Argitaratu: 08.08.2019
On day 17 we first went to the Argentière Glacier, the first part there with the (quite steep) cable car and then after an hour's hike to the upper viewpoint on the glacier. We had never been so close to a glacier before! We could hear the ice cracking and sometimes small pieces of ice would fall off. We expected a large chunk of ice to break off at any moment, but even waiting for a longer time did not fulfill our expectation. Although the glacier moves about 60-65 cm per day in summer. We also observed a group of glacier climbers rappelling into and climbing out of glacier crevasses with their ice axes. Additionally, a helicopter flew by the glacier every 20 minutes. So we were very well entertained :))
In the early afternoon, we returned to the cable car station. A young dog and its leash made a relatively steep descent difficult for us. On a sharp ascent, we encountered a caterpillar on a field/gravel path. After that, Janina and I took different paths, lost sight of each other... But after 10 minutes, we found each other again! What a relief!! The cable car ride down was quite exciting, a bit like a fast, high roller coaster ride :)
After having a coffee, strolling through a small artist market in the city center, and picking up our second backpack from the hotel, we went to La Flégère. Today it was about 27 degrees Celsius and the first clouds were appearing. We walked along the promenade by the Arve River, a beautiful path. We had to keep an eye out for daring mountain bikers... After passing the 'Paradis des Praz' and a hilly golf course, we reached our accommodation. A chicly furnished garden hut with everything we needed. Delicious pizzas were available just around the corner in the restaurant next to the local car wash :))))) While we were sitting in the restaurant enjoying our meal, a storm with strong wind and fine rain started! Luckily we didn't choose a table on the terrace and stayed dry :)))