Europe France

Mont Blanc – Aiguille du Midi

October 4, 2016

Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France

Aiguille du Midi

We decided to book a hire car for a few days while in Annecy so that we could take a drive around the area and to see more of France. I had plans for us to go over to Italy for the day and possibly head up to Mont Blanc from Courmayeur, but after seeing Melanie’s amazing photos on her instagram of her trip to Aiguille du Midi at Chamonix just a couple of weeks before we went, I knew we had to visit (and it was closer – we’d have driven through it to get there anyway).

Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France

We took the cable car from Chamonix to Plan de L’aiguille (the middle station) and then took the next one straight up to Aiguille du Midi. Apparently, it holds the world record for the highest vertical ascent cable car going from from 1,035 m to 3842 m with no support pillars. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty scary! It travels at around 45km/hr and seems to just shoot up to the top of the mountain.

At the top is a visitor centre, with restaurants, viewing platforms and visitor attractions. On a clear day you can see the famous Mont Blanc mountain from the viewing station at the top, but on the day we went, it was pretty cloudy, so sadly we never got to see it. The views were absolutely stunning though!

Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France

We were standing on one of the viewing platforms and suddenly the clouds just disappeared and this guy just appeared from out of the clouds, climbed over a few huge rocks and then up the ladder onto the platform. He made it look so easy! There were so many climbers around below us, but it was just so hard to see anything.

I really wanted to go on the Helbronner cable car that goes across from the ‘french side’ to the ‘italian side’ of Mont Blanc over the glacier below, but the week before we visited it broke down and people got stuck in it overnight. When we were up there I couldn’t even imagine that – especially in the cold and at that altitude!

Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France

We took a little while to walk around and see all the different viewpoints, but after about 45 minutes, the lack of oxygen at such a high altitude really started to hit us! We found a sign at the top that said we were at 3,842m (12,602ft) and living at an altitude of around 100m (330ft) it was a huge change to us and considering you need oxygen in a plane above 12,500ft it felt pretty surreal!

It actually felt so hard to do anything. We struggled to walk up the stairs without having to stop every few steps and we were so light-headed – it was so crazy. We decided to stop for some lunch, but we both struggled to eat it and decided to pack it up and head back down to the cable car. Once we got back down to Plan de l’aiguille at 2,317m (7,601ft) we both immediately started feeling better.

Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France Aiguille Du Midi - Chamonix, France

Plan de L’Aiguille

I couldn’t get over the views there. It was just so stunning with all the mountains in the background, Chamonix below and the glacier in the background. I’ve always wanted to see a glacier and it was amazing! I’d love to go somewhere like canada or alaska where you can actually get right up close to one though.

I’d definitely recommend a day there if you’re ever near the area. It was one of the highlights of the trip!

  • Reply
    Darina
    October 4, 2016 at 12:07 pm

    Awesome pictures, Wonderful nature! I’ve been there many many years ago and I remember the beauty of this mountains.

    • Reply
      April
      October 5, 2016 at 7:00 am

      Aw! I always love hearing when people have visited somewhere too! It’s stunning isn’t it?!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Chloe of beyond blessed
    October 4, 2016 at 9:08 pm

    These photos are absolutely incredible!!! Adding this to my bucket list!!

    http://beyondblessedblog.com/

    • Reply
      April
      October 5, 2016 at 7:01 am

      Yes! It’s absolutely stunning there! I wish we could have stayed longer and gone for a little walk around the middle station, because it looks absolutely incredible! I hope you get to visit someday!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Katherine
    October 6, 2016 at 3:58 am

    Looks amazing!! I love your photos 🙂

    I recently started blogging and would love for you to check it out:
    http://www.myclusterofthoughts.com/

    • Reply
      April
      October 6, 2016 at 6:45 am

      Thanks Katherine! Aw, definitely!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Elizabeth
    October 9, 2016 at 5:15 am

    Wow! That looks like an intense hike! But the views are gorgeous.

    • Reply
      April
      October 9, 2016 at 8:07 am

      Yeah, I couldn’t even imagine having to hike up (or down) it! Thank god for cable cars that get you there in about 10 minutes haha!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Jade Meneguel
    October 19, 2016 at 9:12 pm

    WOW! what a view!!!
    My only experience like this was when I was in Tahoe – California. It was absolutely stunning.

    thanks for sharing!

    Jade –
    http://tinybigmoments.squarespace.com

  • Reply
    Lucy
    November 1, 2016 at 10:29 pm

    These pictures are so so incredible! I love the mountains so much and can almost feel that fresh, pure air on my face just looking through your photos. I’d really love to visit but I just know that Michele would have me out on the snow, climbing across ravines and the like (there’s no relaxing and looking at the pretty view with him around!!) xxx
    Lucy @ La Lingua | Life, Travel, Italy

    • Reply
      April
      November 2, 2016 at 6:28 pm

      Hahaa, that sounds like so much fun though! We literally just stood at the station and took in the views, but looking back at the photos I can see so many little tracks (that don’t look too strenuous), that I really wish we’d have explored a little!

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