Nernier to Yvoire walk along Lac Leman

Yvoire is a beautiful town - but it can be something of a tourist nightmare in a hot summer weekend to try and find a car park slot. Much better to start from the much quieter and charming Nernier and follow the path to Yvoire.













There are plenty of places to eat in Yvoire, but we've noted the restaurant by the Lake in Nernier for a future visit.








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Anyone for some hydrospeed?

It is hard to believe but the end of the ski season is approaching, though given the snow this year we are still hopeful of skiing well into April. Nevertheless, plans for other outdoor activities must be made. With the big snowfalls this year it would seem that white-water rafting could be fun - but then I came across something new to me - hydrospeed. Having persuaded Caroline do go skiing do you think she might try this out as well? See the video. It looks to be great fun.



From Wikipedia "Riverboarding is believed to have originated in the late 1970s. It is claimed to have originated in France, when raft guides stuffed a burlap mail sack with life vests and went down rapids. Soon, riders adapted a personal submarine shell for their molds and the plastic version of the riverboard was born. Sometime in the late 1980s, Carlson began running rivers in California using an ocean bodyboard and ended up making his own board that was bigger, thicker and handles.

European riders also developed a foam version (called a hydrospeed ) of the plastic board to reduce weight and avoid injuring each other during collisions that sometimes resulted from one rider travelling downstream and another facing upstream while surfing a hydraulic. Today, homemade foam hydrospeeds are found primarily among European riders. A growing sport in North America, riverboarding has grown in popularity from media exposure and the emergence of commercial operators running riverboard trips."

More information on white-water sports in the Haute-Savoie

Skiing in Combloux at last..

We head been wanting to ski at Combloux since our first visit to the resort before the season started in November. This is a quiet resort, with more locals than tourists, and well worth a visit. There are 100km of pistes, with some great wide, long (and empty) red runs. Great for beginners and intermediates but those looking for powder should look elsewhere. Nevertheless, it is only 4km from Megève and forms part of the "Evasion Mont-Blanc" area with Saint-Gervais, Cote 2000, Les Contamines, and La Giettaz with a total of 445 km of skiable pistes.

.. and there are great views of Mont Blanc from the restaurant at lunch


Hopefully we'll get a chance to ski in Combloux again before the end of the season but if not we'll definitely try to do some mountain biking in the summer - and it is probably even closer to home than Les Gets with a 45-50 minutes drive. A key tip.. if skiing on a Saturday leave early and aim to drive through Sallanches before 0830-0900 as it is market day (the same is true for Megève) - and if you are there for a week do not plan to leave after breakfast on Saturday!

More info
Skiing at Combloux


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Courchevel 1850

A day off work, and a 2 hour drive, for a bit of luxury with friends on holiday - definitely a day for "social" skiing rather than clocking up the miles on the pistes.

Courchevel 1850 is the highest of the Courchevel resorts - and the smartest. Interestingly, 1850 is actually at 1747 metres - the name was chosen to compete with its rival Val d'Isere.

Caroline and I were in for some pleasant surprises. No sitting in the back of the Volvo trying to put on ski boots - instead valet parking, skis carried to the piste whilst we changed at leisure in the boot room complete with individual boot warmers.

Yes it is a bit (no a lot) more expensive than Les Gets, and yes we lunched in the same restaurant as frequented by Posh and Becks - the magician walking the tables was as amazing as the bill (and no one took the option of the whole chicken at 120 Euros!) - but the resort is stunning and the pistes are impeccable. The run down from Saulire at 2700m (see picture) is superb.





More info on skiing at Courchevel.

Geneva Motor Show 2009

Whatever happened to the credit crunch?



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