Ski Day at Domaine de Balme/Le Tour, Chamonix, France

I have been so busy recently with working, skiing and sightseeing that i have not have had chance to blog any of this, not to mention the computer issues that seam to dominate my life (4th computer in 2 years anybody!). 

Just over a week ago now i used up one of my tokens that i get free with my Les Houches season ski pass, to go up Le Tour. We chose Le Tour because, because the landscape is so different to that of Les Houches; more wide open spaces than the narrow tree lined runs of Les Houches. Now i have the day off i feel the desperate need to write all this down, before it joins the blur of the rest my travels.

Le Tour was perfect for me and my friend as it has loads of gentle blue runs. We needed it after months of skiing as we are both suffering from sore knees. The main blue run, Liaison Balme which runs into Les Esserts, runs for kilometers at such a gentle pace that you don't really have to ski, just take in the great views as you glide past.

Not all the blue runs were gentle though, some seemed to me to be a little on the extreme side for a easy blues. The Bechat slope for example really tested my nerve. It was a steep and long decent that just seemed to keep going. I had to take it pretty slowly and watched as my friend completely lost control and crashed at speed. Luckily she was OK. Bechat will forever more be known as The Death Slide.

For lunch we stopped off at Restaurant Alpage de Balme (altitude 1990). The restaurant is 'al la cart', serving traditional Alps style food, so lots more cheese then. We both chose a 'Croute' bread and goat cheese dish, which was delicious and very reasonably priced. I also went a bit greedy and had a chocolate fondant desert.

It was such a beautiful spot and a lovely restaurant that we spend a good hour or so there just smiling and appreciation the views.

The afternoon was spent taking in more beautiful views and just really appreciation how lucky we are to be living and working in such an amazing part of the world. I don't think either of us could imagine a year ago that all this could be ours.

Le Bartavel, Chamonix Mont-Blanc

Pleasantly surprised  - a lesson learnt

OK i admit i was not very impressed by the exterior or interior of this place. It was slightly drab, old and had these awful tacky blue fairy lights on the windows. Considering its surrounded by much nicer looking restaurants  they could have done better. I was somewhat dragged there by somebody, who wanted to save 50 cents on a pizza.

But wow, this is was definitely one of the best pizzas i have tasted in Chamonix so far, and i have had a fair few. So bad me for reading a book by it cover. We both had pizzas, i had the Frutti di Mare (seafood) and my friend the Tonno e Cipolla (tuna and onion), both were excellent, and the house wine was also up to scratch.

On the rest of the menu, they offer a range of salads, pastas, gnocchi... Looking at what was delivered to the surrounding tables, the food looked well presented, with good portions. I shall definitely keep this place in mind next time i am in town, and need to save myself 50 cents. Oh, they also do take away.

The service in the restaurant was good and efficient  We had a very friendly, kind waiter. The restaurant did not have WiFi, but waiter helped us out. How kind. He earn't a slightly bigger tip for that.

Le Bartavel: 26, cour du Bartavel 74400 Chamonix Mont-Blanc.

Ski day in Les Houches

Woke up to beautiful sunny weather this morning, it does not get much better than this for a ski day.

We went up the Bellevue Telephethique first thing in the morning. Then spent the day running the more gentle blue runs up on the Les Houches Domaine.

For lunch we stopped at one of my fravorite restaurants La Cha.

La Cha is a self service restaurant at the bottom of the La Cha ski lift. The restaurant is small family run restaurants, with fantastic views, if you are luckily enough to get on of the few upstairs window seats. The interior of the restaurant is done out in a traditional/modern chalet style and borders on cute. The food is self service and always really good. I tend not to eat meat, and there has always been a veggie option, today it was ratatouille and spaghetti. There is also a good selection of salads and a amazing selection of desserts.

Oh they also have the best toilets on the piste.

In the afternoon we stopped at ..... which is at the bottom of the Vos la Coza lift. I have never stopped here before, because it have either been closed or i have just ski passed. We ordered hot chocolate and KitKats, the hot chocolate was nothing special, nor was the restaurant.

Overall an amazing day, i am so lucky to be staying in such an amazing place.

Welcome

Welcome to the world of Girl must eat...

I am a long time traveller, who loves mountains, coasts,cities, eating, out doors, sight seeing and, adventure.

This blog has been long time coming. I spend my life travelling, eating out and talking about where i have just been. Again and again i am asked, "why don't you write about this? You obviously have a passion of it". So i am.

Skiing and and hiking to restaurants in the mountains, has to be the best day out i can imagine. I am currently lucky enough to have a job in the French Alps for the winter. So i am making the most of my time here, skiing when i can and taking in a lot of the local cheese dishes.

In this blog i am intending to blog about all of my travel adventures, where ever they may be, whether it is a bite to eat at a local restaurant, apres ski, museums, live music, working or a day out in the mountains.

This is actually my second blog. My other blog KnottedRose, is dedicated to making my own stuff, where i am currently knitting. I love my other blog and hope to love this blog just as much.

So welcome, and enjoy my life along with me.