News in brief : grottes, earthquakes and a cinema in trouble
No, we're not talking about underwear, but some little snippets of news from the Chamonix valley that might be of interest this week:
Mer de Glace grotto a bit icy!
The ice grotto tourist attraction on the edge of the Mer de Glace only re-opened to the public yesterday (Weds) following a forced closure due to an risky ice block at the entrance. A specialist contractor was needed to bring down the block, meaning the attraction was closed for around 10 days. This fixes the situation temporarily until the next problem occurs. The talk is of having to create the grottos further up the Mer de Glace, but this brings with it the whole question of access, so there are no clear plans as yet. For the time being, the grotto is open.
Earthquake felt in Chamonix:
The earth moved on Sunday night (insert crass joke here)! From Vallorcine to Chamonix a small tremor registering 2.2 on the richter scale happened at 20:27 precisely (!) on Sunday night. The epicentre was 10km north east of Chamonix town under the glacier du Tour, at a depth of 4km.
Cinema in trouble:
Worrying news this, as Cine Vox in Chamonix has declared a debt of 40,000 euros. This has been acted on by the commune, who has agreed a special grant of 30,000 euros. In a bid to make this a one off act, the commune hopes the cinema will diversify into theatre and concert evenings, organising festivals and offering conference facilities too. Having spent many a rainy evening enjoying films at Cine Vox (a Christmas Eve showing of the first James Bond movie to star Daniel Craig holds a particular place in our heart!) we hope the cinema in Chamonix is here to stay.
Source : radio MB and Dauphine Libere
