Exploratory steps into France
Over the weekend Tanya and I took our first steps into France since we arrived in Lausanne. It's just on the other side of the lake! We see it every day now, its mountains beckon and play with clouds and at night the lights of the little towns blink on the other shore. Tanya's parents were visiting and in a moment of cunning they booked a hotel that was much cheaper than anything they could find in Lausanne, and only 17km away! Only later was the intervening lake discovered. But the fact that they were staying in Evian Les Bains was still a total boon for us - what better excuse to catch the boat across the lake, hang out with great people and see some of the country side?
The question is - where should we explore first?
Evian Les Bains is a quiet and pretty town, with Evian water on tap (by definition). We took a Saturday Drive, and the direction was pretty easy to choose: towards the mountains! These are no hills either, these are proper alps - The Mt Blanc Massif, and they don't call it massif for nothing. The aim was to "have a look around" but at least in my mind I added on "for Mt Blanc in particular". The road we chose, via the age-old "let's try this one" method, took us to the ski town of Morzine, via "Les Gorges du Pont du Diable". The gorges themselves were closed to public access, leaving the diable to his own affairs, but the surroundings were wonderful. We enjoyed the autumn forest and listened to the mountain streams, and looked at the enormous walls of rock that I am sure must host excellent climbing.
Autumn colours in the quiet forest.
After lunch we pushed up the road to the Col de Joux Plane, which was surrounded by country that had that lonely-ski-resort-in-summer feeling that I actually quite like. Well after the rest of us had given up on proper views of the alps, Tanya was still positive, and she was proved right (again!) as we pulled around a corner and saw exactly what we were hoping for - Mt Blanc and its massif, looking grand and sitting calmly in the distance.
A ski lift counterweight, swinging in the breeze.
I'm still putting together the geography of the region in my mind, and it was really nice to head out and get a feel for the scale of where we are. The mountains are enormous, much bigger than I had realised. But they are also much closer to Lausanne than I'd realised! Both of these things combine to make - at the risk of overusing the phrase - a total boon.
