{"id":113494,"date":"2026-08-10T05:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T05:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/113494\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T05:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T05:51:13","slug":"i-escaped-the-heat-in-the-french-alps-and-saw-ski-resorts-at-their-authentic-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/113494\/","title":{"rendered":"I escaped the heat in the French Alps and saw ski resorts at their authentic best"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s late evening, early July, and walking along the Col des Annes mountain pass<\/a> just around the valley from the village of Le Grand Bornand, my guide<\/a> Victor chats away, two baguettes poking out of his backpack like an archer\u2019s arrows. In place of a hiker\u2019s standard fare (half-chewed trail bar, sweaty sandwich) this 5km sunset walk<\/a> comes with a promise of something more enticing: mountaintop fondue.<\/p>\n

Competing with a tuneful clank of cowbells, Victor shares his knowledge of the French Alps. Up there, Mont Lachat de Ch\u00e2tillon<\/a>, the highest point of the winter ski area. All along there, his arm sweeps right to left, the Aravis range, the majestic Pointe Perc\u00e9e its 2,750m pinnacle. Teasingly out of sight, is Mont Blanc, all we can see of it the hat-like cloud that famously hovers atop.<\/p>\n

At the mid-point of our walk, the business of stirring begins. We\u2019re aptly just metres from a cow whose slow swivel of head, fast flick of tail tells me she senses we\u2019re talking about her.<\/p>\n

\"\"Lucy Shrimpton enjoyed the Alps in summer (Photo: Les Contamines Tourisme)<\/p>\n

Normally Haute Savoie<\/a> \u00adfondues blend Beaufort, Comt\u00e9 and Emmental cheeses but \u00adtonight it\u2019s neat Reblochon, the fromage of local udders.<\/p>\n

Twirling hunks of baguette into the rich goo, I discover that Reblochon is as delicious as its origin story is legendary.<\/p>\n

Centuries ago, landowners taxed farmers according to the amount of milk their herds produced. But they weren\u2019t accounting for wily farmers \u2013 instead of fully milking their ladies, they waited for the boss to skedaddle before commencing the second, creamier milking (\u201creblocher\u201d means to re-squeeze).<\/p>\n

The seasons really do pivot on cows, I\u2019m thinking, as I watch the Aravis peaks turn sunset pink; from the late spring day they\u2019re herded up to their grassy summertime pastures (the practice known as transhumance) to the day they\u2019re herded down again. I picture the cows lugging their heavy heads downhill like children on la rentr\u00e9e \u2013 back-to-school day.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cheese is a staple in the Alps (Photo: Les Contamines Tourisme)<\/p>\n

Cheese or no cheese<\/a>, I\u2019m already loving Le Grand Bornand\u2019s summer vibe<\/a>. Firstly, there\u2019s the comfortable climate. Compared with the Mediterranean sweltering away today at 37\u00b0C, here at 1,000m above sea level it\u2019s a manageable 27\u00b0C.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the fact that Le Grand Bornand eschews the flashiness of many Alpine resorts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve a former mayor to thank for that,\u201d says the tourist office\u2019s Julien-Gabriel Perbellini showing me around. \u201cThis,\u201d he says gesturing towards the traditional, shuttered, floral farmhouses characterising the valley \u201cwas nearly lost in the 60s. There was a threat to make way for a more modern resort. His efforts overturned it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not to say it\u2019s sleepy. There\u2019s actually a very young all-year-round population here. It\u2019s just tranquil. Laid-back,\u201d he says, a cuckoo clock chiming the hour at 5.04pm.<\/p>\n

\"\"The views are greener in summer (Photo: Les Contamines Tourisme)<\/p>\n

\u201cIn summer we get roughly the same number of visitors as in winter<\/a>. It\u2019s just that in the summer you don\u2019t see them. Everyone has dispersed.\u201d<\/p>\n

To clap eyes on Mont Blanc proper, I\u2019ve also scheduled in time in Les Contamines Montjoie, a village 72km away also enjoying nature\u2019s own air-con at 1,200m above sea level. While thousands walk the five-day Tour du Mont Blanc every summer, mine\u2019s a 15km one-day hike via Col de la Fen\u00eatre \u2013 all swoony views over the 4,800m icon, nature reserve, lunch stop in a beautiful refuge, and Italianate chapel.<\/p>\n

It kicks off with two gondola ascents; the Gorge followed by Le Signal, the combined ticket just \u20ac11 (\u00a39.43). Walking holidays,<\/a> it seems are a lot less spenny than skiing.<\/p>\n

The walk\u2019s quite \u201csportif\u201d for me (a word French people seem unable to say without the double-punch hand gesture to affirm something means business) but I\u2019m all set. I\u2019ve walked 5km daily for years. I can handle a hill.<\/p>\n

\"\"The seasons pivot around cows (Photo: C. Chabod \/Le Grand-Bornand Tourisme)<\/p>\n

On the mental prep side, I spent some time before breakfast yesterday with Masala Yoga<\/a> in the Nant du Chinaillon river, teaching me that breathwork and meditation can generate enough inner fire not just to enter parky 11\u00b0C waters but to show that, \u00adreally, one can set one\u2019s mind to anything.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a hike of 500m \u00adelevation and 1,180m elevation loss. There are a couple of \u00adchallenging stretches (inner fire, inner fire, I chant), but accompanied by two trekking poles as well as my guide Laetitia who entertains me with anecdotes about her other job of goat farming, it\u2019s an uplifting, inspiring and informative day to remember.<\/p>\n

\"\"Hiking is more economical than skiing (Photo: Esprits-Outdoor \/Le Grand-Bornand Tourisme)<\/p>\n

Gazing up at Mont Blanc\u2019s snow-topped dome, my mind wanders back to landscapes and the seasons.<\/p>\n

How implausible it is that somewhere with the same co-ordinates is a pristine world of white in winter, yet this scene of serene green come summer.<\/p>\n

How skiers plot the fastest way down yet for hikers it\u2019s the slowest. For me it\u2019s summertime Alps<\/a>, every step.<\/p>\n

Getting there<\/p>\n

By car Calais to Le Grand Bornand takes 8.5 hours
By train To Annecy by TGV<\/a> (onward public transport available)
By air To Geneva (onward public transport available)<\/p>\n

Where to stay<\/p>\n

Chalet Valora in Le Grand Bornand<\/a> with pool (from \u20ac112 per night for two people). Chalets Laska in Les Contamines Montjoie<\/a> (from \u20ac1,129 per night for six people) with pool\/spa.<\/p>\n

Where to eat<\/p>\n

Comptoir-des-Alpes<\/a> in Le Grand Bornand is a smart foodhall with local produce.
\u00d4-\u00e0-la-Bouche<\/a> in In Les Contamines Montjoie is a \u2018bistronomique\u2019 restaurant denoting top gastronomy minus formal ambiance.<\/p>\n

More information<\/p>\n

Visit legrandbornand.com and lescontamines.com<\/a>
Lucy Shrimpton was a guest of France Montagnes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s late evening, early July, and walking along the Col des Annes mountain pass just around the valley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[16],"tags":[50,3579,55267,55268,32657,1063],"class_list":["post-113494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alps","tag-alps","tag-europe-travel","tag-european-heatwaves","tag-france-travel","tag-summer-holidays","tag-travel"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/117069656225365318","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}