Interesting facts about the French Alps...

• The highest point of the Alps is Mont Blanc at an incredible 15,771 feet! It is so big that on a circuit of Mont Blanc you will pass through France, Italy and Switzerland.

• Dr Michel-Gabriel Picard first climbed Mont Blanc in 1786. This gave birth to the sport of mountaineering.

• A 5000 year old ice man (later named Otzi) was found preserved on the border between Austria and Italy in September 1991. He was so well preserved that scientists could tell he was between 40 and 50 years old, had a variety of ailments and had died of the cold.

• Meringen, a town in The Alps, was the birthplace of the meringue.

• The Alps were formed between 6 and 45 million years ago. This makes them younger than the dinosaurs!

• Lake Como, in the Italian region of the Alps, is the deepest lake in Europe at 1345 feet.

• The Alps cover roughly two thirds of Switzerland.