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Chamonix Activity Report: 6th July 2012

Hardcore high altitude relaxation, hitting the spas in Chamonix

featured in Activity reviews Author Alison Shayler, Chamonix Reporter Updated

After last week's heatwave the weather in Chamonix took a turn for the worse on Monday with grey skies and intermittent bursts of rain making mountain activities not very appealing, so we decided to treat ourselves to a spa day.

There are plenty of places in Chamonix and nearby where you can pamper yourself, even crossing over into Switzerland or Italy if you want to make a day out of it, but we stayed local and visited the Hotel Aiglons in Chamonix Sud. For 22.50€ you can enjoy a two course lunch (starter and main, or main and dessert) and unlimited use of the outdoor pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room; or just take a pile of trashy magazines along and zone out on the sun loungers... Lunch is served from midday to 2pm and we recommend reserving a table as it can get busy, you can eat in the stylish dining room or if the weather is good then ask for a table on the terrace - the views are stunning and the poolside location feels very “St Tropez” chic!

The Lunch & Spa package offers a set menu with two starter options, two main course options and a choice of cheese or desserts. On the day that we went we could have had either an artichoke veloute or a feta salad to start but we all saved ourselves for dessert and went straight in with a main course of either duck or fish. The French name for the fish was maigre and the English translation was "croaker", neither of which any of us had heard of! I went for the mystery fish dish and found it to be similar to cod but much chunkier and more dense, it was cooked beautifully and served in an unusual but tasty tapenade sauce with wilted spinach; the duck was cut into thin slices and served in a mild spicy sauce with sweet potato mash, it seemed to go down a treat and the girls who tried it said that it was quite rich and more filling than it looked. Three of us opted for the cheeseboard instead of dessert and the other two went for the crème caramel; there was also faisselle (kind of a cross between Greek yoghurt and cottage cheese) with a red fruit coulis to choose from. Considering the same menu would cost you 31€ for all three courses if you went of an evening, I think that 22.50€ for 2 courses and use of the spa is great value! You can also pay extra for beauty treatments and different types of massages, one of the girls had ran in the Mont Blanc Marathon the day before so she had a relaxing massage, whereas one of the girls was feeling the effects of a few too many late nights so she treated herself to a facial. Both were impressed and thought that they were not badly priced; I'd definitely go again now that I've tried it out and it would make a lovely birthday treat for someone, you can find out more and visit their website here.

The weather has been as up and down as a teenager's mood swings this week, Monday was wet and gloomy, Tuesday and Wednesday were hot and sunny, Thursday poured down and today is not looking too promising so far. It may sound very British, banging on about the weather, but it influences a lot in Chamonix. Wet weather for example writes off any rock climbing plans you might have had, heavy cloud and fog make high mountain adventures a bad idea, etc... However there is always something to do, especially if you are the proud owner of a cagoule and a pair of sturdy boots.

One of my fail-safe walks is the one from Vallorcine back to Chamonix, via Col des Montets and Argentière. You take a train or bus to Vallorcine, which is free with your carte d'hôte (ask your accommodation host), cross over to behind the railway station and head off through the meadows in the direction of Le Buet. You are tucked deep into the narrow end of the valley at this point, so the mountains soar up steeply on either side making the scenery very dramatic with giant moss-covered boulders scattered around the meadows like almighty ancient marbles. Once you are at Le Buet you can take the option of crossing over the road and following the footpath opposite the train station to the Cascade de Bérard, walking there and back again will only add another 30 minutes or so to the route and once you are there you will find a bridge that crosses over a fierce crashing waterfall. You used to be able to walk through a tunnel and stand under a big slab of rock behind the waterfall but they've blocked it off now due to the big slab that was perched overhead getting a bit wobbly... it's still very impressive though! Once back at Le Buet you should cross back over to behind the train station and follow signs to the Col des Montets, where there are paths on either side of the road with little signs to tell you what the different plants and flowers are called. This is part of the Aiguilles Rouges nature reserve and there is a visitor centre that has a variety of stuffed local creatures (all lived full and happy lives before dying of natural causes apparently) and lots of information about the geology of the area; there are also toilets and a little café.

From here you should continue along the opposite side of the road to the visitor centre and bear off to the left when you see signs for Tre-le-Champ and Argentière; Tre-le-Champ is a tiny but very pretty hamlet of chalets with a stream running alongside, it has a stone water trough which has seen many a dunking on hotter days and is handy for filling up camelbaks and drinking bottles. Once we arrived in Argentière we had a little wander round the village and then decided to get the bus back to Chamonix as the rain had become more determined. You can however carry on along either of the Petit Balcon trails on the north and south sides of the valley, both take about an hour and a half and are fairly easy.

The nice thing about this walk is that you are never more than half an hour away from civilisation in case the weather turns really nasty, there are cafés at Vallorcine, Le Buet, Cascade de Bérard, Col des Montets and Argentière; we took a picnic along and ate it near the Col des Montets visitor centre before popping inside for hot chocolates. There are a few nice places in Argentière to stop for lunch, so you can always take a break there while you decide whether to carry on or take the bus/train home.

I accidentally bought a new road bike this week and had my inaugural ride yesterday; I took no photos though and saw nothing of the route other than the back of the person in front of me as I was concentrating very hard indeed on changing gear at the right time without releasing my white knuckle death-grip on the curly handlebars and not having to stop and contend with scary clip-in pedals. I think I enjoyed it though, so once I've learned to relax a little I'll find some good local routes to try and nice destinations to aim for. The Savoie Mont Blanc tourist board is running a new scheme this summer where certain cols (mountain passes) will be closed to traffic for the day so that cyclists can have the road to themselves, you can find dates and locations here.

In the meantime, the weather is supposed to pick up again for the weekend so there may well be some rock climbing on the cards. Or I may just have a mighty hangover due to the lethal combination of a girls' night out combined with the summer reopening of Le Choucas, Chamonix's only “night pub” that stays open until 5am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays! Check our calendar for details of other events in Chamonix this week.