The French Alps

We arrived on Friday in the French Alps, where we’ll be hiking and relaxing for the week. We’re staying in a gite (self-catering holiday rental) which is perched on a hillside in the small village of Le Cropt. Here’s the view from the front door – the mountain is called La Tournette.

The closest big town is Thones, which holds its big market every Saturday morning. David and I drove down the valley to Thones yesterday morning to get provisions for the next few days – fruit, vegetables, a rotisserie chicken, some bread – and to check our email. Fortunately, there is free Wifi near the Tourist Office!

We returned to the gite and got ready to take our first hike. We drove up a windy road, passing chalets and alpine farms, and parked the car at the beginning of a trail that didn’t have too much of a climb. There were alternating stretches of forest and open meadows with fabulous views. We found a place to sit for lunch and enjoyed our sandwiches and the surroundings.

After lunch, we retraced our steps and got in the car for a drive that would take us to Ugine (not far from Albertville, where the Winter Olympics were held in 1992). We then headed up a very windy road (a diversion from the main road that most likely had debris on it) to Flumet, where we took a road to the Col des Aravis (pass) with even more wonderful views.

We ended the day having chicken and left-over tartiflette from last night’s dinner at the nearby auberge along with some regional wine provided by our landlady.