This post is dedicated to all the travelers out there. We often get inquiries about our favorite places that we have visited outside of the US. Before we forget, we wanted to leave detailed notes on our top picks in rank order. Instead of putting it as a post and making it impossibly long to scroll through, we have created a new page on the site here. You can find it in the future on the top menu of the blog. We pledge to continually update it through our travels!
Category Archives: Alps & Other Big Mountains
Gratitude Friday: Sunny Saturdays
Last weekend, we actually split up to experience some of our bucket list items remaining.
Gabe skied with Finnish friend A at Les Contamines, France for the day. With my feet still not up to par for skiing, I opted for a scenic train to Rochers-de-Naye.
The guys enjoyed the day at Les Contamines, with sunny skies and great slopes.
Views at Les Contamines
I also enjoyed my day on the train at at Rochers-de-Naye. One of the things that I love about living here is how much people take advantage of beautiful days. I talked about this mentality in my “Profiter” post, but here are just a few examples of what I saw at the main station on the way out to my day trip:
Skiers and hikers of all ages, ready to board the train
The reason I selected Rochers-de-Naye is because of its 2000m position at the far end of Lake Geneva. I heard the views were magnificent and you could see almost the entire lake from the summit. Having confirmed sunny skies, I set off on the two hour journey.
I quickly learned that sunny skies at Rochers-de-Naye and sunny skies over Lake Geneva were two different things:
Evidence of the permacloud. Lake Geneva is below the layer.
Nonetheless, I thought the ambience was pretty neat with the mysterious cover. Despite my ill preparations of not wearing snow shoes (oops), I had fun seeing the mountains.
Gorgeous views @ Rochers-de-Naye
I didn’t happen to notice anything peculiar about the above scene. However, when I was showing my French teacher, she commented….”ah, Mount Cervin”. If you look at the pointed mountain in the distance of the photo, that is the infamous Matterhorn. Wish the view was this clear when we were in Zermatt!
Also of note, the summit hosts 7 Mongolian yourts, which each sleep 8 people. The ski slopes are only steps from the little huts, so you can easily ski from your doorstep in the winter, or hike in the summer.
Yourt with blue door
Yourt with red door
After about 2 hours, I got a little break in the clouds to envision what the view would look like on a clear day.
The blue of Lake Geneva starting to show
We are both grateful for the beautiful weekend to experience some of our final must-do’s!
Related posts:
The Adventures of Miss Widget and Her People: A New Year, Another Mountain, And A Gnome
Schwingen in Switzerland: It Wasn’t Premeditated, Our Hike Up Rochers-de-Naye
The Swiss Watch Blog: Gratitude Friday – Ski School
The Apéro or Après-Ski….Two Alternatives to What We Know As Happy Hour
When we lived in The States, we frequently had “Happy Hour”. Whether it was with colleagues or friends, it was common to get together after work, enjoy a drink and catch up. In the US, it is also common for bars and establishments to have Happy Hour Specials such as dollar beers or half priced glasses of wine, etc.
In France, they have a similar tradition, however usually without the discount. We’ve had the pleasure of experiencing them before but while in Morzine for Christmas, we feel like we’ve really gotten a lot of practice!
The first is “L’Apero”, or The Apero. L’Apero is the French bridge between your normal busy day and the start of the evening. Enjoying an ‘aperitif’ before dinner is classified as a gesture of health or well-being, to start your appetite. The typical aperitif consists of : champagnes, martinis, vermouths, sherries, or a light or sweet white wines, as well as small snacks like olives, chips or nuts. A fruit juice is also an alternative to the alcoholic beverages.
Having Champagne for an aperitif
In ski towns, the apero has a fun spin in terms of the “Après Ski”. Literally translated, it means ‘after the ski’. Crowds gather at the most popular bars to start the night. Here the drink selections are more broad, including beers and mixed drinks.
The Après Ski buzz
Enjoying the Après Ski with friends, including a special birthday celebration
Finally, after dinner, it is common in France and other European countries to be served a digestif. Many times this is included with the meal, and is intended to help your food settle. In Greece, it is raki or ouza. In Italy, many times it is limoncello. Here in France, we had homemade apple and pear liquor as well as a hot rum digestif.
While I have heard of “the night cap”, an alcoholic beverage consumed before going to bed, in the US, I typically know it as a sleep aid vs. a digestive aid.
It sure is hard to do this research, but we are happy to do it for the benefit of the blog! Happy New Years Eve, everyone!!
Skiing Portes du Soleil
While I didn’t ski, didn’t want to deprive our readers of the skiing experience in Portes du Soleil, so I have harassed asked our fellow holiday-goers to help add some flavor with their photos & stories.
Our Hotel Tremplin provided two lifts with direct access to Morzine / Les Gets. These two villages are a part of an overall area is called Portes du Soleil which includes 12 resorts with 8 in France and 4 in Switzerland. There are over 209 lifts in Portes du Soleil, allowing complete exploration of this region of 650km of slopes.
Image courtesy of avorinet.com
Having a central hotel was nice so everyone could break and re-group. Plus, it was nice for them not to have to walk far to hop on a lift or rent/return skis.
First day….ready to go again after a lunch break at Le Tremplin
There was a hotel above ours, at the top of the Pleney lift. I sat there on the terrace one day soaking in the sun, as the lift didn’t require you to be a skier to take it because of the hotel guests also needing access.
The positive to this hotel is that you could really ski directly into it. However, the cable car stopped at a certain time which would limit your Morzine nightlife access.
The views at the top of Pleney, the furthest I could go on cable car + foot without being a skier
The area at Pleney was also where the ski school was headquartered. Out of the five skiers in our group, four ended up taking lessons of differing levels to improve their skills. This is a really good practice for skiers of all levels, to brush up and learn more. By taking them early in the vacation, they could apply the learning.
Morzine offers lessons in English, either private or shared. Everyone found them helpful, indicating about 2-3 things that they learned that really helped their technique the rest of the week.
Meeting Gabe for lunch at Pleney before his lesson
The group preferred exploring the top of the mountain, where they said it was less crowded and the views were magnificent. Later in the week when there was rain in the village, it became more and more important to ski the top where the altitude resulted in snow vs. rain.
Slopes at Morzine, captured by Gabe
Riding the lift, captured by J
Gorgeous snow image by B
J, conquering the mountain
M gazing out onto the slopes. Image courtesy of B
Gabe, M & B, ready to descend from the top. Image courtesy of J.
Time for a beer! Image taken by M.
B enjoying his beer, taken by M
Each day the group came back exhausted but happy. They were very content with the ski area and had a wonderful time.
Gratitude Friday: Christmas in the French Alps
We spent Christmas in Morzine, France, just a short hour’s drive from Geneva. We were fortunate that some of Gabe’s colleagues and partners/spouses were also interested in spending a joyeux Noël skiing, so worked together to select a place and it ended up being the French Alps.
The village of Morzine, France
We couldn’t find a chalet for the group on short notice, but the hotel, Le Tremplin, ended up being a fabulous location:
Hotel Tremplin
The slopes literally run into the hotel, with two different lifts, making it really convenient for the skiers
Image & vantage point courtesy of B
The hotel also had several restaurants attached and a cool patio. While service wasn’t hot (they were still ironing out some beginning-of-the-season kinks), the heaters at least were.
The guys with their beer
The ladies with our wine
Le Tremplin’s patio was nice for après ski action, with a band and a lively crowd
Our room had a village view so it was neat to wake up to the sun rising and setting on the town:
Morzine in the morning
Morzine at night
The skiers had a good time, enjoying a nice variety of slopes accessible from the town. While I wasn’t skiing due to an injury, I still was able to get access on foot to witness some of the beauty.
At the top of the Pleney telecabin lift, I saw some nice panorama
Gabe and friends skiing. Photo courtesy of J.
One of the members of our group even organized a gift exchange so all shared in that on Christmas Eve night. It was fun to open something!
Having fun at the gift exchange
We had phenomenal food, in the Haute Savoie style. We enjoyed the hearty meals, although I wish I could have been skiing to burn them off!!
Rack of whisky meat from L’Etale
Grilling food at L’Etale, an traditional alpine meal
We also had a nice traditional meal for Christmas Eve at a local restaurant, La Grange. It was nice to have the treat of turkey which is uncommon here.
Thanksgiving dinner, image courtesy of B.
Our French turkey dinner
The cheese plate that came between dessert and dinner
While we missed being with our family this Christmas, we are grateful for all God’s blessings, especially this special experience of seeing this beautiful area of the world.
Baby, It’s Cold Outside!
On a recent trip to Lyon, we drove through the French Jura. We are still in amazement with how beautiful the winter landscape is in this area. It makes a road trip very enjoyable, as you can see below.
Scotland’s Countryside
We thought as long as we were all the way in Edinburgh, we should see some of Scotland’s countryside. We’d booked a small bus tour, a twelve seater, out of Edinburgh on Grey Lines for Saturday. It picked us up at 8:45 in the morning.
Our first stop was Glasgow where we saw the cathedral where St Valentine is buried as well Georges Square. We were then onto Loch Lomond and had the option of taking a boat tour. Although chilly, we decided to take the plunge into the water on the small vessel. We delighted in lovely Scottish views.
Taking off down the river towards Loch Lomond
Chilly mountains in the background
Scotland has great architecture
Why not have a scotch on the boat? When in Scotland….
We then continued to the town of Aberfoyle and onto Duke’s Pass where we viewed ‘the Highlands in Minature’. Our uber-short time in Scotland (36 hours on the ground) didn’t leave time to go to the Highlands, in the North part of the country. Nevertheless, the scenery in the midlands was really neat and we enjoyed the unique animals.
Duke’s Pass. Our driver said not to worry about the ‘slipping’ as we rounded each bend on the icy pass.
Why, hello.
We ventured on to Stirling and had an opportunity to explore. While we didn’t go into the castle, we had a good time meandering around. We tried not to fall down on the rock solid ground and icy paths. And, when we got too chilly, we headed to a local pub for a scotch.
Monument to William Wallace, near Stirling
An icy path leading to Gabe, taking it all in
Beautiful sunset on Stirling castle
While we were continually cold that day, we’ll always have warm memories of Scotland.
Finding shelter in a scotch house
Over the river and through the Alps, to Italy we go….
We used our last Honeyfund this weekend to go to Cinque Terre in Italy. Every time we take a road trip, we are in awe of the beauty of Central Europe. I wanted to share a pictorial recap of the drive.
Immediately after leaving Geneva, we drove through the French Alps. Here, there were a few signs of Fall but we don’t see it as strongly as we do in The States.
Starting our drive out of Geneva
A bit more Fall foliage here
Mt Blanc was being shy that day, hiding behind cloud cover
The glaciers near Mt. Blanc. I joked that if we were playing the car alphabet game, this would be a good one for “Letter G…I spy a Glacier!”
We entered the Mt. Blanc tunnel and emerged in Italy, surrounded by Italian Alps in the Aosta Valley.
The Italian Alps.
We drove through tunnels in 3 countries: Switzerland, France and Italy. Italy had the most tunnels, as we traveled on the Ligurian coast which is covered in mountainous terrain. In total, we completed 119 tunnels during the course of the 6 hour drive.
French tunnel ahead….
Many of the Italian tunnels (114 of them in total) had homes teetering above the entrances
The exit our GPS instructed us to get off on was closed, so we had to take the next one. We ended up on curvy Ligurian roads in the Cinque Terre forest. The location was so remote, we had to do a little road clean up to get there.
The hubby moving a tree out of the road, in his dress shirt.
While a six hour road trip can be a little tiring, we are really happy to have had such a neat journey.
The Highest Point in the Valley of Hell
Les-Baux-de-Provence, France, is known for its bloody and ruthless past. Known for pushing individuals off the rocky cliffs, decapitation, and other cruel methods of death, the lords of Les Baux are not characters you’d want to cross. Thus, the area was feared.
It is said Dante modeled one of his layers of hell in the Inferno off of the rocky landscape of Les Baux.
I am not sure which contributed to it, but area became known as “The Valley of Hell.”
An omnious sky over Les-Baux-de-Provence
Gabe and I visited Les-Baux-de-Provence on our whirlwind trip to see the lavender this summer. However, short on time, we didn’t climb the entire way to see the castle & fortifications. Instead, we wandered around the village checking out churches and views from the mid-heights.
However, this time, Mom & I were up for the adventure.
The wind was whipping at the top of Les Baux
Le Mistral, the fierce Provençal wind, also accompanied us. However, pressing against the bursts had its rewards. The top was very impressive with bell towers and rooms carved into the face of the stone cliffs.
Rocky facade of the castle
The sky definitely accentuated the scariness
If you go to Les Baux, don’t miss going to the top!
Related Links:
The Swiss Watch Blog: Les Baux de Provence
Schwingen in Switzerland : We Didn’t Know the Valley of Hell was So Beautiful – Les Baux
Desalpe Festival
Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I realize that we live in Switzerland. We love getting to experience a completely new way of life and new customs. This past weekend was no exception, when we attended the Semsales Desalpe Festival.
What is a Desalpe you might ask? In Switzerland, the cows happily live in the Alps in the summer, munching away on the greenest of grassy pastures. However, the cold snowy temperatures that come in the winter are even too harsh for Swiss cattle. So every Fall, the happy Swiss cows come down from their summer home in the high Alps to their lower grassy pastures and barns.
Most small villages celebrate their return home with a Desalpe Festival, literally translated, “from the Alps”.
We attended the festival in the town of Semsales, in the canton of Fribourg, near Gruyeres. This festival is special because of its spacing. Typically, all the herds are condensed in one parade. However, in Semsales, each group gets the individual spotlight. From 10:00 in the morning until 18:00 in the evening, a total of 14 families march through town proudly, welcoming their herd home for the winter.
We got quite an awakening to the procession when parking our car. Literally, one of the herds came into us!
Well, hello there.
Walking into town, we got to see quite a few more processions. The first few cows wear very tall ornamentation. Sort of like Christmas trees on their heads:
Nope – not Christmas in October. Just the Desalpe festival!
Then comes the more subdued cows….smaller floral arrangements.
This lady has a classier look going on. But what she looses in floral prowess, she makes up in cowbell size. Holy cow.
Moo-ve over and get out of my way, lady.
Just an everyday walk on the highway
In addition to the cows, groups of musicians were also a special part of the Desalpe. We enjoyed the cowbell group:
The cowbell band
Handling their bells. The muscles on these folks have to be strong!
We really enjoyed the Alphorn band
They also have delicious cheese and meat based foods.
This was a super big pot of cheesy potatoes
Local meat, cheeses, and breads for lunch. Plus some nice red wine from the nearby vineyards.
If you are attending a Desalpe, just make sure to wear old shoes or maybe even some wellies. You are most certainly going to step in something nasty.
Hey lady, maybe you want to keep your baby out of the cow poo
I thought this was my best picture of the day until I realized what was happening.
For a more interesting visual, check out the video footage from our day at the Desalpe:
The Swiss Watch Blog 