Are the French Alps Worth Visiting? 🇫🇷 | Chamonix Mont Blanc and Annecy | Chamonix Paragliding

Are the French Alps Worth Visiting? 🇫🇷 | Chamonix Mont Blanc and Annecy | Chamonix Paragliding

[Music] Good morning from Shaman, France. We arrived yesterday by train, but this morning we are up bright and early to head up. Yeah, that mountain. We’re going to Ai Dumidi. My reservation time is in about 15 minutes and it takes about 10 to get there and I do not want to miss it. [Music] Gotten off the first lift at plani and now we are on the second one which will take us up to a dumi. kind of crammed in this cable, but beautiful day. I think this is the highest lift in Europe. Maybe fact check. [Music] We are currently on the elevator heading up to a special attraction they have called Step into the Void, which is basically a glass box that hangs off the edge of the side of the mountain up here. Oh my gosh, that’s crazy. I can do this. So crazy. Last box. [Music] The best part about this whole lift experience is all the terraces they have and you have these beautiful views of the mountains all around. We have Mount Blancc right there, which is the tallest mountain in Western Europe right there. So, it’s a great viewing spot of this. This lift does run all year. It does get more expensive towards the summer months. You can see below just how many different like staircases and stuff there are to walk around and just get all these mountain views all along. [Music] I think it’s time for me to go burn all bridges. All I know I got lost along the way. Fell between the fing stitches. Time to let go. So come with me. [Music] There’s a little ski festival going on. And so we watched these people ride the lift up and now they’re paragliding and skiing down which is really fun to watch. I would definitely recommend doing this but look into the day pass like the Mont Blanc day pass. It’s a way better deal and you get more of the surrounding area attractions as well. We’re down from the station and this is it behind me. We were in a hurry this morning so I didn’t get to share. It’s in the center of town so it’s pretty easy to find. But look how beautiful the view of Mount Blanc is from here. Even this whole town has a great view of the mountains. [Music] We stopped at a cute little cafe for lunch. It was delicious. We got some kiches and the terrace had a beautiful view of Mount Blanc, so that’s why we chose it. But it was really good. And the coffee was delicious. And now we’re just going to enjoy walking around Shaman because it’s such a walkable and adorable little town. Beautiful day. I’m going to keep saying that cuz it is. Our [Music] last little activity of the day. We are going to take the Mont Blancc Express all the way to the end of the line to St. Jer. We’re doing this today because tomorrow the track goes under maintenance for a couple of weeks. So this is actually our last chance to be able to take the Mont Blanc Express. If you stay in Shaman, your hotel will give you free little transit cards for buses and trains in the area. This is the same line that we took from Martin in Switzerland yesterday to get to Shaman. The Swiss side of the train is two or three times more expensive than the French side of the train. Even though it’s the same train, you can’t you don’t have an option. If you come from Switzerland, you have to pay the Swiss price. But this is a pretty cool little attraction almost in this area just to ride the train through the valley and get some beautiful mountain views, which is what we’re here for. [Music] The entire train ride have this beautiful mountain view from Shaman all the way down like the entire valley you have a beautiful view of Mount Blanc. Sit on the left side of the train going forward and then if you go back towards Shaman sit on the right side of the train cuz you’ll get the mountains behind you. [Music] [Music] Good morning. I am currently on my way to where we were yesterday. Actually, the lift up to Aimidi, but I’m only going a halfway this time. And I’m buying a one-way ticket because I’m going to paraglide down. [Music] I got all my stuff on and then parachute right there and then we jump off right there. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] I am back down. And that was awesome. Like that was incredible. flew off of the plan dee kept turning to get a beautiful view of Mount Blanc multiple times. I would recommend bringing like ear muffs or something cuz my ears are freezing and they kind of hurt. The company I went with was great. I’ll link them down below. Very easy to communicate with and great experience. Uh the guy I went with was wonderful. I hope you enjoyed all the GoPro footage. Now we are going to head to Montenev train which will take us to a glacier first. Definitely going to stop and get a coffee because got up this morning and went straight to the paragliding and have not had any kind of caffeine yet and my brain can tell. We’ve made it to the Mont’s train station where we’ll hop on the train that will take us. I think it’s like a 30 minute train ride or so. Oh my gosh. [Music] [Music] [Music] The main point you come on the Mont Ver train is to see this glacier behind me which is called Mardigloss or the sea of ice. It was first discovered in 1714 I believe and then in 1908 they built this railway and made it accessible for the public. So, this is one of the most visited natural sites in the world. We can actually take a cable car down to visit the glacier. Like, we can go down and visit like an ice cave part of the glacier, which is what we’re going to do in just a little bit. [Music] [Music] work. currently on the gondola to go down to the glacier, which actually we don’t go down to the glacier. We go down to 400 steps which then take us to the glacier. This is included in the ticket price. There’s not an extra fee for it. There’s also a foot path you can take if you don’t want to take the gondola and you you’d rather walk down to the steps. This thing moves like it moves fast. About to go down. You go down in groups of two cable cars and then two will pass you like such. Cool. [Music] That down there is still the stairs. So, we’re going to go all the way down there to get to the ice cave, which is over there. You can see behind me all the different like stairs and platforms that we came up. And with the platforms, there’s a platform every like 10 to 15 steps. So, it’s really not I mean, it’s not bad going down. We haven’t started going up, but [Music] this is the entrance to the ice cave that we’re going into. We made it down all 400 steps to our final destination, the ice cave. [Music] [Music] This whole system is built within the glacier. They have like little seats back here and different ice sculptures. [Music] The reason there’s so many steps is because every year that it recedes, it’s receding on average 6 to 8 m every year. They have to add around 40 stairs every year. All of the ice in this cave is about 300 years old and it fell as snow around the 1700s. And then all of the bubbles in here are air trapped from the 1700s. The color at the front of the cave is beautiful. this teal color because the light from the outside is coming in and really making it pop. [Music] We’ve made it up probably about 300 of the steps. You can see how far we’ve come behind me. [Music] [Music] It’s our last full day in France and on our way to brunch. So, honestly is like 2 hours by train away from Shamani. [Music] [Music] Odyssey is actually known as the Venice of France, and it’s easy to see why there’s canals everywhere. [Music] We just visited the Egliss Notredam de Leis, but this church is originally from the 14th century, but it was largely destroyed in the wars in 17 1800s. So, a lot of this is from the mid 1800s, which you can tell looks a lot newer than most of the churches we’ve been into, especially around France. And it’s in the main city like shopping center area of Odyssey. [Music] We are currently in the Palai Dale. It’s a museum in the middle of an on the river. This building was originally a house but then converted into a prison in the 1300s. And this in here is the bathroom from the 1700s. So, got your pot right here and you got your nice view right there. What you cooking? Stew. [Music] Our last stop in Odyssey is of course the lake, Lake Odyssey. It’s huge and beautiful and surrounded by mountains. You can rent boats. You can do boat tours. It is gorgeous out and the lake is beautiful. We are officially on our way back to Shaman and we purchased our tickets. The good part about staying in Shamani is that you get that little card, the visitor card that um gets you free transport from Baller Scene all the way to St. Jame. So we just bought a ticket to St. Jame. Takes about an hour and a half, 2 hours to get to St. your day and then we’ll take the bus back to Shaman. This has been a wonderful time in France and sad to be ending it out tonight, but honestly, I’m so glad I got to explore some new areas and I can’t wait to bring Christian along next time.

Travel Vlog #183 | Chamonix, France

Book paragliding here! 🪂🏔️ – https://gyg.me/Tx890U1D

I’m (Ashley) back with another trip with my mom! Exploring Chamonix, France is the ultimate Alps bucket-list day. We kick things off at Aiguille du Midi, taking the famous cable car up to 3,842 meters for unreal views of Mont Blanc. We finished our day out by taking the Mont-Blanc express to the end of the line.

Next up: paragliding over Chamonix! 🪂 One of the most unforgettable experiences of the trip, the views are unmatched. Then we hop on the iconic Montenvers Train to visit the Mer de Glace Ice Cave, a surreal, glowing blue world carved into the glacier.

And to slow things down, we head out on a dreamy day trip to Annecy, known as the “Venice of the Alps.” Think pastel old town streets, turquoise lake views, and the perfect peaceful contrast to the adrenaline of Chamonix.

If you’re planning a trip to the French Alps, this vlog covers top things to do in Chamonix, Aiguille du Midi cable car tips, Montenvers Ice Cave, paragliding in Chamonix, and whether Annecy is worth the day trip.
✨ Like & subscribe for more travel vlogs!
📍 Filmed in Chamonix, France

00:00 – Intro
00:31 – Aiguille du Midi
04:53 – Chamonix town
05:40 – Mont-Blanc Express
07:34 – Paragliding in Chamonix
10:18 – Montenvers Train
12:23 – Mer de Glace Ice Cave
15:53 – Annecy, France day trip
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
***Shop our travel and camera favorites:
https://www.amazon.com/shop/influencer-25b07225?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsfshop_CREG737DJ7KNWVTDJS1C

***Our FAVORITE Travel Credit Card:
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/19o/0JH28J9WHU

***Want a one-time way to support us and say thank you? Buy us a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ashandchristian

***All music is from Epidemic Sound! Get one month free HERE ~ https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/bpb2p0/

We’re Ashley & Christian, a couple on a mission to see every country in the world – with no time limit!
We’ll be uploading the vlogs from our trips over the past year as well as new vlogs, FAQs about frequent travel, packing videos, how to plan your own trips, etc.
We currently work full-time and travel a couple months of the year.
Follow us on our adventures!