Belle Vue

A road trip through the European Alps.

By Peak Design

minnesota-nice

There's a saying up North that there's two kinds of nice: nice, which is the one that we're all familiar with, and Minnesota-nice, which is an entire other order magnitude of niceness that only people from the great state of Minnesota are hereditarily capable of exuding.

Scott Kranz is Minnesota-nice.

He's also a brilliant photographer and dedicated adventurer, and behind those passions is a story that everybody should read, especially if you've ever considered giving it all up to pursue your own passion.

This here Field Notes journal is a place where we share the adventures and passions of those on our team, as well as those of folks who we admire. We try to really mix up our Field Notes posts, inviting new people from all walks to come and share their stories. Scott shot and wrote a beautiful story earlier this year, but we like the guy so damn much that we had to get him back. Enjoy!

The Crew

Meet Scott Kranz, his wife Jill, and their good friend Ryan. You can follow Scott's work (we highly recommend it) on Instagram (@scott_kranz) or his website, scott-kranz.com. The rest of the story from here on out are in Scott's words.

The journey

My wife, Jill, and I traveled to France for a variety of reasons, including to experience the European Alps, to immerse in a different culture and way of life, to eat and drink well, as the Europeans do, and to have a good ol’ fashioned road trip adventure. We landed in Paris, and enjoyed our first jet-lagged day there. The next day, we rented a car, picked up our very good friend from college, Ryan, who had flown into Paris from Minnesota, and we started driving southeast, to Chamonix.

We arrived in Chamonix, a town tucked deep in the French Alps, well after sunset, and so we couldn’t see much in terms of the surrounding mountains at first. We stayed in a local Airbnb, a local’s apartment home, and got up early to catch the very first gondola up to the summit terrace of the Aiguille du Midi, a mountain at 3,842 meters (12, 605 feet) above sea level, in the heart of the Mont Blanc massif. We took in views of Aiguille du Plan and Aiguille de Grepon, pictured, as mountaineers made their way from the Aiguille du Midi onto the surrounding glaciers.

During our stay in Chamonix, we did an elevation hike, Aiguillette des Houches, which a trek up to a ridge which boasts some of the best views of the Mont Blanc massif and surrounding valleys and peaks. As we hiked up, there were plenty of bold fall colors along the trail, as well as snow-capped peaks in the distance.

Backpack: Everyday Backpack by Peak Design. Camera hand strap: Clutch by Peak Design. Camera: Sony a7rII.

As the sun set to the southwest, we started our hike back down, but not before following a ridge to a satellite peak, which revealed views of many mountain layers and the day’s fading light. It was a marvelous first sunset in the Alps.

A road trip adventure is not complete without an impromptu detour. After enjoying the French town of Chamonix and the Mont Blanc massif, we took a last-minute trip into Switzerland for the day. We arrived in the small mountain town of Zermatt, which rests below the Matterhorn. Beyond the narrow streets and Swiss architecture, we could see the iconic face of the Matterhorn basking in the morning sun.

After our day in Switzerland, we drove back into France to stay in the town of Annecy, where there was no shortage of charm. Annecy turned out to be a favorite of our trip, with its age-old architecture, its many water canals, and its cobblestone streets and walkways.

After Annecy, we drove to another French town, Grenoble. On the way, we drove through the Parc Naturel Regional de la Chartreuse, situated in the heart of the Rhone-Alps. In Chartreuse, we stopped and hiked into the Cirque de Saint Meme, a natural amphitheater, through which multiple pristine waterfalls flow.