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Hi Kim
As has already been said I think you are thinking of the cable car from Chamonix.
We did this in August this year. First of all one has to take the 2 stage cable car from Chamonix to the Midi Aiguille. This is the highest point which can be reached by cable car in the Mount Blanc Range and the complex at the top has an altitude of 3700m. That was high enough to make me feel rather dizzy and a bit sick, Cary just felt a little light-headed. The complex has various viewing platforms, shop, restaurant,etc and it is, also, possible to walk out on the adjacent snow. It is departure point for climbers who are going to climb Mont Blanc itself.
Once at the Midi Aiguille complex it is possible to take another cable car. This is just a small one which seats 4 people over the the snowfields and 2 glaciers to Point Helbronner which is actually in Italy. From there it is possible to descend to the foot of the mountain in Italy and get a coach back through the Mont Blanc tunnel which exits near Chamonix. As our guide books both said the trip was'nt worth it and because I'm not over fond of tunnels we didn't do the round trip. We did, however, take the cable car to Point Helbronner and really enjoyed that. The cable cars stop 5 times enroute each way for photo stops and the snowscape is fantastically beautiful. The cost of the small cable car to Point Helbronner was 20€ each which was pretty expensive but we are not likely to pass that way again. At Point Helbronner we did descend the many ladders to actually walk out on the snow - it was rather slippery, however.
We stayed near Chamonix for about a fortnight and actually bought a multi-pass for the Compagnie Mont Blanc which runs most of the cable cars, mountain railways, etc in the Chamonix valley. The pass we bought was for 4 non-consecutive days in 15 and was a whopping 93€ each. We did, however, make full use of that pass and used 8 out of the 9 cable cars, trains, etc they run. The multipass did NOT included the cable to Point Helbronner in Italy.
We travelled up to Montrevers and the Mer de Glace glacier on the rack railway. This is the 2nd largest glacier in the Alps. There is a ice cave carved into the glacier with lighting and sculptures which we visited. We, also, went on the MB tramway to another glacier. In addition to these we went on 5 other cable cars of varying types and sizes which took us into the mountains on both sides of the valley. We walked from the summit of a number of these including a walk into Switzerland.
All of the above rides can be taken on a separate basis and cost upwards of 25€ each return, I think we got our moneysworth. There are, also, multipasses for shorter or longer periods and consecutive day ones which are a bit cheaper.
At a practical level the most popular central MB "rides" do get very busy in the peak season. We always tried to be there early in the morning for these rides and took some of the quieter, more distant ones in the afternoons.
Compagnie MB has their own website, with an English option, which includes a map showing all the cable cars, etc they offer and pictures of the spectacular destinations.
We really enjoyed our time in Chamonix it was certainly a holiday to remember.
Please post again if you have any more specific questions.
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Tim and Cary
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Topic: France to Italy by mountain??!!
