As I had mentioned on a previous blog, we had planned to go to Chamonix to ski for the Christmas holidays. However, the snow conditions were very poor with practically no skiing except the runs with snow making machines. So, we postponed our trip (which was already paid for and had to be taken at some point) to the first available week in the spring. After flying back from León, Spain on Sunday evening, we unpacked and repacked for our ski trip and left for Chamonix on Monday.
We stayed in a chalet, which was a cabin with 7 bedrooms, housing other guests. We made some wonderful friends! Everyone else who stayed in the chalet was British...how nice to all speak the same language. :) There were only 6 of us for 4 days, then a few more joined at the end of the week.
The chalet was recommended to us by a friend, and we certainly would say this is the way to vacation! We took the "catered chalet" option, which means we had hot breakfast, homemade apré ski baked goods and snacks, and a multiple course chef-created dinner that we could barely finish each night. We did not even find that it was too much pricier than a nice hotel and good food for the four of us for the whole week. Plus, the staff organized our transportation to/from airport, ski passes, rentals, and ski guides; shuttled us to and from the resorts; took care of ski equipment; researched weather and gave us all ski (or other tourist) options on a daily basis; etc.!
The chalet was a comfortable hangout after a long and fun day of skiing. Our afternoon and and evening activities consisted of reading, playing Wii Sports, hot tubbing, chatting with our new friends, and EATING. I could not even eat a bite during the day between all the food that they fed us!
In the chalet...
Into town to pick up our rentals
The first resort we skied at was Brevént. There had been a fresh snowfall the previous day,
and the boys said it was the best ski day they've had in three years. Hooray!
Gorgeous views everywhere we looked
It was a great day at Brevént!
The folks in white are the wonderful staff, George and Hannah, with the chef, Ji, in the middle.
On the right are Andy and Lucy, our new friends. (Sadly, I did not get a photo with the other staff, Ollie and Tiggy, who were our staff most of the week.)
Where we eat dinner
Each night after dessert when we feel we cannot eat another bite, they bring out a plate of cheese and bread/fruit/crackers and tell us the "story" about the cheese...where it comes from, how long it has been produced, who makes it (historically and currently), and all interesting facts you can think of.
The following day we skied at Les Houche, since this is the only resort that had visibility for the day. It is a ski resort with intermediate runs, which the boys said reminded them of Northstar...not their favorite, but they found plenty of "informal" jumps on the sides of the runs that made up for lack of cliffs and hard core black runs. :) This resort has a variety of smallish restaurants scattered on the mountain, one of which you have to ski off trail to get to. So interesting to have these little places that feel more home grown and run. They have homemade food in them that they make right there...soups, savory and sweet tarts...just real French food. The food is GOOD, not processed junk like we get in U.S.'s massive lodges with low quality but expensive food for the masses.
Below is an itsy-bitsy lodge that is like an old barn ceilings so low you need to duck under some of them. This sweet place called La Ferme ("The Farm") sits on the side of a random ski run and serves food like it was from grandmother's kitchen. Incredible. I love France.
Jacob chillin' at the bottom of the mountain after a nice snowy ski day.
At the bottom of the ski resort Les Houche, there is a sandwich and pastry shop that I once again thought would be a tourist trap with crappy food. But I forgot. We are in France. The sandwiches and pastries were soooooo good. Like, really good. All the pastries we tried were so buttery, flakey, with perfect sweetness...simply superb. I wish I could bring some home for you all!
On chef's day off we went out to dinner in Chamonix to a place with traditional savoyard food...lots of heavy cheese and bread, etc. The boys were happy cheesy-fondue eaters, while Ray and I found lighter fare.
Our dinners at the chalet were riddled with details, like these fancily folded napkins. :)
Eating dinner with Andy and Lucy
Pear something or other...with soft, buttery pasty on the bottom, pears poached with cinnamon and spices, and topped with the buttery and spiced syrup and cream. Delicious!
We finally made it to Gran Monte which had been closed for two days due to low visibility and then high winds. The snow ended up to be crunchy on the top and "punchy" as the boys described it. Each time they made a landing, their skis would punch into the snow and get stuck under the top layer, providing lots of wipe-out opportunities.
Jacob and I took a walk one day.
On our last day we decided to do a little sightseeing. We went up to Aiguille du Midi, which is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. It is the highest point you can get to by tram. (If you want to go higher, you better be a mountain climber!) We took two trams to go up about 9000 feet (to get to 12,600 feet)...the ascent/descent was practically vertical at times.
At the top
The views were incomparable...these two photos show the valley below.
The next two photos show glaciers covered with snow (where the snow looks "broken up"), which are common in the mountains here.
All in all, our time in the French Alps was incredible!
Incredible views!! I feel as if I am there! Thanks for all the work putting this together, Chris. I'm sure it's a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see and hear about the REALLY IMPORTANT guests who are visiting next!
Much love to you all!