Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, more commonly known simply as Chamonix (Chamôni), is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics, held in 1924.
The Chamonix Valley seen in 2010 from La Flégère with Mont Blanc in the background
Horace Bénédict de Saussure, with Jacques Balmat (left) who points towards the summit of Mont Blanc, Monument at Chamonix.
Chamonix Valley: crossing the glacier on foot (between 1902 and 1904)
Front and façade of the Chamonix - Mont-Blanc railway station.
The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, Gemeinden in Germany, comuni in Italy, or municipios in Spain. The UK equivalent are civil parishes. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage the populations and land of the geographic area covered. The communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France.
Road sign marking the end of the village of Y in the Somme department of Hauts-de-France
Mittelhausbergen in Alsace
Vacqueyras in Provence, showing double French/ Provençal name
