Once again, I was able to enjoy a very pleasant hotel and beautiful surroundings in the mountains of the Savoie region of France. We had a very enjoyable trip with convivial evening meals for the group. Of course, there were one or two glasses of vin chaud consumed.
As in previous years I was invited along to the joint Lewes/Sevenoaks mens church group ski trip. This time I didn’t ski as the snow conditions were poor, – icy in the morning and slushy in the afternoon. There hadn’t been much snow before the trip so the piste bashers had their work cut out.
However I enjoy some mountain walks, visiting Crystal and Gavin for lunch in Bourg-Saint-Maurice and the superb facilities of the Hôtel La Vanoise with its indoor heated pool, jacuzzi, sauna and hammam along with its convivial bar, sun terrace and restaurant!
The other thing that attracts me is travelling by train rather than by air using high speed electric trains. A one-way flight from London to Geneva emits between 176 to 200.7 kg of CO2 per person travelling in economy. On average electric trains produce up to 96.5% fewer CO2 emissions than flights.
Our Eurostar and Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV) transport us to the very heart of the French alps at Bourg-Saint-Maurice (Elevation: 815 m) and not at an airport 3 hours away!
The funicular railway links the town to the Arc 1600 where the Les Arc ski area is situated. At Arc 1600 I can get a connecting bus to my hotel at Vallandry.
The group now have a stopover on they way out in Paris at the Mercure Hotel next to the Gare de Lyon. This time it was particularly pleasurable as we had dinner at the iconic La Belle Époque restaurant, Le Train Bleu, in Gare de Lyon. Hercule Poirot would have been very much at home here! Superb dinner! HERE are my restaurant photos
HERE are my photos up in the mountains & meeting up with Crystal & Gavin
Vic Ient 