2023-05-31 23:10:04
The Montenvers train allowed hundreds of thousands of people to access the Mer de Glace. Fabian Bodet
REPORT – In early 2025, Montenvers will be transformed into an exceptional cultural and heritage site. A site capable of rivaling the reconstructions of the Cosquer caves, in Marseille, and Chauvet, in Ardèche. But political pressures are endangering this global attraction.
Special correspondent in Chamonix
Through the spruces and larches, the mythical little red train of Montenvers climbs up the mountainside. On this beautiful May morning, the “monchus” (“customers” in Chamonix patois) come from all over the world. They all made a detour to Chamonix to discover the Mer de Glace, the largest glacier in Europe. “Apart from a few places in Switzerland, you have to go all the way to the Himalayas to see such a beautiful landscape”, underlines the guide Jean-Franck Charlet. Montenvers is one of the few high mountain sites that can be reached comfortably without an ice ax or crampons. “The Elders who built the steam train tracks in 1905 and then electrified the line in 1954 were strong”, emphasizes Jérôme Seydoux. The seventh art tycoon has been a mad lover of Chamonix for forty years.
After twenty-five minutes, our train brakes at the threshold of the high mountain. Unless you are an experienced mountaineer, you cannot go further. The view of the Drus (3754 m) and the…
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