Loving the French Alps

Tuesday 5^th July

Yesterday we travelled from Saint-Claude to Megeve via the scenic route – ie not via the city of Geneva. We stopped in a small town and bought coffee and pastries for breakfast then sat in the car by the side of the road and ate. We are finding the price of meals and food as we head south and east is slightly more expensive than in the less popular areas, and we are having a few breakfasts ‘on the road’.

Our route took us through Annecy where we stayed on our last trip and really loved the area. We stopped in the town and did the supermarket shopping ready for our 3 days in the apartment. It takes forever to shop when you have to translate the language – and also have a helper in tow!

Once we left the town we headed along the SW side of Lake Annecy. It was a beautiful day and the lake looked superb. High up on the other side of the lake were dozens of hang gliders. Lots of locals and holidaymakers along the shore with their picnics and quite a few in swimming (it was about 26). It looked really relaxing. We have a night near here later in the week so hopefully the weather will be good and we can enjoy watching the activity on the lake.

Looking across Lake Annecy.

Another chateau on the Lake.

Just a few of the hang gliders. There were so many of them it looked like birds against the mountain backdrop.

I’ll briefly mention the road to Megeve – the main road is closed for repair so the alternate zig zags up and over the mountains and is in poor condition (for French roads) and is narrow. OK when cars pass, but there are trucks and buses coming the other way on hairpin bends. Heart in mouth stuff for me as the concrete barrier was on my side and seemed very close. We have to do it all over again when we leave. Ugh!

Megeve is right in the heart of the French Alps and we have some lovely views from out the front of the apartment. Right next to our apartment on one side is the chair lift and cable car, and on the other side is a ski run. Lots of ski chalet accommodation in the town – a lot of it looks shut up at the moment – and there is a lot of work happening in the town, I guess in preparation for next winter.

Some views from out the front of the apartment. Our apartment is on the ground floor and partly buried in the hill. In winter the window would be clear of snow but it would look out on to banks of snow away from the eaves of the apartment block.

Today we have been for a wander in the town and checked out all the shops. Unlike Thredbo (in summer) this place has plenty of activity. The French seem to love hiking and there are lots of walks to do in the area. Even though this is a ski village it is ‘open for business’ all year. We also got the washing done today which turned into a 2 hour event. The washing machines heat the water as needed and this adds significant time to the job. If we’d known how long it would take we had time to go for lunch and to spare.

Megeve seems to have a lot of painted cows, just like Shepparton. This is where the similarities end though as here it is green, mountainous and snow - Shepparton, none of the above.

There are a couple of small creeks running through the centre of the town - snow melt I guess.

This is typical of the style of buildings in Megeve and the area in general.

We had thought about going up one of the mountains here in the cable car today but as they day progressed the cloud moved in and they have actually forecast thunderstorms this afternoon. Tomorrow is supposed to be a better day and we plan to go to Chamonix which is one hour away. From there we should get great views of Mont Blanc.

We are watching the Tour de France on TV at the moment and they are over near Limoges where we went last time we were here. The final few days of the tour are here in Megeve. Having watched a bit of the tour in the past we really have no idea how steep some of these roads are. Let me tell you – our little 208 sometimes has to select 1^st gear!