AUTUMN MAY NOT BE THE BEST TIME TO VISIT the French Alps. Summer is over and ski season is months away. Many of the hotels and restaurants close from mid-September until December — even hoteliers need vacations — so we are bunked in Sevrier on picturesque Lake Annecy for a few days.
Lake Annecy
The commute to alpine towns like Courchevel and Chamonix takes longer than usual due to the many road closures — this is the last chance to fix the roads before the snow flies — but we’re in no rush. There are lovely views around every bend in the road — no place to stop, but lovely views nevertheless.
Olympic ski jumps, Courchevel
Even non-skiers have heard of Chamonix, site of the 1924 Olympic Winter Games. Nearby Albertville and Grenoble also hosted the Games and used the runs and jumps of Chamonix and Courchevel. Chamonix is also known for its views of Mount Blanc from the Aiguille du Midi, altitude 3842 meters, nearly 12,000 feet above sea level.
Gondola in Chamonix. The other side of the valley was socked in.
We were ambivalent about taking the gondola ride to the top. True, on a good day you can see the French, Swiss and Italian Alps but the €55 cost is a bit off-putting. Added to that, our favorite Colorado ski area tops out at nearly 13,000 feet, affording pretty good views, too. Our decision was made for us when the clouds closed in. Oh, well, it was -10 on the top with 40 cm of new snow and we no longer have winter duds.
