Winter Wonderland - Haute Savoie Region - Part 1

Eiffel Tower

Winter Wonderland – Haute Savoie Region - Part 1

For the past few years, I have been coming back to the Haute Savoie region in the French Alps to appreciate the beauty and enjoy the scenic mountain landscapes that the region is famous for. Although most of the time we planned our trips during spring season around early April to end of May, this time we decided to experience what winter season that Haute Savoie has got to offer. The perfect time was during the last Chinese New Year long holiday breaks that allowed us to get the best of winter …..

Our journey started in Paris whereby after a long 12 hours 30 minutes flight from Kuala Lumpur, we booked ourselves into a cheap, yet very comfortable hotel Formule 1 Hotel at Paris Nord 2 www.formule1hotel.com a chain hotel that is run by the Accor group of Hotels. As low as EUR48 per night for up to 3 adults per room, this is really a bargain for an accommodation in Paris!!! After a quick rest and stretch back at the hotel, we took the day ticket into Paris cost EUR20.50 per person to discover and experience the romantic city of Paris with the must-go attractions such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Musee du Louvre etc. To have your photos captured with the Eiffel Tower as the background at night is truly a very romantic experience that cannot to be missed!!!



Arc de Triomphe

Musee du Louvre


We only spent one night in Paris as we have a longer itinerary planned ahead of us at the Haute Savoie region. After collecting our car rental at the Paris Airport Terminal 2, we went straight down to Annecy, where our accommodation will be for the next 6 days. To really enjoy France with affordable accommodation, it is best to book for holiday cottages which are available throughout France. They can be booked through www.gites-de-france.com where you can find self-catering accommodation for up to 4,6,10 or even 20 people or more. Our accommodation sleeps a group of 20 people. Located at Puget, St Eustache, Annecy, our holiday cottage is nestled on a hilly terrain that overlooking Lake Annecy.  We arrived after a long 4 ½ hours drive from Paris with a few short pit-stops along Route A4 into Annecy. Finally after settling down, we had a nice hot dinner to end our day and be ready for the fun that has been planned ahead for tomorrow.

Day 3,

Manigod

Manigod

Manigod

Manigod

Our plan for today was to head up to La Clusaz, one of the top ski resort for the Les Aravis area. We didn’t take the highway to La Clusaz, but instead took the scenic route from Annecy towards Albertville, and then up the mountain via Manigod and lastly arriving at La Clusaz. The view along this route was breathtaking with the picturesque mountains surrounding us which covered with snow. The weather on that day was truly amazing which gave us post-card snap shots of pure white snow against the clear blue sky. We stopped at Manigod, which is another ski resort along the way to take some photos and for the kids to have some activity as well. We did rent some snow sledges at EUR2 per piece for the kids and decent adults who really wanted to have some fun. There was a dedicated area for the sledges along side with chair lifts for the skiers at that area. None of us was brave and tempted enough to try skiing and join the pros. The kids really enjoyed themselves running up and down the bunny hill on the sledges.

Kids enjoying the sledges...

Aerial view of La Clusaz

Aerial view of La Clusaz

We continued to descent down from Manigod and make a short stop en-route to get the best aerial view of La Clusaz from the top. The view was magnificent with the white tiny roof-tops covered with snow for the entire village. As it was peak winter season, mostly the roofs were about 3-5 feet thick covered with snow. Everybody posed for the best shots to capture this unforgettable view of La Clusaz.

La Clusaz’s skiing attraction is spread across five mountains, ie Beauregard, La Croix Fry-Manigod—Merdassier, L’Etale, L’Aiguille and La Balme. Upon reaching La Clusaz, we headed to La Balme, where the gondola station at the base of the mountain will take us up to the top. The top station house a cafeteria with viewing terrace where you can view the entire valley and surrounding mountains. It was simply breathtaking!!!! From this station, skiers could take the chair-lifts higher to the top for a more challenging down-hill treats…..  We stayed until the call for last return trip down, and then proceeded to La Clusaz centre-village to look for some souvenirs. The town during this season was completely different compared to our previous visits during Spring time. It was much livelier and busy with a lot of people around. But it turned into almost a ghost town in Spring! We ended our day and headed back to Annecy after so much fun and thrills on our second day trip.

Part of the French Alps....

Viewing terrace overlooking the valley...