And so on to Chamonix and Mont Blanc.

Landed in Lyon ok. In fact we were 20 minutes early. Collected our luggage
(more on luggage later), and found our way to the Hertz car rental
office to pick up our car. They gave us a Peugeot 5008, the same one we
had last year, so we were familiar with how it worked, especially the
navigation system.

By the time we got on the road, it was late afternoon and getting dark. Raining as well. Looked up BBC weather before we left Prague - it is supposed to be snowing in Chamonix
tonight. Might make for interesting driving later on as it gets darker.

By the time we were driving into Chamonix it was too dark to appreciate
the mountains and snow which we knew must be all around us. All we could
see were dark shadows towering above us, with the occasional glimpse of
snow when the full moon broke free of the clouds.

Don't know whether it was good navigation or sheer good luck, but we found
our hotel fairly quickly. We're staying at an apartment complex called Le Majestic Congres. A rather grand affair from the early 20th century.

Photos and more info to follow tomorrow.

Additional info for our arrival in Chamonix. When we eventually found the apartment and found someplace to eat, we got around to unpacking some of our luggage. Remember when I mentioned previously there was more to follow concerning our luggage? Well, Emily unpacked her suitcase and found that someone had been into her bag and taken the Jimmy Choo
perfume we had got her for Xmas. All that was left was the packaging torn open, but no perfume. Then julie unpacked one of our cases and found that someone had been into ours as well. Nothing had been taken from us, but some of the packaging had been ripped open. None of the
Swarovski earrings in the bags had been taken, just Emily's perfume. Must have happened either at Prague airport or Lyon airport. Put a bit of a dampener on the trip.

Our first day in Chamonix was spent getting our bearings -where to eat, drink, shop, rent ski gear, etc etc. first order of business was to purchase some more suitable footwear to wear. The streets here are coated with ice, so our city shoes were slip slidin' all over the place.
We found a really cheap place to buy footwear and ski jackets (well cheap by Chamonix's standards anyway). Wasn't long before we were negotiating the snow and ice as sure footed as mountain goats.
Sam and Emily went off to investigate the ins and outs of ski rental,
lessons, ski passes etc, while we investigated the rest of the town.
Chamonix is a really beautiful village. Cobbled streets, alpine style
buildings, and all surrounded by the magnificent snow capped peaks of
the Alps.

Sam, Emily , and Jake all came back to the apartment loaded up with ski gear, ready to try some skiing tomorrow. Julie and I have decided to forgo the skiing for the time being. We're
going to do a train trip up the mountain to Montenvers, located on the Mer de Glacé glacier. It's supposed to be quite a spectacular ride up the side of the mountain, giving you a spectacular
view of the valley and surrounding peaks.

The next morning, 28/12/12, the kids went off skiing while Julie and I did the
train ride up the mountain. The weather really turned it on for us for
the ride - sunshine and brilliant blue skies. As we rode higher up the
valley the views were spectacular. At the top, the view was just as
breathtaking. Stunning views across the glacier and the surrounding
peaks. The last time I saw something as spectacular as this was in the
Himalayas. From the train station we caught a cable car down to the
glacier. At least we thought it was down to the glacier. In reality it
stopped halfway down. To reach the glacier and the ice grotto we had to
negotiate about 400 steps which descended for aboutn100m. Not too bad
going down but going back up proved to be a real effort - but well worth
it.

By the time we got back to Chamonix itself, there was still time to find somewhere for a bit of lunch in the sun. So we found ourselves a pizzeria with outdoor seating and indulged in a
very delicious pizza, a glass or two of red wine and soaking up the sun while watching the world go by.

About 4pm we got a call from Sam asking us to bring the car down to the ski area to pick
them up. Emily was feeling a bit under the weather (Sam thought it may have been hypothermia). When they finally got back to the apartment she was sick as anything. Looked more like food poisoning than hypothermia. She spent most of the night throwing up. Not well at all. We rang the apartment managers to find out some infor regarding doctors, they told
us it was a 24hr gastro bug going around. Half of Chamonix had it. Hopefully she'll feel better tomorrow.

So, it's been a few days since our last entry. New Year has come and
gone. We've attempted to do the ski bit (my butt is still sore from a tumble). Taken a drive to other parts of the valley, and generally, just sat back and taken in the atmosphere of the place. We've had a wonderful time in Chamonix. It truly is a winter wonderland.

Sadly, it's now time to move on. We leave today to head back to Paris. We
intend to spend the night there, drop the kids off at Charles De Gaulle airport for their flights back home. Julie & I will be flying out to Dublin for a few days in search of the Blarney Stone.