Chamonix, Queen of the Alps, is our unexpected destination for the second part of our adventure. This beautiful mountain town is the principal destination in the Chamonix Valley in the Haute Savoie region of France, a place where superlatives feel inadequate.
The pristine rounded snowdome of Mont Blanc dominates the scene, with supporting acts including the jagged peaks of the Aiguille Rouges and the Drus, the longest glacier in France in the shape of the Mer De Glace, and pretty mountainside villages like Argentiere and La Praz.
It's a mecca for mountain alpinists, hikers, parapenters and mountain-bikers in summer and climbers and skiiers in winter.
The lashing rain that greets our arrival in the valley doesn't help ease my grumpy mood. Tiredness, on-going concern about my pop, what I now recognise as anxiety about entering the unknown that usually accompanies a travelling day, and that downpour combine to create a perfect storm. I announce we are going to stay in a hotel, no matter what it costs. My manner may be unhelpfully aggressive, but the outcome is just what we all need - a night in a comfortable if basic hotel (especially given the 160E cost) in the middle of Chamonix, where we watch the unfolding summer storm from a balcony grateful we are tucked indoors not cowering under canvas.
The next day my sunny disposition returns, and with it a dazzling sun and alpine blue sky, with skittering clouds hanging around the mountaintops. We get our first glimpse of the tower at the top of the Aiguille du Midi, 3,842m up and accessible by cable car thanks to an incredible feat of engineering nearly a century earlier.
After a hearty breakfast we climb into Flo and head out along the valley to La Praz, about 2km away, and the highly recommended Camping Mer de Glace.
Within two hours we are set up and basking in the friendliness of the campsite's vibe. What was going to be a two night mini-stay ends up as four days and nights of adventures and easily the best part of the holiday so far.
Day One proper sees us climb aboard the train to Montenvers deep into the heart of the Mer de Glace. The glacier, France's longest, is 7km long and 200m deep, but is receding annually...it is now barely visible from Chamonix. After a pleasant 30 minute train journey from Chamonix along a steep track cut into the hillside we walk from the station, heavy with mooching and munching tourists, down a footpath that descends quickly. We pass signposts saying "the glacier was here in 1820"..."here in 1940" and so on before joining the notorious "400 steps" which take visitors down to a tunnel crafted into the glacier.
It's a steep and, in places, exposed walkway which sets your heart pumping, but the final destination is worth the journey. It's a living, breathing passageway into an otherwise secret world, with freezing water dripping and in places running down the walls. The blue coolness within contrasts with the heat of the midday sun to make an otherworldly experience.
The only downside of course is that walk back up...it's actually 420 steps, and we suffer every one of them.
Before descending on the train we enjoy a deserved glace and Oscar buys a new friend, Bobby the Marmot, who is destined to accompany us throughout the rest of our adventures.
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