{"id":24584,"date":"2019-04-30T14:56:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T12:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peregrinusmundi.com\/un-souffle-printanier\/"},"modified":"2020-07-05T17:27:07","modified_gmt":"2020-07-05T15:27:07","slug":"a-breath-of-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peregrinusmundi.com\/en\/a-breath-of-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"A breath of Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The cherry trees have blossomed in the valley. Spring is back. The snow is slowly melting and a calm atmosphere envelops the passing days. I changed my work schedules. I have moved to the morning now. I start at five o’clock am and finish around two o’clock pm. I managed the breakfast most of the week. Louis, the restaurant manager, takes care of the other services and I replace him during his days off. It is much better for me. After the difficult months of January, February and March and my depression, I could not continue in the same way. Fortunately, the food & beverages manager and the restaurant manager accepted my request to change my hours. So here I am starting a more regular rhythm of life and enjoying my afternoons.<\/p>

Despite the same problems and the fast pace of the breakfast service, I slowly regain strength. The prospect of finishing my contract at the Alpina in a month and my renewed creativity do me good. And then the good weather is back. The valley is slowly recovering colors and pink spots light up the landscape. The cherry and plum trees felt the warmth and the return of happy days.<\/p>

I took the opportunity to go skiing for the last time of the season. There is not much snow left. I went to Tour \/ La Balme, the ski area above Vallorcine, just on the Swiss border. The view of the Chamonix valley was magnificent. At the top of the pass, the grass, yellowed by winter, is reappearing. This is where the famous Tour du Mont-Blanc passes, a ten-day hike around the massif crossing France, Switzerland and Italy. I really want to do it. But for the moment there is still too much snow. And the snowfields can survive in some places all summer. I will have to wait until July, maybe even later. The ideal is to do the trek in September, October. The snow has completely disappeared, the weather is generally fine, the temperatures not too hot and the vast majority of tourists have left. The idea of doing it this summer is planted in my mind and I slowly start to set up the post-Chamonix.<\/p>

At the ski domain of Les Houches, at the beginning of the valley completely opposite to Vallorcine, a large part of the slopes are closed. The snow has melted. The weather is magnificent and I take advantage of the that to appreciate the view of the Mont-Blanc. It glows up there, 3500 meters above me. Rounded mountain covered with eternal snow and the highest peak in Europe. The sun is shining on the metal sheets of The Gouter refuge. Tiny construction hanging to the ridge on the way to the summit. Will I ever be able to climb it?<\/p>

The Mer de Glace is covered with gray dust. It is not very pretty. But it does not matter. To be in the presence of this monstrous glacier that descends from La Vall\u00e9e Blanche is impressive. I hear the glacier creaking with a slight rumble, testifying to the constant evolution of nature. A cave has been dug in the ice and a small cable car with red skips followed by a long staircase leads there. I descend along the walls dug by the passage of the glacier. At regular intervals, a plaque reveals the height of the glacier according to the years. The more time passes, the more the Mer de Glace shrinks. In 1823, the glacier proudly descended into the valley. Today, the snowy tongue barely reaches the Montenvers station at 1900m. With global warming, the Mer de Glace has lost 30 meters in length per year since 2003. And it is not the only one to be impacted. The Bossons and Taconnaz glaciers are also affected. This year was not a good year for snow and I have heard many people talk about climate change and the impact on the valley. In the very near future, the Chamonix valley, its ecosystem and its tourist activities linked to the presence of snow will probably be facing major changes.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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