Mer de Glace - Montenvers.

A short train ride up the valley and through the forest took us to the Glacier - Mer de Glace.

We walked some 530 steps down to the caverns and of course 530 steps back up. The stark message on the way down was pinned onto the rocks giving the height of the glacier at various times dating back to the 1870s. There is a telecabine there which takes you half way down because not so long ago that is where the glacier was. Now of course it has receded a lot further and you have to walk down into the valley. Climate change, warming of the planet, call it what you will, its there for us all to see ... just. Remarkable in its beauty, translucence, blueness and depth.

The glacier is located on the Northern slopes of the Mont Blanc Massif in the French Alps. I think it is regarded as the longest and largest glacier in France but the sad part of it is that from 1939 to 2001 according to Wikipedia it is 30 cms lower every year, corresponding to the loss of of 700 million cubic metres of water. It will be there for our lifetime perhaps but will it survive to be admired by our children and their children after that ?