Today Grace and GP finally cashed in on their Christmas present from me.  That present was a trip up Mt. Blanc in a cable car.  It was supposed to be a trip over Mt. Blanc but France and Italy have chosen this year, (and the next 10), to renovate the cable car system and the connecting chunk isn't connected.  So our up and over trip just ended up being up and back, but it was still pretty spectacular.  We left from Entreves, a tiny hamlet outside of Courmayeur, a really lovely town at the base of Mt. Blanc.  To get there you drive up into Val'Aosta, a wide valley that ends in a pass that goes through to France.  As the pass is practically impassable, there is a 7 mile long tunnel connecting the two countries.  It's pretty impressive.  Even though it's been in the 60's here in Torino, we drove into a winter wonderland up there.  As we got closer we saw that there was fresh snow on all the mountaintops and turning off the highway we realized it would have been a good idea to have put on our snow tires.  We slipped and sloshed our way up to the parking lot below the cable car base.  It was freezing!  Thank God we'd checked temperatures and had brought adequate clothing.  I've mentioned that I suffer from low blood pressure and bouts of fainting when I'm in the mountains, right?  As soon as I stepped out of the car my chest constricted and my head started spinning.  We hadn't even started the trip up and we were at 1370 meters or 4,500 feet.  There are two stops on the Italian side of the mountain and then a final walk up to the Rifugio Torino, the highest point you can reach at this time.  The first stop is at 2173 meters, (7130 feet), and the second at 3335 meters, (10,940 feet!!).  I had to hold onto the railing in the cable car so as not to flop over onto the floor.  The view from the first stop was spectacular but we were smack in the middle of a cloud at the second.  Once at this second stop the cable car goes no further and we had to walk up 240 steps.  They were so steep it was like walking up a ladder.  There are rest stops every 10 steps or so and I took full advantage of them.  After huffing and puffing my way up, clutching my chest and wheezing like an asthmatic, I met a lovely old couple and their French bulldog, (Anselmo), at the top, fresh as can be.  Damn.  There is a restaurant/bar at the top where we had hot chocolates and took in the limited, white fluffy view.  Thankfully going down was much easier.  After getting back to solid land we wandered around Courmayeur where the rich and famous have their ski homes, and ate a wonderful lunch in a little chalet type restaurant.  I had Chevre stuffed ravioli with a light butter, mint sauce followed mountain river trout and roast vegetables.  For dessert it was a wild berry tart and we had a nice bottle of local Pinot Noir.  I slept the entire drive home.  I've become such a wuss.....  xoo me

view of Courmayeur 1st stop

Damned stairs!  This is going down.

At the chilly top

The Giant's Teeth