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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2891 |
8th March 2015 Hiking - Walking: La Chevrerie to Roche de La Motte Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: Distance Covered: 5.5 (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Friday 6th March – Travelling and Shopping - sunny We had a good sort out in the van before leaving a very sunny, windy and busy Mijoux. We drove out the opposite way, through Gex and were treated to the most stunning views across Lac Leman to the High Alps – both French and Swiss:) Carried on and detoured to Bellegarde for Lidl and McDonalds! Caught up with their free wifi then moved on to have lunch at the Belvedere at Leaz followed by a walk up to the ruined chateau with a view of a beautifully winter green river Rhone. You could also see the Fort de l’Ecluse which we pass just before going through a road tunnel on our way to Geneva. We carried on through a quite congested road skirting Geneva and Annemasse then headed to the Lake. We found a cheeky place to stop at Hermance which is a very small and posh village on the edge of Lac Leman – on the border of France and Switzerland but we think we could actually be in Switzerland tonight. We also filled up all our water bottles and tank from their disabled toilet tap! Lots of Gooseanders on the Lake, pairing up and making very funny noises. Salmon in Lemon sauce from good old Lidl for tea:) Saturday 7th March – sightseeing, travelling – sunny We got away with parking in the middle of posh Hermance:) We even did our yoga/stretchy exercises overlooking beautiful Lac Leman which was like a millpool without a ripple. We are parked exactly opposite where we skied at Mijoux – about 10 miles in a straight line and over 50 round! We had a walk round the village (which is definitely in Switzerland) before we left including up the steep hill to the small castle. It was being renovated but we could see through the fence. Back on the road to return to Yvoire. We have to say we were disappointed in the comparison between Christmas and now – the lack of Christmas bits and bobs around the village left it lacking and a bit dull and the Cristallerie shop where we got the glass Christmas trees was definitely down on stock and they were also rearranging the shop which made you feel you were in the way. Mag got some more glass sweets though which was our reason for returning. We also discovered that the sweets are Mirano glass which comes from Italy and not made on the premises at all!! Last time they were gift wrapped and we were made to feel very special even though the shop was heaving, this time they were put into a paper bag then a carrier!! Not very special anymore obviously LOL. We left there and carried on through Thonon to Evian. Again, compared to Christmas it wasn’t quite the same. All but a few of the wooden sculptures had gone so you could say it was a bit tidier but we missed them! It is a beautiful place though and especially on such a beautiful day! We had our lunch parked in exactly the same place as last time and went for a walk around the quay. Lots of Goosanders and a few other breeds of duck along with the gulls, Grebes and coots. We moved on and drove up onto our favourite deserted mountain roads up the valley de Brevon to the Tourist information at Bellevaux. The same lovely helpful lady was there again and gave us more leaflets and maps and told us about the walks. We pinched 2 of her sweets again:) Arrived at La Chevrerie about 4 and had a drive up to the ski station. As it is Saturday it was quite busy but we are going to wait until Monday when all the locals will be gone and the kids have gone back to school after their half term break. Parked up in our favourite spot opposite the Chapel St. Bruno (a bit muddier than last time!) and had a cuppa and cakes we bought yesterday warmed up in the pan:) Texted Rob who is in the Isle of Wight in a tree house for the weekend:) He had seen a red squirrel already:) Sunday 8th March – Hike (snow shoe)***** sunny – La Chevrerie to Roche de La Motte We did our exercises even though a bit muddy – mud was frozen! After a late breakfast we set out on a 6 hour marathon snow shoe hike from the van up to the Roche de La Motte which was basically three miles straight up! It was by far the hardest snow shoe we have done but we loved it! The ascent started down the road from the bottom end of the lake (about half a mile from the van) and went up a lane. We didn’t need to put our snow shoes on to begin with but we were soon putting them on and taking clothes off! It was very sunny and warm. We saw several people skiing down having walked up with sticky tape on the bottom of their skis. It’s called ‘ski touring’ and basically you walk up and ski down. We had enough to do just walking it! We went through two tiny hamlets before reaching Tre le Saix where a group of chalets are totally unreachable by road in the winter, but this didn’t stop a party of adults and children sitting outside on their patio having a hot meal. There were skiers, snow shoers and kids with sledges plus a small caterpillar/quad bike style vehicle which was taking the kids up higher to sledge down. They were having great fun. There were a few other people visiting these unreachable chalets. A bit like having a beach hut but up a mountain! We could see the Roche de La Motte view point up above us but it was really high and as we set off we did wonder if we would ever get up there to have our lunch. We plodded on and the view which met us was reward enough for all our hard work! It was very spectacular – right across the Alps enabling us to see literally hundreds of peaks including Mont Blanc. The other way was the Brevon valley, ski resorts and Bellevaux. You could also see over Lac Leman to the Jura. Amazing:) We had a good rest and ate our picnic then set off down the middle of a snowy slope in a direct line down and stomped our way to the first village we had come to this morning! We sat at a huge wooden table on one of the empty chalet’s patios with a cracking view of Lac Vallon and the Chapel St. Bruno where the van is parked. We ate a banana and chocolate bar and were amazed to see the quad bike go past with two adults on the back and being steered by a 10 year old then a few minutes later the younger children flying down the road on their sledges – top to bottom going pretty fast!! We carried on down finding a way across the fields at the bottom so we didn’t have to take our snow shoes off until we were on the road. Mags boots were full of water as she had taken her sallopettes off and the leggings let snow into the tops! We were glad to see the van appear round the corner and downed 2 cups of coffee quickl!! Fantastic day. We loved it and did have quite a sense of achievement as well as being exhausted! It was our good fortune that the lady in the tourist information told us about the walk yesterday otherwise we wouldn’t have known it was there:) We had cheese fondu for tea – it comes in a sachet from lovely Lidl and only takes 5 minutes to heat then we dipped all manner of stuff in it – wonderful:) photo gallery here |
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