armchair excursion to the Alps

January 30, 2005 3:54 PM

I came upon an enchanting gallery of Lac Léman ice storm photos via presurfer today, which then led me to some rather beautiful scenes of the the Alps. There was also an amazing shot from space, and a link to another site where I followed hikers to les Massif de Bauges and le Massif de la Grande Chartreuse. OK, I didn't get my work done today, but I had a marvelous trip to the Alps.
posted by madamjujujive (16 comments total)

re your first link, an addition on bOING bOING notes:
"Please note that the photos of ice in Geneva on boingboing are due to water spray from the lake, not because of an "ice storm". If you look at more of the photos you will see that everything covered with ice is right next to the lake shore. If you look closely at some of the photos there are houses in the background that are free of ice."

Nice post and wonderful photos madam!
posted by page404 at 4:02 PM on January 30, 2005

It's Sunday, madam j.j.j., you're not supposed to be working. (Unless snow shoveling out your desk, like those of us up here down east of you.) Thanks — that is an amazing shot from space, showing the sun not setting on the British Empire.
posted by LeLiLo at 4:03 PM on January 30, 2005

Mountains are addicting, sometimes to the point of death.
posted by sled at 4:25 PM on January 30, 2005

Forgot to mention the irony of the cow photo. I never forgot the day I struggled a long time, with much effort, to get to the top of a peak in Utah only to find a big pile of cow dung on the top. Somehow it really made me upset. Needless to say, I didn't take the same route down.
posted by sled at 4:27 PM on January 30, 2005

The sunset photo is, of course, fake.

I lived in Grenoble for a year, and got to look up at Chartreuse every day. Fantastic hiking and boulder scrambling... I had such a wave of happy/longing/memory looking through those. Thanks!
posted by allan at 4:30 PM on January 30, 2005

Very nice, thank you.
posted by hortense at 5:04 PM on January 30, 2005

Nice walkies! Looks a lot like bits of BC, but with more goats.
posted by five fresh fish at 5:28 PM on January 30, 2005

Nice, beautiful.
posted by Smedleyman at 6:36 PM on January 30, 2005

Ice storms are nasty but I always love snapping a few pictures. Ice just makes for lovely images. Thanks for these even if they aren't really storm pics.
posted by arse_hat at 6:50 PM on January 30, 2005

Thanks for the clarification, page404, and for the debunking, allan. Damn, I never questioned that.

sled, that's an amusing story. If you struggled to get to the top, it must have been demoralizing to think some big old bovine managed. Are you sure it was a cow flop? Maybe it was a bighorn sheep calling card.

Waves to my down east neighbor, lelilo! Ah, yes, work beckoned. The self-employment thing is feast or famine, doncha know.
posted by madamjujujive at 7:44 PM on January 30, 2005

Beautiful, mjj. Thank you!
posted by stonerose at 7:45 PM on January 30, 2005

My only question about the "ice storm" photos is this: are those all tourists' cars? Because I'd hope like heck the locals have learned to never, ever park beside the lake...
posted by five fresh fish at 8:00 PM on January 30, 2005

Thank you - I had enough of this cold beauty last weekend ... brrrrrr ... I live close to the Alps ...
posted by homodigitalis at 9:13 PM on January 30, 2005

Cool, homodigitalis - we're all coming over for a hike next week, then, okay? Well, maybe we will wait until this deep freeze passes, sounds like you guys have it rough!
And while on the topic of cool things, you have a very nice blog!
posted by madamjujujive at 4:28 AM on January 31, 2005

Incredible photos. The way the ice hangs over things (I can't decide if it's blades or shag carpet) really has a Tim Burton feel to it.
posted by ThePrawn at 6:39 AM on January 31, 2005

@madamjujujive: Thanks for the kind words. Guess the US and most of Europe currently has more then enough snwo and ice.
posted by homodigitalis at 4:55 PM on January 31, 2005