20 - 21 June 2009

Checked out of Movenpick Hotel and off to Chamonix we go. I am amazed that in 10 short days, we have traveled to 5 countries ie. London, Wales, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and France. Am glad I did it now that I still able bodied and full of stamina. Not sure if I can do that in another year or two as age creeps up.

Anyway, we took the car to the gas station to have it filled. Asked the pump attendant if he knew how to get to the highway as we wanted to go to Chamonix. His English is so-so and at the speed I am asking questions, he asked me to slow down and so, I did. Finally, he got one of his customers to direct us to the highway which was actually pretty simple and we were on our way.

Chamonix is in France and is about 1 hour's drive from Geneva, about 50 miles (75km) from Geneva airport. When we passed the immigration check point, we saw this booth that said, "Currency Exchange." We thought it was strange to have a currency exchange booth b4 the check point and we drove on. And just as we passed through the check point, we realized we are on a highway that we have to pay toll (A40 motorway) and then, it struck Ed that, oh gosh, the currency used in France is no longer Swiss Francs but Euro. No wonder there was a currency exchange booth. Now, we are stuck coz we had no Euros on us and toll gates are coming up. I told him perhaps he should pull over and I go use my womanly charm and see if they will accept anything else other than Euros (USD perhaps). But, Ed said no need and hope there was credit card and phew, they do accept credit cards.

We arrived in good time at Chamonix, and went to the town center where there was a farmers market and we changed some Euros at a local currency exchange stall.

This is the farmers market. Very lau juak.

Chamonix is located in a spectacular valley in the French Alps. If you like skiing (this is the oldest and largest ski resort), this is THE place to be.

I was hungry and sat down for breakfast here. The air is so clean and crisp, it's nice to soak it all in.

Notice the glacier in the background of this picture. It was unfortunate that we had a flight to catch from Geneva back to Washington DC and therefore, we couldn't take the cable car up to Mont-Blanc (Europe's highest peak). Otherwise, it would've been nicer coz the round trip ride will take approximately 1.5 hours and we don't have enough time to spare. Definitely will come back again in the future for skiing.

And, if you like cheese and chocolates, the town center shops has all these to offer and more! Here's more pics to share with you.



And so, we bid adieu to Chamonix, hope to return to see her again some day. We drove back to Geneva airport, returned our car rental and wait for our onward flight from Geneva to Washington DC. Our flight went without a hitch. We stayed 1 night at Hilton in Virginia and then picked up Sam from her conference at Sheraton Tyson's Corner and head for home sweet home on 21 June 2009.

Sam had a blast at her NYLC Conference and was sick after 10 days of running around, waking up early and going to bed late. Some of the conference participants lost their laptops and some, their iPods and cameras. Sadly, security wasn't that great at Sheraton but we praise God that all of Sam's laptop, iPod and cameras were intact. Her friend Eugene who traveled with us together lost his laptop. Oh well...good things come and good things go. Most importantly, everyone had their own fun. And we did.....