Tag: france

  • Satsuki at Chamonix

    Satsuki at Chamonix

    Satsuki is a Japanese eatery located just outside the pedestrian precinct of Chamonix. Brightly lit and packed at dinner time, it was. I was expecting a disappointment when I first saw the restaurant.  But it turned out to be an authentic Japanese restaurant. The menu was fairly simple but the food tasted right.  The patrons…

    Read more

  • L’Atmosphère at Chamonix

    Atmosphère is mentioned under Bib Gourmand in the 2011 Michelin Guide. It is located in the “basement” of a building which faces the main city square.  The “basement” has on the other side a waterfront view of the river Arve. We arrived without a reservation and were glad they seated us.  I heard English spoken…

    Read more

  • Returning to Mer de Glace for the ice cave

    A day after our 6-hour ordeal, with 3 hours spent on descending from Mer de Glace to Chamonix, we returned to the scene of our adventure – by the Montenvers mountain train that we missed the day before. Sue was kicking the train that left us stranded at 1900 meters. The attraction at Mer de…

    Read more

  • Plan d’Aiguille to Mer de Glace

    After a visit to the Aiguille du Midi at 3,842m (12,605 ft), we descended by cable car half way to the Plan de l’Aiguille at about 2,300m (7,600 ft) to start our hike. The destination is the Montenvers-Mer de Glace mountain train station at 1,913m (6,276 ft). According to the official guide, this nature trail…

    Read more

  • Viewing Mont Blanc from L’Aiguille du Midi

    Viewing Mont Blanc from L’Aiguille du Midi

    The weather of our first two days in Chamonix was lousy: overcast and rain resulting in zero visibility above 2,000m.  So there is no point to go up the mountains, instead we checked out all the souvenir stores, hiking equipment stores, cafes … in town.  The 3rd day was brilliant – we had cloudless blue…

    Read more

  • Le Jardin de Lily Jeanne, Yvoire

    Le Jardin de Lily Jeanne, Yvoire

    As was seen in our previous post, Yvoire is full of old medieval homes with their downstairs turned into cute and old-fashioned shops, cafes, and restaurants.  Instead of laced tea-cosies and quilted cushions, we decided to stop at probably the only modern cafe in town – Le Jardin de Lily Jeanne.  It has mostly outdoor…

    Read more