange contraptions that
people build on mountains for the benefit of tourism.
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| The photo below is actually
a montage of a dozen photographs, and shows much of the scene
that spread before us. Of course, no image can convey the enormous
scope of the scenery which we had the privilege to see. A larger
(but still much-reduced) version of the photo below can be viewed
by clicking on the image below. For those interested in such details,
the original assembled photo is about 68 million pixels large
and took my computer over two hours to assemble. It covers a bit
over 180 degrees horizontally. |
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After we'd all had plenty of time to absorb the remarkable view,
we assembled on the train platform to wait for the ride down the
mountain. |
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Our bus was waiting for us, and we were glad to board for the
ride home as the sky started to cloud over.
We had been to altitude
twice in a day, with the result that we were all quite tired
despite not having done all that much walking and little climbing.
Students were chatting about going out that evening, little
realizing what a toll the altitude had taken on them...
The photo below shows
the students on the ride back to Faverges. A very quiet ride,
as it turns out!
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| Saturday, many of the
students went into Annecy for shopping and exploring. They were
all due back in Faverges that evening for the Association Faverges-Akron
dinner dance that was being staged in their honor. |
Expertly catered as always by Yvette Millot, the dinner was a
great success. The affair was held in Faverges municipal party
room, where many groups hold affairs, fund-raisers, dinners, conferences,
and even book fairs.. |
 Music
was provided by two musicians who sang and played a dazzling array
of songs from the past sixty years. Rock'n'roll was favored, though
polkas and waltzes were also performed.
Adam turns out to be a veritable dancing machine. He danced the
whole evening long with abandon and enthusiasm! |
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We must of course mention and thank the people who worked, those
who toiled selflessly in the kitchen the whole evening long;
in the photo at right, we can see Yvette Millot and Agnès
Ballieu, without whose dedication the party would not have been
possible.
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Monday morning, we'll
be visiting the Stäubli factory and then having classes.
A number of visits are in the works, including a tour of the
communities around Faverges this coming Wednesday afternoon.
As the weather allows, we'll be heading back into the mountains
to see some more vistas.
Next report, probably
Thursday.
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