Wanting to do this trek, but without it being too busy, we caught the second train of the morning up to the Montenvers Railway station above the Mer de Glace. As it turns out, we were a bit too early as, having walked down the the edge of the glacier at 09:15, we found that the ice cave is not open to the public until 09:50. However, this meant that we had plenty of time to appreciate the sun rising behind the Dru, which was a real spectacle. Beams of sunlight were casting shadows on the morning misty sky.
And to our right, the Mer de Glace (also known as the Vallee Blanche famous ski run), drew our eyes up towards the north face of the Grand Jorasses.
As the sun tipped over the horizon, the gate was opened and we jumped down the steps to the entrance of the Ice Cave that has been carved in the glacier for tourist visitors.
These days, it's quite a way down to the actual ice, compared to when the railway and hotel was first built. It seemed fair that in 1820, it was much different.
However, it was staggering to see how much the glacier has retreated since my first visit here on skis with Daragh in 2001.
In 2001, Daragh and I stepped off our skis at this point, having descended the Vallee Blanche - now there are 400 or so steps bolted onto the cliff side to access down to what's left of the glacier!
We were the first people inside, so got to have a good look around before anyone else arrived!
The tunnel on the way out was casting a beautiful light - like being inside a breaking wave!
On the walk back up the stairs, it was again remarkable to see how much the glacier levels have changed in my lifetime...
It's certainly a bit different from when the train first arrived!
Before finally getting on the trail, we had a nose around the crystal hunters display - this one caught my eye Mum! Almost as good as Auntie Sheila's!
A final 'classic photo' and we were ready to start our hike...
We decided to take the extra uphill and go via the 'signal' rock, which was totally worth the small amount of extra effort. A breathtaking panorama to enjoy with an early lunch snack.
We then set off on our traverse of the mountainside towards the Plan d'Aiguille cable car station, some two hours away.
We set a steady pace but made sure we stopped plenty to soak up the views and enjoy a nice bit of cheese and baguette.
Finally we reached the station, where a sign post pointed out that Jebel Toubkal (the mountain I was on in Morocco recently was only 2086km away!
We let the cable car take the strain and were quickly and smoothly returned to the valley base, where we soon deposited ourselves in sun loungers on the terrace, to look up at where we'd just been.
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