Courmayeur & Aosta, Italy

Caroline went with some friends off to Italy, which is only just over an hour away through the Mont Blanc Tunnel. Apparently she enjoyed herself and wants me to visit sometime in the summer.

Courmayeur, something of a ski resort just the other side of the tunnel was the first stop. NB Need to stop at the tourist information office for advice to see the views from above. It is a small town surrounded by snow covered mountains (in February) with a delightful pedestrian only street with classic Italian shopping.

After lunch of pizza and Pinot Grigio outisde in 18C the party drove on to Aosta, around 20 minutes further on into Italy. Aosta is Italy's last Roman outpost and has excellent ruins, a grand Piazza and numerous typically Italian shopping streets. One cafe, selling a multitude of Hot Chocolate varieties stood out. A wonderfully friendly place in need of another visit .. perhaps with Mark.



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Smart Megève

As far as we can tell Megève is that smart ski resort of the area. In the very pleasant town you will see expensive ski suits (with plenty of fur) walking around that will never hit the slopes! But do not worry – the skiing is good especially if you head off to Cote 2000 from Alpette and back again.

According to wikipedia “The town started its development as a ski resort in the 1910s when the Rothschild family started to spend their winter vacations there after becoming disenchanted with the Swiss resort: St. Moritz. In 1921, Baronne Noémie de Rothschild opened an important hotel which boosted the resort's development. By the 1950s Megève was one of the most popular ski resorts in Europe and attracted many wealthy individuals and celebrities. Nowadays it is still visited largely by affluent people as is made obvious by the real estate prices.”

Megève is part of the skiing area "Evasion Mont Blanc" which includes the resorts Les Contamines, St Nicolas de Veroce, St Gervais Mont-Blanc and Combloux for 445 km of skiable pistes. These resorts are less than an hour for home - Evasion Mont Blanc could be a contender for our season pass 2009/10.


Some tips;

• If you are more interested in skiing than wandering around the town it is probably better to park at La Princesse than in Megeve.
• If you plan to eat after skiing on a Saturday book a table (we ended up in Sallanches!)
• Saturday is market day in Sallanches - leave early and avoid the traffic for a full day's skiing
  

More information on skiing at Megeve


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Winter suprise au Saleve

From Winter surprise at Le Saleve

A touch of guilt that our new found passion for skiing does not rest well with Kyla's need for a decent walk - and the risk of relatives arriving early from the UK whilst we were still on the slopes caused us to abandon plans for another day at Les Gets. Kyla had another trip up to La Croisette on Le Saleve. We had not been for a few months.

And what a surprise. Sleds on one side and skiers on the other. It may not be Verbier but there was a real button lift with a definite downhill slope (complete with piste-basher) just a few minutes from home. Shame our skiing boots were at home! Defintely an option for the a quick skiing fix in the future. and perhaps a first introduction to alpine sports for our nieces?

From Winter surprise at Le Saleve

Off we headed in our snow boots - but soon understood why people use raquettes. Regardless we pushed on for some spectacular views and Narniaesque walks through snow-laden trees.

From Winter surprise at Le Saleve

From Winter surprise at Le Saleve

Next time we'll hire some raquettes from the rental shop - or may even try out some cross-country skis on the prepared pistes on the top. (but alas note no dogs allowed on these pistes) ...

From Winter surprise at Le Saleve

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Winter surprise at Le Saleve

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