Day 13 - Saturday

      Checking out early this morning from the hotel, we headed to the Gare d' Lyon train station to take the train back to Geneva. I couldn't figure out how to tell which train we were supposed to get on since the ticket listed a letter for the line and the billboard listed numbers. I asked at the information desk if the man spoke English, in French. He responded by asking me if I spoke any French and I laughed and said "no".
      I am glad we are going to back with Mom and Dad Hinman who speak French. I think the trip to Paris on our own has been great, but since we didn't stay in a touristy area and stopped at a local restaurant and a couple of grocery stores, the language barrier has been a little stressful for me. But I did learn the word for a favorite place of ours, bread-store :).
      We made it onto the right train and a kind lady switched seats with us so Rob and I could sit together.
      As soon as we arrived home (thanks for picking us up and wanting to see us again Dad!) Mom, Dad, Rob and I headed to the alps to take a tram up the mountain side to nearly the top. Mom had had food poisoning or a stomach bug all week so we were grateful she felt well enough to go with us.
     Originally we were supposed to take a gondola, but "unfortunatly" visibility was bad. Rob and I didn't mind though because the idea of swinging hundreds of feet in the air made us a bit nervous. The tram/train, ride up was fun. It is amazing to see how man can tame nature if they put their minds to it.

Valley Alpine Ski Village

Going Up the Side of the Mountain
Still in Train, Going up Side of Mountain. Note Ski Village on Right.
At the Top
Clouds would sweep over the top of the mountain and within minutes would reach us and obscure our view for a few minutes. The scene was constanctly changing as the clouds revealed different parts of the Alps. On the left is a glacier called Mere de Glace, or River of Ice.
This photo looks pristine and surreal.
Rob found a snow slide someone had created and went down it three times and myself once (I didn't want to get wet as it was -10 degrees up there). It was a lot of fun, but climbing over the snow to the top you weren't sure you wouldn't sink into the snow and never be seen again :).
Grandpa, this one is for you. It is an old train they used to use to go up the side of the mountain.

After going back down into the valley we walked around for awhile trying to find a bread store that Dad and Mom had visited over a year before and had found some croissants that Dad found fantastic. Miracuously we found it right when we were about to give up and head back to the car (especially since Rob had gotten his feet wet on the snow slide and could no longer feel them, and we were all extremely cold). The croissants were worth all the trouble as they were heavenly. We all savored the taste and would only eat a little bit at a time.

Such a beautiful place!

Note: Rob still has his toes, they finally thawed after an hour and a half.