Chamonix, and the UTMB

Just got back from Chamonix last evening.

On a single trip lasting 4 days, I:

1. Volunteered at Europe's toughest marathon -- 2300 people running a 166 kms, with over 9000 mtrs of elevation changes ! The line between dedication and madness is certainly thin :)
2. Saw this unique corner of the world where people of three nationalities (Italian, French, Swiss) share the same mountains. -- A 'Frenchman' from Chamonix is likely to feel closer to an 'Italian' from Courmayeur (25 kms away), than to a Parisian, for instance. Truly awesome experience.*
3. Ate tons of awesome food -- the croissants at the Patisserie Richard are to die for, and the less one drools over all the cheeses the better.
4. Trekked to a glacier -- the Mer de Glace. Other nimbler, alpine-shoe-equipped people took an hour and a half; I took 2 hrs 45 mins with my Bubblegummers!
5. Took a cable car to a point 3864 metres above sea level -- and experienced snowfall for the first time. Some demented souls took off from that point with their skis and alpine equipment. I wisely took the cable car back down!
6. Had long chats with Kevin, a British writer, who once interviewed Lord Mountbatten.
7. Walked through a pitch dark forest -- and ended up befriending Pete, a sailor from England who'd spent the previous 12 days trekking all the way from Zermatt in Switzerland to Chamonix.
8. Met more British people than I've ever met before - and was told on atleast three occasions, by various surprised Englishmen, that " You speak English so well!". I'm still wondering why it surprises them that the natives now speak the Queen's English better than they do :)

All in all, to say that it was a wonderful experience would be the height of understatement. The pictures, both from the UTMB, and my own wanderings, are up here.

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* For instance, as soon as you enter the northernmost region (state) of Italy, called Valle d' Aosta, all road signs are in both French and Italian. Roads are called Via- Rue XYZ. Towns have names like Pont St. Martin.