Le Brevent & La Flegere

Our last day of skiing...hard to believe a week has gone by. Nico was here to greet us as usual at 8:45 a.m. This morning he wanted to take us to two ski areas that are interconnected here in Chamonix proper....Le Brevent and La Flegere. Only about a five minute drive from the hotel it is located on the north side of the town. You take a gondola up to the top of the mountain. It was very evident how badly they are in need of a big snowfall here at the gondola site at the bottom of the mountain. The steep mountainside was rocks and vegetation with very little snow...looking more like it was May with summer approaching. When we arrived at the top however, surprisingly the mountain top was covered with lots of snow and groomed slopes! Many skiers we've met told us conditions weren't great at this ski area, but I thought it had some of the best conditions we've skied on the entire week. Again, maybe having a guide is the advantage of knowing where to go. The view of the Alps from Le Brevent and La Flegere is the most spectacular and panoramic....you see Mont Blanc, the vast Mer de Glacé glacier, all the famous named rocky prominences and beyond to Italy and Switzerland. Incredible vistas as far as the eyes can see. It's unbelievable and spectacular and you feel so close up to them. At every turn, as you ski from run to run, there is another breath taking view with the scenery taking on a different look from each vantage point...the weather couldn't have been better with bright blue sunny skies. Nico had made reservations at the mountaintop restaurant, La Brasserie...probably some of the best food we've had here. We had a nice, leisurely lunch and wonderful conversation with Nico about his life here in Chamonix. He said his grandmother who is 85 used to hike up the mountains (before chair lifts!) in the winter in a long skirt to ski down on wooden skis. In the gondola area there are many historic pictures showing mountain life before skiing became such a recreational sport. In the summer months Nico owns a business with a partner in Bordeaux...they teach kite surfng....www.kitezonesurfing.com. It is becoming a big sport in France along with kite skiing. After lunch we took another gondola up to another vantage point...the view gets more and more spectacular. The runs up here are black so Margaret and Kathy decided to take the gondola down to where we had lunch. Nico and I skied down to meet them. It was the ending to a great day of skiing. Said goodbye to our wonderful host and guide, Nico...he really has  been a big part of our week.

Packed up to leave tomorrow for Geneva. Met with Margaret and Joe in their room to see how Joe was faring...they've made all the arrangements for the ride home. Went to dinner to L'Atmosphere along the river here in town.  There were lots of people on the streets due to the World Cup competition this weekend. Going to be hard to say au revoir to this wonderful alpine town.