What is Piste X Code ? Piste X Code is a new, and long overdue, 🗻 on-piste safety campaign! We all know that 🏂 skiing and ⛷ snowboarding and other downhill mountain sports carry risk. Perhaps we’ve had an accident on the pistes or we know someone that has been injured. The nature of 🗻 winter piste sports ie downhill, slippery and varied terrain (some … Continue reading Piste X Code – let’s be safe on the pistes !
Having already re-opened under the L’Oréal Paris label, 💦 Les Thermes de Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc underwent a huge renovation project last year . . . These 💦 thermal baths are nestled in a verdant and bucolic spot at the bottom of 🌳 the Parc Thermal in Le Fayet : 💦 in the gorge du Bonnant and next to the Cascade des Thermes. Steeped in history, … Continue reading Les Thermes de Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc en famille (LE FAYET)
Last winter season, with the remontées mécaniques shut in France, many of us took to new winter sports . . . ski rando had never been so popular, and sledging was a regular outing! Living 🗻 au Pays du Mont-Blanc, even without ski alpin, there are still a multitude of activities around to enjoy ❄️ in wintertime en famille. For now, we’re being told that … Continue reading 10 outdoor activities en famille (apart from ski alpin!) this winter au Pays du Mont-Blanc
[ autumn 2021 update: 🚠 the Téléphérique du Salève is now SHUT for a huge 2 year long renovation programme . . . but you can still visit the iconic ⛰ Salève mountain, either by driving up there or by hiking up / the 🚠 cable car is due to re-open in 2023 ! ] A couple of weekends back, MBFF was kindly invited by … Continue reading Téléphérique du Salève – a day out with superb views of Lac Léman & the Alps! (Etrembières)
Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval (Vallée du Giffre) is known as 💦 the land of 30 waterfalls, and 💦 la Cascade du Rouget figures prominently on that list; in 2009 was voted the most beautiful waterfall 🇫🇷 in France! It is affectionately referred to as 👑 « la reine des Alpes » (the Queen of the Alps). Located at an altitude of 960m, and with its +80m of height set across two … Continue reading La Cascade du Rouget (SIXT-FER-à-CHEVAL)
You LOVE the beautiful ❄️ SNOW, but sometimes you feel frustrated as it is restricts your movements with a buggy? You’re tired of heading to 💦 Lac de Passy (lovely as it is!), where you do loop after loop with a buggy, because you are in need of some ground without ❄️ SNOW ? I’m sure you’re not alone! ❄️ Wintertime can feel ever so LONG … Continue reading BUGGY WALKS: 10 winter ones au Pays du Mont-Blanc
In March 2020, the week before life was to change across the world due to Covid-19, a friend and I had a super morning in Chamonix: we had been invited to try out the 🛷 snooc au ❄ Domaine des Planards! At the time, the ❄ Domaine des Planards was the only ski station 🗻 au Pays du Mont-Blanc set up to use it safely. … Continue reading BAPTÊME SNOOC au DOMAINE des PLANARDS (Chamonix)
A 1km confinement radius is a different surface area for each family . . . some will have access to 💦 a waterfall, others 💦 a river walk, hopefully all can find some 🌿 green space or 🌳🌲 woodland . . . I realised during confinement that I had never written a full article about the 🌳🌲 Bois du Bouchet in Chamonix, which is certainly … Continue reading BOIS du BOUCHET – strolls, bike rides, a parcours d’orientation, snowy options & MORE !
MBFF has had some lovely family walks up at the ❄️ Site Nordique La Livraz in Megève. Not only is this one of 🎿 Megève’s cross-country skiing areas (there are a handful!), it is also a superb spot for ❄️ a family walk in wintertime, especially with young children or older relatives! You can pull little ones along in a 🛷 a luge and the terrain … Continue reading SITE NORDIQUE de la LIVRAZ – cross-country skiing & winter walks (MEGÈVE)
The 🌉 Passerelle Himalayenne in Plateau d’Assy, which straddles the 💦 Nant Bordon ravine and allows you to access the 💦 Lac Vert via the original route du Lac Vert, was inaugurated on the 21st December 2019 . . . and since then, MBFF has been across it (and back) THREE times! On our most recent crossing, some Tibetan prayer flags had been attached to the … Continue reading La Passerelle Himalayenne du Nant Bordon (PLATEAU d’ASSY)
If you live at altitude 🗻 au Pays du Mont-Blanc, it can be a challenge to find a suitable path for buggy walks in nature over the ❄️ winter months: snow, ice, muddy ground underfoot . . . Luckily, if you head down to the Arve Valley, then you’ll descend about 500m in altitude . . . and here you will find our 💦 two … Continue reading WINTER BUGGY STROLLS: Lac de Passy & Lacs des Ilettes
⛷ Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc & Saint Nicolas de Véroce are another two of our family’s favourite ski areas in the area – some broad pistes, some pistes running through the 🌲 fir trees, 🗻 panoramic views of Mont-Blanc, some great off-piste for experienced (and suitably equipped!) skiers in search of powder (especially around Saint-Nicolas de Véroce and Mont-Joly), some fun runs for children . . . And though … Continue reading Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc & Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce SKIING
🗓 December and 🎄 the advent period for me are synonymous with 🍪 BAKING: that wonderful smell coming from the oven (the MBFF family lives in an open plan abode, so sweet smells do drift . . . ) . . . Such a cosy feeling does baking bring me: the aim being to share a sweet treat with loved ones . . . an … Continue reading MBFF CHRISTMAS BAKING (and some beautiful memories)
The 🌲 Paradis des Praz is a natural playground, a hidden jewel cocooned in 🌲 the woods, well-known to families living in the region, but perhaps not to those visiting. As well as being a popular spot in the ☀️ summertime, over the winter school holidays the buvette is also often open – so you can have a magical walk through the ❄️ snowy forest and then warm … Continue reading Paradis des Praz (Les Praz-de-Chamonix)
The ❄️ SNOW is currently falling and draping our 🗻 mountain peaks with dazzling white blankets . . . some ❄️ snowflakes are falling to the ground and forming sparkling white forest carpets, some snowflakes clinging to the 🌲 sapins, before fluttering slowly to the ground . . . . . . 🌟 magical, féerique, ❄️ winter wonderland Narnias everywhere you look 🗻 au Pays du Mont-Blanc! This article … Continue reading FAMILY STROLLS: winter wonderlands au Pays du Mont-Blanc
The ⛷ Domaine Skiable Les Houches – Saint-Gervais is a great spot to ski in the Chamonix Valley. With plenty of gentle pistes to ski en famille, superb Beginner areas and authentic retaurants on the pistes, it’s a winner! Nestled in the heart of the Mont-Blanc massif, ⛷ Les Houches – Saint-Gervais offers spectacular panoramic 360° views of 🏔 Mont-Blanc, Mont Joly, les Aravis, Les Fiz, and les Aiguilles Rouges . … Continue reading Les Houches – Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc SKIING
The MBFF family members are regular visitors to 💦 Lac Vert in Plaine-Joux (Passy), and a visit a couple of🍂 autumns ago reminded me that I should write an article exclusively about this lovely alpine lake! A visit here is a great family day out: a short walk, with fun wooden walkways and some scrambling too, boulders to climb, 🌲 trees and 🏔 snowy mountain peaks reflected … Continue reading Lac Vert (PLAINE-JOUX)
A couple of years ago for 🎄 Christmas, I offered the MBFF family a 🐺 husky dog-sledding outing with 3D Nordic in Praz-sur-Arly. I had noticed that this was to be 3D Nordic’s last ❄️ winter season in Praz-sur-Arly, before they headed off to new adventures in 🇸🇪 Lapland . . . so I seized the opportunity and booked us a baptême chiens de traîneaux! What a … Continue reading 3D NORDIC – chiens de traîneau & canirando (FLUMET)
⛷ Domaine Skiable des Planards, a two minute walk from the centre of town, and with its own 🅿️ FREE parking, is one of Chamonix’s two Beginner ski areas (the other being at the Savoy slopes, connected to ⛷ Domaine Skiable de Brévent). In addition, it is the site of the year-round 🛷 Chamonix-Luge Alpine Coaster, set within the 🌈 Parc des Attractions de Chamonix (re-opens in April). The ⛷ … Continue reading DOMAINE des PLANARDS ski area (Chamonix)
⛷ La Poya is a small family-run ski area in the hamlet of Le Buet (not far from the 🚞 train station), near to Vallorcine. It comprises: two drag lifts; a rope tow for Beginners and a pulley lift for small children; 2km of pistes, including green, blue, red and even a black piste; You can opt for a 🗺 half-day ski pass, at a very reasonable price, … Continue reading LA POYA ski area (Le Buet, Vallorcine)
⛷ La Vormaine, “ the biggest of the small ski slopes “, is the splendid Beginner & Nursery ski area, nestled in the village of 🏔 Le Tour (1432m), next to 🚡 the Charamillon bubble lift. Ski pass options at La Vormaine La Vormaine is a good value ski area, as it allows families to opt for 2h30, 4 hours (often enough with toddlers to entertain!), a day or more, … Continue reading LA VORMAINE beginner & nursery skiing (Le Tour)
The ❄️ FIRST SNOWFALL au Pays du Mont-Blanc . . . when the ❄ first snowflakes arrive, the excitement and delight run high for the whole family: walks knee-deep (or shoulder-deep for the little ones!) in the white fluffy stuff, ❄ snowball fights, ⛄️ making a snowman (or perhaps a snowcat or other snow animal) . . . and 🛷 SLEDGING FUN! With the first ❄️ snowfall of the season, the … Continue reading PISTES de LUGE au Pays du Mont-Blanc (and beyond)
In Vallorcine, you have access to fabulous skiing (via the bubble lifts) at ⛷ Le Domaine Balme-Vallorcine / Le Tour and at the small family-run ski area of ⛷ La Poya in the hamlet of Le Buet. Beginner & Nursery Skiing at La Poya ⛷ La Poya is a family-run ski area in the small hamlet of Le Buet, near to Vallorcine. It comprises: 2 drag … Continue reading Vallorcine SKIING
Though Chamonix isn’t the most obvious ski destination for families with small children, due to extensive ski options for advanced skiers and the lack of ski-in/ski-out accommodation, there are still two main areas dedicated to beginners and small children near the centre of town, and the variety of ski stations and graded pistes available is huge! Beginner and Nursery Skiing ⛷ Le Savoy – this slope is very centrally … Continue reading Chamonix SKIING
Close to Argentière village are two popular and excellent ski stations: ⛷ Balme-Vallorcine / Le Tour; ⛷ Grands Montets . . . Balme-Vallorcine / Le Tour ⛷ Balme-Vallorcine / Le Tour is especially family-friendly, with wide, open pistes and a great number of blue runs, and ⛷ La Vormaine is the splendid Beginner’s area, nestled in the village of Le Tour. Beginner & Nursery Skiing at La Vormaine … Continue reading Argentière & Le Tour SKIING
Mont Blanc Family Fun 