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Brévent at night

Mont Blanc at sunset

Sunset over Mont Blanc

Alps at sunset

Sunset over Brévent

Moon rising over the Alps

Moon rising over the Alps

Moon rising over the Alps

More photos from Chamonix…

Chamonix, France, It isn’t every day that a friend offers to sell you a Mercedes for next to nothing. In our case, it was a great looking beige 1992 Mercedes diesel–just the car to take us on a road trip through France and Spain. Our problems began well before we embarked on the trip. In France you need a control technique sticker (the equivalent of the car inspection in the US, or MOT in the UK), a Carte Grise (registration), and insurance.…

Pont des Arts

Notre Dame

Sacre Coeur

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View from Montmarte

Sharm el-Sheikh

I spent most of yesterday diving, but unfortunately those photos will have to wait, since I was shooting on a film camera (trust me, you aren’t missing much; most of my energy was focused on remembering how to dive, not on focusing the camera).…

“Want some Valium for the bus ride?” Although I politely declined, probably I should have realized then just how bad the fifteen hour trip from Luxor to Sharm el-Sheikh would be. But I didn’t.

When I was in India last year I made the mistake of trying to ride “ordinary” buses in an attempt to see India as a local would. This time, remembering the horrors of the Indian bus experience, I had booked a first class bus ticket, and so full of confidence in the “deluxe” ticket I had secured, I turned down the Valium and headed for the bus.…

I spent most of yesterday visiting the west side of Luxor, which includes the famous Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Kings is where many of the pharaohs, such as Tutankhamun, from the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt were buried.

Valley of the Kings (I wasn’t allowed to take photos inside the tombs)

The west side of Luxor also includes the Valley of the Queens, several temples, and the village where the workers who built the tombs lived.…

Citadel of Qaitbay

Citadel of Qaitbay

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Modern Library of Alexandria

Just got back from skiing the Vallée Blanche, one of the world’s classic ski tours. We skied down from the top of the Aiguille du Midi through the Mer du Glace, surrounded by crevasses and seracs.

It’s really frightening to see just how much the glaciers here have melted. The Mer du Glace, one of Europe’s longest glaciers is rapidly shrinking at a rate of about one centimeter and hour. At the end of the Vallée Blanche there are markers showing where the glacier came to in 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2003; the difference between 2003 and now is immense and the difference between 1980 and now is truly shocking.…

Aiguille du Midi

View from the Aiguille du Midi

Mont Blanc

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Panoramic view of the Alps from the Aiguille du Midi

Bonne Année! Here are some photos of Chamonix over the holidays.

Holiday Lights in Chamonix

Holiday Lights in Chamonix

Here are a few more photos from around Chamonix:

Slalom Race

Slalom Course and Chamonix at Night

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Slalom Race