{"id":21270,"date":"2014-10-18T01:11:03","date_gmt":"2014-10-17T23:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=21270"},"modified":"2017-10-23T13:03:11","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T11:03:11","slug":"la-dame-blanche-the-white-lady-mont-blanc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/la-dame-blanche-the-white-lady-mont-blanc\/","title":{"rendered":"La Dame Blanche (The White Lady): Mont Blanc"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bonjour mes amis!<\/b> (Hello my friends!)<\/p>\n

I thought it might be interesting to study un peu de G\u00e9ographie<\/b> (a little Geography). Histoire\/G\u00e9ographie<\/b> (History\/Geography) was a combined course in French schools and part of the standard curriculum in the early 1990s. Students would call it Histoire\/G\u00e9o<\/b> for short and I clearly remember the green cahier<\/b> (notebook) dedicated to the class. It was one of my favorite classes in 6\u00e8me<\/b> and 5\u00e8me<\/b> (6th<\/sup> and 7th<\/sup> grades, respectively) and one that ignited a passion for History (and to a lesser extent Geography) that I still harbor to this day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you happen to be a Francophile like me, you probably have heard of Mont Blanc<\/b> (White Mountain), the highest peak in the Alps and coincidentally, the tallest summit in the European Union. Mont Blanc is part of the Massif du Mont Blanc<\/b>, a mountain range in the Graian Alps that covers part of Italy, France (part of the Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes region) and Switzerland.<\/p>\n

Ever since la premi\u00e8re ascension<\/b> (the first ascent) in 1786 by Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard, Mont Blanc has remained one of the most popular go-to destinations for those hardy souls who enjoy l\u2019alpinisme<\/b> (mountaineering) and l\u2019escalade<\/b> (rock climbing). Attempting to climb Mont Blanc is neither for the faint of heart nor for those who suffer from le vertige<\/b> (vertigo\/dizziness). Reaching an altitude of 4,810 m (15,781 ft), the mountain can be very unforgiving, as evidenced par la mort<\/b> (by the death) of seven climbers in the summer of 2014 alone. A sad affair indeed, however, for those who reach le sommet <\/b>(the summit) the view is breathtaking as you can imagine (and measures only 30 m in length).<\/p>\n

Mont Blanc became internationally renown as the site of the first Jeux Olympiques d\u2019hiver<\/b> (winter Olympics) in 1924. Hosted in Chamonix, a small ski resort on the north side of the mountain, Mont Blanc went from being a regular ski destination for locals in the early 20th<\/sup> century to becoming a world renown resort for more extreme sports such as ice climbing, paragliding, Wingsuit flying and extreme skiing.<\/p>\n

Should you ever have a chance to visit the Alps, whether in Italy, France or Switzerland, consider taking a detour to visit la Dame Blanche <\/b>(the White Lady). Both beautiful and deadly, she inspires a sense of awe and wonder that reminds us just how small and finite we really are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Bonjour mes amis! (Hello my friends!) I thought it might be interesting to study un peu de G\u00e9ographie (a little Geography). Histoire\/G\u00e9ographie (History\/Geography) was a combined course in French schools and part of the standard curriculum in the early 1990s. Students would call it Histoire\/G\u00e9o for short and I clearly remember the green cahier (notebook)…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":28630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21270","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t