The French & Swiss Alps

July 1999

July was our big month of vacations in 1999. Our first vacation was one week spent in Italy with friends. After a week of rest for most of the family, our second vacation was one week spent in the French and Swiss Alps.

The Alps are located on the south-eastern edge of France and help to seperate France, Italy, and Switzerland.

This is the land of "The Sound of Music" and "Heidi". As such, our goal was to spend as much time outside and in the mountains as possible.

For a start, we rented a furnished studio apartment in the ski resort town of Avoriaz. From there, we took day trips into the local mountains, to Chamonix/Mont Blanc in France, and to Gimmelwald and Geneva in Switzerland.


Avoriaz

Avoriaz is a ski resort situated on the top of mountain peak in the center of the French Alps. This is a town built solely for the entertainment of visitors in both the summer and winter. Being on the top of a mountain, one would think the town would be very visible. However, the architects have taken great pains to design buildings that blend into the neighboring slopes. Up close, the result is a rather strange appearance suggesting the construction crews had a bit "too much" before starting the project. The buildings are a mixture of angles and shapes finished in natural colors such as stone and weathered wood. We found ourselves wondering how they would get snow off of all the roofs as many had angles and pockets that would appear to be designed to catch both rain and snow. From a distance, however, the results are remarkable. You really can't tell that there is a resort up on the hill--which has to make the local residents in the valley happy.

 Up close, the town is a wierd mixture of shapes and textures

 But the buildings do follow the shape and color of the land

 So that as you get further away from town, it begins to blend into the mountain

 Until eventually you can not even tell that there is a town on the mountain at all

Being a town designed for entertainment and recreation, there were many activities that we could do locally, such as hiking, mountain biking, mountain climbing, para-sailing, and many others. The children particularly enjoyed the trampolines and the merry-go-round.

 Alex showing us how to do a jumping jack

 And lots of smiles

 Juli and her long hair

 Their favorite part of the trip

 With the way he's holding this horse, he's lucky it can't bite

 On stage and happy

As a family, we also enjoyed hiking and exploring the local trails.


Hiking

It had been a year since our last big hikes in Kentucky and so our first hike was a short one to get us used to the altitude and the concept of walking on something other than pavement. It was also to get us used to tools of hiking: backpacks, hiking sticks, water bottles, and such. But perhaps most importantly, it was a chance to stretch and get out into nature.

 Learning to use hiking sticks to walk down a hill

 And some of what you can see as you walk down

 Beautiful flowers

 

 And impressive vistas

 

 And more trail...

Our second day of hiking was in much the same area. This time, however, we walked all the way down into the valley, taking most of the day. In addition to being a longer hike, we also had our first encounter with the storybooks as we came across a herd of grazing cattle. The sound of their bells became the sound of the trip as we encountered similar cows and bells elsewhere.

We also developed a new respect for the folks who go sking. At several points along the trip we were walking down the ski runs. It was so difficult and steep in the summer that we couldn't imagine doing it in the winter with skis on our feet!

The bright part of walking down the ski run was that the ski lift (cable car) is located at the bottom. Thankfully it also runs in the summer and so we got back to the top the easy way. This was good as we were all exhausted.

 Cows and the sounds of the Alps

 As the trail falls over the horizon, at least we know we have the ski lift to bring us back

 It's not always easy being small on a narrow trail

 Together after a break for ice cream

 We walked down that?

 Yes, and it sure did wear us out!

More Picture From Avoriaz

The French & Swiss Alps, Part 2

 

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