In the Haute Savoie

Saying goodbye to our home for three days on the boat was sad but the excitement of being back on the road soon caught hold. We headed for a lakeside Town called Annecy via a route that “Tom” picked for us. Little did we know we were about to be introduced to alpine driving in France. Narrow, edgeless roads with breathtaking drop offs made it difficult to take in the scenery while driving. But it is here that we started to fully appreciate the beauty and diversity of the scenery in France that rivals most of what NZ has to offer. Lakes nestled in valleys with breathtakingly beautiful villages nestled beside. Mountains rising up high in the distance and green mottled forests blanketing the hillsides. Now the flat plains of the Bourgogne’s old river delta, covered in crops, are a distant memory.

We finally arrived at Annecy and one could have been forgiven for thinking that we had arrived at Mt Maunganui in the summer as hoards of people on bikes, foot or roller blades wandered around in skimpy clothes in 26 degree heat The cars were bumper to bumper as they drove around the lake. We wondered what we had hit and the hotel we targeted looked to be full. As we were about to leave they came up with one room with a lake view and balcony.

Well that was too good not to take. We now have our own breakfast foods and we could imagine ourselves breakfasting on the deck. We needed to give away the Petite de jeuner that the French have for breakfast as our bodies can’t cope with breads/croissants and cheese/meats non stop. So we found some muesli, fruit and yoghurt and a chilly bin and were able to feed ourselves. However this was harder to do than we anticipated. Muesli that we have at home is sugar free natural muesli. Well after perusing aisle after aisle of breakfast cereals in supermarket after supermarket that were several times the size of anything in NZ it seems that the French only do sugared breakfast cereal. In some supermarkets we could fine plain oats but that was it. UNTIL…. we found an organic shop in Dijon and took the opportunity to stock up on sugar free muesli.

In Annecy we did our first hiking expedition in the hills surrounding the lake. As we wandered in a beautiful forest, with views across the Glacial Lake way below the surrounding scoured out rocks and over the local Chateau, we enjoyed another beautiful summer day. We visited the local Chateau when we came off the track as we could hear a loud speaker indicating that there was something exciting happening there. What we found was a St Bernard dog Show happening and it was celebrating 100 years of the St Bernard Clubs existence in France and we were in the small town of ST Bernard.. You know these dogs as the snow rescue dogs, they are massive dogs. This show explained why we met these huge animals on the stair well in our hotel. It may surprise you to know that in some hotels you can pay an extra five or so euros for a dog for a night. AHHHHHH.

The next day we were to head to Chamonix – but on the way we wanted to visit the Gorge du Feir, a steep narrow gorge around which a walkway had been slung. On the way there we were again (as it was a public holiday) overwhelmed by the number of people out on bikes, walking or roller blading along a 20 km specialized two way track along the western side of lake Annecy. The French are sports ( in particular road bike) fanatics and bike on terrain that makes that makes me cringe and on very narrow roads. A father and son came off their bike just in front of us but as we were going as slow as they were while we were waiting to overtake them it was easy to stop. Even the car coming the other way stopped as well as the biker in front. Everyone made sure they were alright before carrying on.

The gorge was interesting, particularly the way in which the walkway had been slung to the rock high above the river. What was really freaky was the flood lines for the river which were over 20m above the water level we saw. After viewing this it was off to CHAMONIX.


The drive to Chamonix was interesting for one fact only and that was the way the road unfolded at each turn as we wound our way up marvelously long and wide glacial valleys towards one of the best known peaks in the French Alps – Mt Blanc. Chamonix sits right underneath this peak and is best described as a bigger version of Queenstown but without the lake. It is a ski/alpine mecca of France and although we arrived at the off season when a lot of hotels and businesses are closed, there is a sense of what it would be like when the throngs of people arrived in mid summer and mid winter. We felt like we had this place to ourselves and were pleased not to be fighting too many bus loads of tourist. The view from our hotel room was to die for – The Aiguila du Midi a peak next to Mt Blanc and Mount Blanc dominated our view and provided us with a sense of the awe and wonderment at the beauty of such a place.

There we three items on the agenda; go to the top of a peak named Aiguila du Midi and get up close and personal with Mt Blanc next door, see the Mer de Glace glacier and go mountainbiking. Despite several offers to accompany Mark parapenting from surrounding peaks he turned me down (chicken). This place is a haven for outdoor adventurers.

First thing in the morning we were down at the base of what is arguably one of the scariest cable cars ever, one which Lonely Planet called “the worlds highest and most terrifying cable cars”. We prepared to ascend 3,842 metres above sea level – as Mark so elegantly put it “The highest place in the world I have ever been with my feet on the ground”, to Aiguila du midi. The sky was blue without a cloud hanging around the top of Mt Blanc. We felt we were in for something special, so much so that Mark was prepared to forget (or at least pretend to forget) about his fear of heights. We arrived at the peak without any fingernail marks in the metal support railings in the cable car and marveled at both the engineering behind such a cable car and the majesty of being up amongst all the peaks in the Alps and almost at the same level. We could look across to peaks into Switzerland and Italy. We watched climbers scaling Mt Blanc, rockclimbers scaling vertical rocks and skiers disappear into a white oblivion at 3,842 meters (higher than the top of Mount Cook). We just stood in the -5 degree temperatures ignoring the cold as we drank in the scenery

From the heights of the morning we morphed into mountainbikers experiencing the landscape from a valley bottom perspective. We rode along tracks the followed the path of a Glacial river. But as with the other Mountain track we rode in France the going was all uphill one way and fast downhills the other. Certainly got the heart rate up. We passed lots of hikers out enjoying the forests as well.

Having spent two hours working out as it were we felt we deserved a treat. So it was off to the local Patisserrie where we actually bought a cake of our choice each where previously we had just ogled them through the shop windows. These people seriously know how to make cakes and sweets!!!! We have also had a change in traveling status. We now travel with a small fridge (12V and 230 V) and electric jug. Why you ask. Well we are sick of the bitter coffee served by most French places we have been to in the last week and a half so have decided to make our own and take a thermos with us. And our little chilli bin was unable to protect our food from the mid twenty degree heat that we have here at the moment. None of the hotels here have coffee making facilities or fridges in the room. So now we eat like the French and have a mid –day main meal in a Restaurant and delicious local fromage and chacuterie and salad things in our room in the evenings from our little “Frigo”.

The trip to the Mer de Glace glacier was a let down after seeing NZ’s. It is largely covered with moraine and so other than its path there was little to see. The ice cave was closed and we couldn’t walk to the glacier. The front or melt was not visible. However the ride up in the little rack and pinion rail train which climbs approx 900 m was interesting