Every day is like Sunday...

I'm not one for lists of favourites, but if I did then "Every day is like Sunday" by The Smiths would be high on my favourite songs list. And today I've been thinking wouldn't it be good if indeed every day was like Sunday. In particular, this Sunday.


Today I have mostly been...

Rising at a leisurely hour and taking a short stroll to my favourite boulangerie for some viennoiserie and a crusty baguette.

Catching the train to La Flegere (no worrying about taking the car and its free with your resident card or card d'hote) and then the telepherique. Walking with the kids on previously unexplored trails with stunning backdrops and cool shade back to Argentiere.


Picnicing in the sun while taking in the views. Foraging for a feast of blueberrries and wild strawberries by the trail side.


Enjoying Cafe Gourmand (you've got to try one to know!) at the Dahu.

Leaving the kids to play in the pool while taking the bike up to Lognan on the last telepherique of the day and ripping up the Lavancher descent. Getting back to the pool within the hour and jumping in!

Filling the corridor full of curry fumes and Brit Pop classics as my French neighbours arrive. Entente cordiale and all that!

And finally popping a cork on a wonderfully cheap bottle of plonk and watching the sun set over Mont Blanc.


Bring on tomorrow...

Le Lac Vert

With temperatures still struggling to get much above freezing unless in the direct sun and with a forecast for totally cloudless skies it made sense to seek out the sun today.

The walk up to the Lac Vert, high above the sunny village of Servoz gets a good write up. Walking from the village itself looked like a bit more of a challenge for little legs and so we drove up through Le Mont and La Côte, finding a surprisingly large and flat parking area at the end of the road, on an otherwise vertiginous hillside.

Through the trees the air was still very chill but there were enough glimpses of the sun to keep it fairly pleasant. The climb up the wide track was fairly steep but not too long. High above the craggy peaks of Rochers des Fiz looked magnificent in the early afternoon sun.


I’m guessing that judging by the size of the adjacent car park and restaurant, you don’t often get the Lac Vert to yourself. But today we lucked out and had exactly that. Finding a sunny spot on the far bank we broke out the picnic for a very leisurely lunch while soaking up a few rays and taking in the views across the lake and above the trees to the summit of Mont Blanc.


There’s another path that circumnavigates the lake, just slightly higher up, from which the views are once more quite something. With a full vista from the Aiguillette des Houches with the Aiguille du Midi behind, across the various high summits of Mont Blanc to the Bionnassay Glacier and then over to Mont Joly its quite a spot.

Another cracking day out in the Chamonix valley!

Pierre a Bosson

Another big blue-sky day and another great walk amidst the autumn scenery. Cold mornings mean late starts, which seems to be fine with everyone at the moment. Plenty of time to let the sun climb over the Grand Montets and start warming the depths of the valley in Argentière.


After much deliberation, more coffee, another pastry, and several glances out of the window we opted for a route we’d put off in the summer as being too steep in hot weather for little legs. Quite the contrary now; a little bit of effort uphill should work up a good head of steam. So off we set, baguette, jam and flask of hot chocolate plus a few extra layers of fleece, with the Pierre a Bosson in mind. Named after a rock that doesn’t seem to be there, the Pierre is a viewpoint high above the village of Argentière at a little over 1600m, with a view over the snout of the Argentière Glacier.


To make the walk a little easier, and a little more interesting as it turned out, we parked up at the station at Montroc (no trains running this fortnight!) and cut back across towards the Petit Balcon Nord above Le Planet. Though late to catch the sun and therefore still pretty frosty, the views through the trees across the Aiguille Rouge were stunning.


A handy picnic bench in a sheltered and sunny spot under an old pine was the perfect place to break out the late lunch. After that the broad path traverses the hillside through the trees before finally breaking out into scrub and the final climb to the viewpoint.


And what a viewpoint! Not especially high. Not especially difficult to get to. But sat in the autumn sun with a view looking over the Argentiere glacier was quite special. The Aiguille du Chardonnet made an appearance through wispy cloud, as did the Aiguille Verte, and further round the hazy Chamonix valley and the Aiguilles Rouge just added to it all to make a complete 180 degree vista. And not a soul around.

Only 1 more thing to do – beat a hasty retreat to L’Office in Argentiere before the sun got too low in the sky!