The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Music

So today we temporarily left Paris to see what the rest of France has to offer. We wanted to see the Alps so we decided to go to a little mountain town called Chamonix. Train tickets were ridiculous and had horrible times so we found it was faster and a bit cheaper to fly into Geneva and then take a shuttle bus to Chamonix. Once again we had a time crunch to get to the airport but we did make it in time...once again. The flight was nice and quick and we thought we were going to get lucky and have the shuttle bus leave earlier than planned. But apparently it was the driver's first day so he was 30 minutes late. Luckily we didn't have a schedule to keep now that we were in Geneva. There was this guy with us who we initially thought was super obnoxious but he just turned out to be a friendly dude. He said he's been coming here for 7 summers to be a climbing guide so he gave us great tips. He told us that Chamonix is one of the climbing (or probably more so mountaineering) capitals of the world. This killed me because it just reiterated how much climbing I'm missing out on because of my janked up back. I did have a brief climbing escapade in Florida but had to stop because of said back. So obviously I'm quite frustrated I have to keep my feet firmly on the ground. It was the most incredible sight driving through the mountains to Chamonix. The Appalachians are about as grand as it got for me so my mind was blown. Snow capped peaks and ridges soared above us. Absolutely stunning. We got to our hostel which is also a chalet and it is the most homey and cozy place. The owners live here too so its almost like a cheap bed and breakfast than a hostel. We stepped outside into the backyard and the Alps just loomed above us. I instantly felt so much more relaxed and it was great to breath some fresh air. We attempted to ride bikes around but kept getting stopped due to crazy hills. I haven't ridden a bike in years so that was gonna be an issue. Public transportation isn't the best here since its the off season so we managed to get a ride to the train from the girl who works at the chalet. We took the train into town and it was so lovely! Very quaint bit tons of shops and restaurants. We chose a traditional French restaurant and just as I was about ti go super classy with some escargot and french onion soup, a salmon dish stuck out at me and it was amaaazing. Salmon with a butter sauce with basmati rice and sauteed veggies. Incredible!! We headed back to the chalet and are now sitting on the back porch with the beautiful Alps beyond, accompanied with some wine and chocolates. Its so quoet, all you can hear is the birds and the stream. What a  perfect evening. Tomorrow we will do some exploring in the mountains!