A walk from Les Feux to Les Molliets in Les Carroz

Posted on September 17, 2011 by admin
Wild flowers in Les Carroz August 2011

Wild flowers in Les Carroz August 2011

Another fine day in late August, as the heat of the day was waning I drove to just outside Les Feux and started a walk to Les Molliets, the time was about 1730. The walk involves a reasonably gentle gradient all the way to Les Moilliets, from an elevation of 1250m to an elevation of 1450m over a distance of 2.5 km.

The walk goes past the Haute Combe refuge just off to one side of the track, through wooded areas and then into an open expanse of fields and farms. I’ve attached some photos of the walk, and on the return leg of the journey I remembered to activate my GPS tracker, so have attached an image of the walk showing the track in Google earth.

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A day in Yvoire on Lake Geneva (Lake Leman)

Posted on September 12, 2011 by admin
Chateau d’ Yvoire on Lake Geneva

Chateau d’ Yvoire on Lake Geneva

We had not visited Yvoire since 2004, so in August 2011 we decided to drive from Les Carroz dAraches to Yvoire on Lake Geneva. I took the D6 route through Marignier, then the D907 through Bonne. There was very little traffic and was free flowing all the way, some 40 miles took just over an hour of driving. Yvoire is a medieval village, believed to have existed since 1306 and retains many of the fortifications from the 14th century, including ramparts and entry gates. It is also a Village Fleuris and prides itself on displays of flowers, in hanging baskets, pots, window displays, climbing wisteria, climbing roses and other vivid colorful displays seen overhanging balconies in the narrow streets. The unmissable Chateau d’Yvoire, a typical Savoie castle, sits overlooking Lake Geneva and can be seen from just about anywhere in the medieval town. A pity that it is in private hands and not open to public viewing.

There is a small harbour and many cruises regularly depart from here across the lake to Nyon, or various other less frequent round trips to Thonon. Evian, Montreux and Lausanne. Usually one boat per day is on an historic, pre-First World War Belle Époque paddle steamer.

There is also the Garden of the Five Senses (Le Jardin des Cinq Sens), the garden is the former kitchen garden of Chateau d’Yvoire and takes its inspiration from the middle ages, with an abundance of flowers, a maze and quiet spots to sit and relax. Entry is 10  Euro, more detail is available at this link.

If hungry there are plenty of restaurants to chose from, or even snack places where freshly made filled french bread rolls will be prepared as you wait.

I’ve included a selection of photos as we walked around Yvoire, illustrating the sights and features of this beautiful medieval town.

 

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A walk to Refuge de Sales in the Grand Massif French Alps

Posted on September 11, 2011 by admin

We were on holiday in Les Carroz d’Araches in the French Alps in late August, with fantastic weather, blue skies and hardly a cloud. I had wanted to walk some of the GR 5 towards Flaine, so I drove to Sixt fer Cheval, and started the walk at Le Lignon at an altitude of 1180m, with an expectation to climb to about 2000m towards either one of the refuges. Near to the waterfall called Cascades de la Sauffaz the path split with the GR 5 heading towards Refuge d’Anterne and the GR 96 trail heading towards the Refuge de Sales.

The route is shown in the photo, taken from a picture board on the walk.

Gr 5 or GR 96 in Sixt fer Cheval

The walk from Le Lignon was quite steep, below is a photo looking North towards the start of the walk.

Gr 5 walk looking North to Sixt

 

La Sauffaz waterfall near Sixt fer Cheval

 

 

The waterfall was quite spectacular even late in the season, when there is no snow melt. I can imagine in spring that this would be a torrent.

Cascades de la Sauffaz near Sixt fer Cheval

Cascades de la Sauffaz near Sixt fer Cheval

I decided to take the Gr 96 and head towards the Refuge de Sales at 1840m. The walk passed some dried out stream beds, past mountain goats or Chamois grazing on the mountain sides, more waterfalls, across plateaus and around some narrow paths with safety ropes.

I was very pleased to capture the wild mountain goats, so close to the path. On all other walks I have spotted them in the distance on high rock ledges but never grazing on the lower mountain slopes.

A few movies showing the path and the view due North are below, with a gallery of the photos following.

I started at Le Lignon at 1000 and reached the Refuge at 1230, which included a couple of breaks to drink and eat sandwiches. The walk back was slightly quicker, taking about 2 hours.

Video of Gr 96 walk towards Refuge de Sales

Video of Gr 96 walk south of Sixt Fer Cheval

Continue reading →

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Hiking in Sixt Fer Cheval Spring 2011

Posted on June 27, 2011 by admin

I visited Les Carroz d’Araches over the Easter break in 2011. The weather was unseasonably warm, reaching 20-22 degrees C in the village at 1200m altitude. The peaks were still snow capped which meant for some stunning scenery and photographic opportunities. I was tempted to do some end of April skiing in either Flaine or Chamonix, but opted instead for a number of walks.  I had assumed that the waterfalls would be quite spectacular given the snow melt so headed for the valley walk in Sixt fer Cheval, some 20-30 minutes drive from Les Carroz d’Araches. I commenced the hike at the Cirque du Cheval, at the cross, shown in the picture.

Cirque du Cheval walk start

Cirque du Cheval walk start

A map of the route is shown in the following photo taken from one of the guide displays.

Wild alpine flowers were in abundance, some blue variety shown here. No idea what they are ?

I’ve attached a gallery of the waterfalls and valley views as the walk progressed from the valley floor up to a height of approximately 1600m.


A fantastic walk, next time I’m aiming to get to the plateau at about 2200m, need a full day for that.

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Grand Massif Skiing Flaine January 2010

Posted on March 18, 2010 by admin

In January I skied the Gers bowl for the first time. It had just opened on the weekend. On previous visits to the Grand Massif and Flaine it had either been closed or icy moguls but on the 18 January after recent dumps of snow and with no avalanche warnings it was an ideal opportunity to give it a try. The Combe de Gers bowl is a large un-pisted bowl with approximately 800 m of vertical drop going down towards the Lac de Gers and ultimately Sixt fer a Cheval.

Gers bowl January 2010

Paragliding in Gers Bowl

While skiing the bowl a para glider whizzed past nearby – shown in attached photograph.

The main run is the black Styx which is quite steep but plenty of terrain to select the best route to the bottom of the drag lift. The drag lift takes you back to the top of the Combe de Gers or if the Cascade run is open (the longest blue run in Europe) then you can ski down to Sixt fer a Cheval and catch the free shuttle bus back to Samoens and cable cars and chair lifts back to Flaine or elsewhere in the Grand Massif. Attached some photos providing views looking both down into the valley and back up the bowl; including the drag lift.

Combe de Gers is accessed from the top of the DMC (Les Grandes Platieres Cable car)or the Col de Plate chair lift. The conditions were fantastic (no moguls but amazing snow with plenty of powder and some un-tracked spots). This is an under rated ski area, the views down the valley from the top of Styx, the terrain and challenge, in my opinion makes Gers one of the best ski runs in the French Alps. Suitable for strong intermediates and experts.

Lower slopes of Gers Bowl

Gers Bowl Lone skier

An alternative treat from Cascades or Styx is the restaurant at the Gers lake, a popular place to sit, enjoy a meal and admire the scenery. Access is either off the bottom of the Styx run, which means a walk around the lake shore, or from the notice and phone that is situated by a bridge on the Cascades run, after dropping into the Gers valley; skiers call up the restaurant and are pulled up to it on the back of a skidoo (the ride and tables are best reserved in advance).

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Grand Massif Skiing December 2009

Posted on January 28, 2010 by admin

After a successful early ski holiday in the Grand Massif of France in 2008 we decided to repeat the timings in 2009. Arriving in Les Carroz d’Araches on Saturday December 12th, there was a few inches of snow in the village which had arrived that day. Flaine had seen similar dumps of snow with the resort opening on December 12th. On Monday 14th December we skied in Flaine, with fantastic conditions, a sunny cold day with clear views of Mont Blanc, as seen in the image below.

Flaine skiing December 2009

An estimated 100 cm of snow at 2200 m and 20 cm at 1600m was sufficient for a good day of skiing in Flaine. Disappointingly, there were only 3 ski lifts open; the small beginners lift at 1600m, the large DMC telecabine providing access to the top of Flaine and the Col de Plate chair lift accessible the bottom of the Serpentine/Crystal ski runs.

Grand Massif mountain view


Serpentine ski run Flaine

The ski runs in Flaine were in great condition with plenty of snow cover until reaching the village at 1600m where some stones had been churned up. The images above show the ski runs at the top of Flaine.

Snow continued to fall in the village of Les Carroz d’Araches from Monday Dec 14th, with a centimetre or so every day until Friday 18 December when heavy snow continued to fall all day, leaving at least 10 cm in Les Carroz village and continuing to the upper slopes at 2200m.

The snow cannons were active all week, with sub zero temperatures (typically -10 degs C during he daytime) throughout. The good snow base built up in November and the blown snow, plus the snowfalls in December made for excellent skiing over the Christmas period.

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Chateau Chillon on Lake Geneva

Posted on October 29, 2009 by admin

During our holiday in the Grand Massif in August 2009 we decided to go a little bit further afield and took a day out to Lake Geneva, driving via the D902 through Les Gets, Morzine, St Jean D’Aulps, and onto the lake near Thonon- Les- Bains. Stopping in the tourist centre (near the casino) in Evian Les Bains we picked up ‘What to do brochures’ and selected Chateau de Chillon which is located on Lake Geneva at the eastern end of the lake, some 3 km from Montreux.

Chateau Chillon on Lake Geneva

View through Dungeon window

The chateau is famous owing to the imagination of writers and poets who have set works and stories involving the chateau. Lord Byron visited the chateau with Percy Shelley in 1816.  Byron was so inspired by the story of the monk Francois de Bonivard who was held captive in an underground prison dungeon from 1530 to 1536 and wrote the poem “The prisoner of Bonivard”. You can see Byron’s name etched into one of the pillars in the prison dungeon.

Some of the views from Chateau Chillon are shown below.

Chateau Chillon on Lake Geneva views

Chateau Chillon on Lake Geneva views

We paid 12 CHF for each adult, children are 6 CHF for entry. Entry is over a wooden bridge straddling the natural moat (formed by the lake). The chateau tour is well laid out for self guiding, ipods with audio guides are available at extra cost but i used the provided guide which described the history and takes you through each of the 46 points on the route, covering the underground rooms and dungeons where you can look across Lake Geneva through barred windows, great halls, storehouses, crypt, courtyards, dining rooms, bedrooms, the Bastion and Keep and some spectacular views around the lake from the drawing rooms, keep, chapel and elsewhere.Chateaun Chillon view from underground dungeonChateau Chillon underground dungeon. We spent about 2 hours touring the chateau, then continued the drive around the Swiss part of the lake through Lausanne, Nyon and Geneva back to the French Alps and Grand Massif.

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Le Mole walk

Posted on September 29, 2009 by admin

After looking at Le Mole (in the Haut Savoie region of France) covered in snow when skiing in the Grand Massif i had decided that it was going to be walked when an opportunity arose. It was a hot summers day in August 2009; 27 degs in the valley when the decision was made to walk Le Mole.

Driving from Les Carroz D’Araches, after 30 minutes and driving through Marignier and the village of Bovere i parked the car at an altitude of 1160 m. The sign below shows the well marked route with the peak at 1863 m,  estimated at 2 hr 20 mins walking.

Start of the Mole walk

Views on the Mole walk

Continuing the climb for another 30 minutes I was unclear of the route to take to the summit. With a thunderstorm on the way i took more photos and abandoned the walk in the interests of safety and decided to do the walk the next day (weather permitting) from the other sode of the mountain.

The estimate to the summit from this side of the mountain was 1 hr 20 minutes.

Start of the Mole walk from 1300m

The final ascent from about 1600 m was on a narrow steep ridge, which would not be easy to traverse in wet or windy conditions. The views at the summit were spectacular, views on the valley cities of Cluses, Bonneville, montain views of Mont Blanc and the Aravis range and Lake Geneva.

Narrow ridge at top of Le Mole

The final ascent from about 1600 m was on a narrow steep ridge, which would not be easy to traverse in wet or windy conditions. The views at the summit were spectacular, views on the valley cities of Cluses, Bonneville, montain views of Mont Blanc and the Aravis range and Lake Geneva.

Le Mole cross and views

Narrow Ridge to top of Mole
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Grand Massif Skiing December 2008

Posted on January 28, 2009 by admin

The snow levels in the Grand Massif during winter season 2008-2009 were excellent and surpassed levels seen over the past 5 years. At Flaine opening mid December 08 the snow cover was fantastic; a picture taken skiing in Flaine on Dec 14 2008.

Flaine cascade ski runs

Having skied regularly in the Grand Massif since 2001 it was great to be able to do runs like Cascade from Flaine to Sixt fer Cheval and I was able to do a run that I had never previously done as it appears rarely open. This is the the red Grand Chaudron piste which is accessed from the Veret drag lift off the blue piste called Tourmaline; which is one of the main runs down into Flaine from Les Carroz d’Araches. The snow was in perfect condition in late March and with fantastic views it is worth doing. With further large snowfalls in the third week of March and weather remaining cold the snow was excellent. Attached is a photo of the Timolets run going back to Les Carroz d’Araches at 1150 m altitude.

Les Carroz Timolet skirun

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Les Carroz walk June 2008

Posted on August 10, 2008 by admin

During some beautiful weather in June 2008 I did a walk lasting a few hours, starting near the sports hall and tennis courts and then descending a few hundred metres into Araches-la-Frasse before making the ascent back to the village of Les Carroz d’araches.

Some of the photos taken on the walk with GPS co-ordinates at the location at which the photograph was taken are show below. I’ve also created a Google KMZ file so if you have Google Earth installed on your PC then clicking here Les Carroz walk as Google kmz file will display all the locations and photogaphs overlaid on the satellite imagery.

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