Welcome To Chamonix! What it is like to live here.

What's not to love about Chamonix???

• It's a training hub for elite trail runners.
• It's home to the world's largest Ultramarathon races UTMB, CCC, TDS, and OCC.
• The valley is surrounded by the French Alps and is absolutely stunning!
• It has an outdoor vibe that you can't find anywhere else!

What has it been like to live here???

It's been amazing! Imagine having access to amazing trails less than a quarter mile from your house, waking up to the view of Mont Blanc every day, and being able to relax in the mountains. Both our first place in Les Praz and our other place near the Plan Praz lift have been nice, relaxing, and still close enough to town that you could walk.




Les Praz
Our first place was in Les Praz. We arrived on June 4th and stayed there for a month and we really
loved it. We stayed in an Airbnb at the Eden Hotel. It had enough space for Crosby to have his own room, which saved our sanity because he sleeps better in his own room. It also had a washer so that we could wash the week's worth of clothes we brought for the summer over and over. It also had a kitchen, which if you don't want to spend a fortune on eating out in Chamonix every night, then it's a good idea. The restaurants and groceries here are more expensive, probably double what we spend at home, but we like having our own food anyway.




Friends we met our first month here

First, the founder of HOKA ONE ONE Nico Mermoud. Hayden has gone running with him and ran a race with him last weekend in the Swiss Alps. He was one of the best Ultramarathon guys in his day and is still killing it out there even as he gets older. He is a great guy and friend and has really helped us out a lot!

The first week we were here we made friends with Sara and Saever from Northern Iceland. They are the coolest people and have the nicest family, they brought their daughters with them to Chamonix! I ran with Sarah up to Merlet and Hayden ran with Saever as well. We actually are planning to go visit them at the end of our travels in October, right before we come home.

 Some other great friends we have met are Natalie White and Robbie Britton from Great Britain. They actually have lived here up in a small village called Monroc for the last few years. They are great friends and we are looking forward to many more great times with them and their dog Rosa.

The last 2 weeks our friend Kieren stayed with us. He is from a Lei, India which is a small town near the Himalayas in Northern India. He is the fastest trail runner in India and a close friend. We have met so many great people from trail running and he is definitely one of them. We watched the world cup, made Indian food, helped crew him in the Mont Blanc 90k, and just had a great time. Sometime we will all make it back to India to visit him, Lei sounds like an amazing place!










What we loved about Les Praz

1. access to the La Flagere Trail (my favorite!), the Petit Balcon Sud trail, and the Mer de Glace trail. Also access to flat trails as well.

 






2. A kids park was close by and we would take Crosby there 3-4 times a week to play.

3. A nice grassy area about 100 meters from our house where we had a few picnics.

4. Only a short walk from town 20 min

5. Our great friends we got to spend time with!

When we decided we wanted to extend our stay there, the place was already booked up in July, so we moved on July 2nd to.....


Plan Praz!! 

Plan Praz is home to the famous Vertical Kilometer course that they do as part of the Mont Blanc Marathon. (The VK is a 2.5 miles with over 3,000ft of gain). We actually hiked up this and it is SUPER STEEP!! We are staying in a place about 400 meters from the Plan Praz lift. It has a great view, great access to trails again, and not too far from downtown Chamonix. We really like the place and have enjoyed our time here so far. The only thing is our place is on top of a MONSTER hill. We are going to be amazing at hills when we are done staying here!







What we love about Plan Praz
1. quick access to the Plan Praz/VK course, the Brevent trail, and the Plan Lachat trail which are all great trails.
2. It has amazing views.
3. climbing the big hill to our house every day! Just kidding!



Now, I want to be real for a moment and let you know that not everything is perfect out here. Most days it's absolutely amazing!! However, there are some days it is really hard living abroad with a baby. Some of the challenges with a baby are that he had to adjust to the time change and that took about a week, but now he's adjusted. Our new place only has one bedroom and he sleeps better on his own. We don't have a babysitter or family close by. Last of all, Crosby can't last forever in a carrier, even though he absolutely loves it, so those long adventure can't be with him yet. BUT all of these things are tiny things that really don't ruin our experience, they help us grow and learn to be patient. All of the good things definitely outweigh the few bad things. We sure are lucky we have a baby that likes the outdoors better than inside too! Plus, isn't this guy just too cute???

If you are looking for an outdoor paradise, this is it. If you are a trail runner, hiker, rock climber, or just love this mountains, Chamonix is a place that should be on your bucket list!! There is something magical about this place as the valley sits at 3000ft and then you can look up at Mt. Blanc at 16,000 ft. It is amazing!

The next two Mondays, I will highlight more about the trails that we love here and some of the fun things to do!