The previous post in this blog is Lake District.
The next post in this blog is Lofoten Islands.

Weekends : Geneva & Chamonix

ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, GO! We (Matt, PJ, Anks, Mel, Shellee and myself) were off to visit Carla in Geneva and enjoy a side trip to Chamonix for our respective Mont-Blanc races.

Carls met us in the evening at the airport on Friday 27 June 2003 and had kindly arranged with her generous boss to use his people carrier for the weekend. So we loaded our luggage - Matt into the baby chair - and drove to her beautiful home in the area of Geneva called Anieres.

The next morning we strolled 50 metres from her house to the shores of Lake Geneva and enjoyed a refreshing swim to a floating buoy. I was amazed to find how crystal clear the water was and admired the many boats that were moored near the shoreline, not to mention the opulent villas, as over the decades the lake has attracted the world's wealthiest people.

We had soon worked up an appetite and enjoyed a delicious brunch on her balcony and were even spoilt with tasty French toast cooked by PJ - thanks Peej! We also soon discovered that Carls is in the midst of a farming community with wheat and sunflower fields one road behind her and vineyards and stables nearby, so instilled a lovely country feeling. What a great move Carls!

It was not long before we headed off to Chamonix which is about an hours drive from Geneva, but prior to crossing over into France we popped into the magnificent Parc des Eaux-Vives (botanical gardens) and admired the beautiful rose garden. I must admit Geneva has some wonderful Parks to relax in. We also spotted the Jet d'eau on the lake which is the world's tallest fountain and marvelled at its 140m plume.

Chamonix is in the French Alps and is 1042m above sea level at the foot of the Mt-Blanc. Mt-Blanc is the highest peak in Western Europe and stands at 4807m. The French sometimes call it "La Dame Blanche", The White Lady. In 1924 Chamonix hosted the first ever Winter Olympic Games. It is also a world capital for outdoor activities such as mountaineering, hiking, climbing, biking and paragliding.

After registering our details at the Mont Blanc Marathon Expo we booked into a quaint hotel called "Les Lanchers" in the heart of Les Praz a few minutes from Chamonix centre. www.hotel-lanchers-chamonix.com. It was so relaxing sipping tea in their garden and enjoying the magnificent mountain scenery. That evening we enjoyed a delicious Italian meal (carbo loading) in Chamonix before retiring to bed early.

Carls and I were running the 19km race which started at 8:30 am so we were up bright and early at the breakfast table. Peej our professional photographer and Matt, participant of the 23.195km and assistant trainer joined us too. The 19km race was a flat course around Chamonix and I thoroughly enjoyed it but was fraught by cramp and misbehaving bowels so a rather disappointing time for me. Carls did extremely well to come in the top 50 places though. Nonetheless a very picturesque run which consisted of a few stretches of cross country which made it rather interesting. The weather was gloriously hot too at 30 degrees celsius but running through woodland and alongside mountainous streams facilitated in cooling the temperature. The "supporting sleeping beauties" and of course Peej the professional photographer were at the finish line to cheer and congratulate us. It was fantastic to have such wonderful support - thank you.

We then moved on to Matt's finish by ascending the Plan Praz mountain by cable car. It was here at 2000 meters altitude that we had the most breathtaking panoramic view of Mont-Blanc. Matt had started his race at 9:30 am and consisted of a challenging uphill race from Chamonix city centre. The spectators waited in anticipation until we caught sight of him coming around the corner. With much cheering Matt the Mountain Man emerged a true champion having conquered such an uphill battle.

An appetizing lunch was enjoyed by all before dropping the supporting girls off at the airport. Later that evening Matt, PJ, Carla and myself enjoyed an awesome sunset picnic on Lake Geneva before flying back to London early Monday morning in time for work.