Some photos of the village during the snowfall is shown below

Les Carroz d’Araches village during snowstorm

Les Carroz d’Araches village during snowstorm

Then on the Monday the weather changed and blue skies appeared. And of course 30 cm of fresh powder to enjoy.  The weather also remained cold permitting all day skiing especially in Flaine and on northern slopes in Les Carroz. The pistes were in absolutely brilliant condition with large depths of snow. Having skied over various seasons in the Grand Massif regularly since 2002, I assessed the  next 5 days as some of the best spring skiing I have ever had. We enjoyed the snow covered reds in Morillon, Les Carroz and Flaine, did small excursions into off piste and did motorway cruising on the long runs in Flaine.

I’ve attached some images of the pistes below.

Pistes at summit of Les Carroz d’Araches

Pistes at summit of Les Carroz d’Araches

The skies remained clear all week, and the views were magnificent. An iconic view of Mont Blanc are show below from the summit of Flaine, where we enjoyed some excellent rest and recuperation in the sunshine.

Enjoying sunshine, mountain views and restaurant in Flaine

Mont Blanc view from Flaine March 2012

Wild flowers in Les Carroz August 2011

Another fine day in late August in Les Carroz, 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.

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.

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

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

Gr 96 looking North towards Sixt

Gr 96 sign of cross on route

Chamois or Mountain goat on Gr 96 walk

A chapel on GR 96 walk near Sixt fer cheval

Refuge de sales on Gr 96 signage

Refuge de sales on Gr 96 and mountain view

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.

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).

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.

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.

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

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