Abondance and the Fantasticable of Châtel, Savoie, French Alps
Zagan the motorhome’s been doing too much stuff! Arghhhh! Right, OK, good, I can do this. I can sum this up without boring the hell out of everyone. Hmmmm…
OK, we’re currently sat by a telecabin in the Alpine village of Abondance in France (N46.27627, E6.72100). The ski lift is out of use for the summer, and we’ve been asked to park here as the village’s official motorhome aire is being used for Bastille (National) Day celebrations this weekend. As a general rule, ski stations across Europe make great places to head for in summer, as they often have parking, no-one’s fussed by motorhomes being parked there, they’re in beautiful locations, and they’re quite often free. Many of ’em have low cost or free motorhome parking in winter too for that matter!
Motorhome parking by the Essert telecabin station in Abondance
The last blog post came to you from Switzerland, where we had a couple of fantastic nights overlooking the Valais valley and the pure white 4000m peaks beyond. The sensation of cooking tea or knocking up a brew, looking out of the door to my left and getting hit with the view of the monstrous Dent Blanche (the same mountain’s on the medal from the 2018 Zermatt Half Marathon), pumped my blood up and urged me out for another half marathon run up towards the Col de Sanetsch and back. I’ve got a taste for the running now, next up I’m aiming for a full marathon back in the UK then, finger’s crossed, an ultra-distance run or two after that. Watch this space.
Ju knocked out a hill run too – respect! It was warm out there.
The distant 4357m Dent Blanche (White Tooth)
Our aim the morning we left was to head back to France. Why so short a séjour in Suisse? Dunno. The low-cost ACSI rate on the campsites were all ending, so the cost for sites was roughly doubling, but there are a fair few places in Switzerland where they tolerate free camping, or even provide official aires. Our rubbish was starting to stack up though, and 60 litre bin bags were coming in at roughly £3 each in Lidl, as they have a special ‘bin bag tax’ on them. You can’t just chuck your black bin bag in the bins, oh no!
A quick aside: Switzerland’s divided up into cantons, a bit like a small version of the US. The whole country pays a ‘federal’ level of income tax, but you also pay additional income tax which varies according to where you live, which canton your house sits in. So someone in an adjacent village on the same wage as you could easily be paying less income tax than you. If they’re married and you’re single, they’ll pay even less. Also, if you own your own home, you have to add a fictitious ‘rental income’ to your wage, and pay tax on that too. Not that all of this is necessarily a bad thing, as the state clearly looks after its citizens, it’s just interesting to me (more about Swiss taxation here).
Where was I? Oh yeah, bin bags. So, until recently the Valais canton didn’t have special taxed bin bags, which weirdly introduced a sort of ‘rubbish tourism’ as surrounding cantons required the heavily taxed bags. Folks would drive into Valais, chuck their bags into the bins there, and head home, presumably laughing manically. Ha! Valais caught up in 2018 though and voted to introduce the bags, which explains why the campsite we stayed at with Phil and Jules were so shirty about handing ’em out.
Anyway, we fancied heading back into France mostly as it’s just SOOOO EASSSYYY to motorhome around here. The Alps are just as beautiful, the food as delicious, the folks as easy-going and the sun as yellow and hot as Switzerland, so here we rolled, via Lidl, where we discovered mixed nuts, wine, rösti (shredded potatoes) and Swiss cheese were cheaper than France, and stocked up accordingly. Fancying a new route, we headed past the Col du Grand Bernard (which Phil and Jules had used to get into Italy) and the Col de la Forclaz, instead heading west over the smaller Pas de Morgins into the Portes du Soleil ski area and down past Châtel to Abondance for the night (N46.28017, E6.71507).
In Switzerland, heading towards the Zorro-slash of the Col de la Forclaz above Martigny – Lake Geneva is off down the valley to the right of this photo
A tight bridge on the Pas de Morgins, otherwise it was an easy pass to cross
Abondance has an official motorhome aire, a free one at that, although the massive €3.50 charge for the service point irked a few of the commenters on our aires database (really? bring your motorhomes to Britain my friends, we’ll immediately fleece you rotten as soon as your wheels stop turning, and you’ll be loving paying €3.50 for a couple of night’s free parking and 100 litres of water back here in France, LOVING IT!!!). Ahem.
The free aire in Abondance, complete with sat TV reception through a gap in the mountains
Anyway, installed in the aire the satellite dish went straight up (don’t judge us, we could give the TV up at any time if we wanted to – honest), and we checked to make sure we could watch the England-Croatia game. TV says yes, so we waited out the afternoon walking around the village, watching sporadic rock falls on a nearby slope, watching a fellow motorhomer walk his kitten on a lead in the aire, craning our necks at a local bloke’s drone which he was using to measure the car park (and he had a chicken statue stuck to the front of his van), and generally being nervous. We all know what happened next, but the England lads did a fantastic job getting to the semi finals; we bow down before their nerve and skill. Onwards and upwards.
Talking of nerve, during the long wait, Ju had spotted there’s a zip wire back up the valley at a place called Pré la Joux, near Châtel – wonderfully named Fantasticable! As part of dealing with Charlie dying, we’ve been working on what we want to do next in life, seeking out the positives, and one of Ju’s goal list items has long been the Zip World zip line in North Wales. Eyeballing photos of the Fantasticable we agreed: this looks even better, and headed the 30 mins back up the valley. It’s high (very high) above the hamlet of Plaine Dranse, and is in fact two zip lines which take you back and forth above the valley, over the trees, chair lifts, mountains bikers and lakes far below. €36 apiece includes two chair lifts to the start of the first wire, and gives you a decent sick-buzz as you look up and see tiny horizontal figures flying through the air far above. Whhoooooaaaa…..
On the way up to Fantasticable. I was feeling a tad ill at this point.
VTT (mountain bikers) at Pre la Joux, in full-face helmets and with full body armour
If you fancy, and if you and your partner’s weights fall within certain boundaries, you can buddy up and do the zip wires together. We were right on the weight limit (150Kg for both of us), but decided to do it separately anyway. Up at the top we found zero queue, stared down the valley for a minute, then were ushered in to get weighed and harnessed, helmeted and (for me with me specs) goggled up. Ju got ’em to relax the rules and let her hold our GoPro Hero4, so she grabbed the video below, saving us the additional (eye-watering) €13 each for the official photo.
Ju: calm, happy, ready for Fantasticable action! Me: none of the above…
The view down the valley the Fantasticable crosses at between 80 and 100 kph
Ju was first up, as she was too slow in stepping backwards when we were called. Onto the ‘launch stage’ thing, they took the big metal pulley she’d been given and placed it on the wire, then hooked her on, got her to lay down suspended below the wire and push back with her feet onto a ‘stand’ which pulled the harness tight. They then called the station below on a radio, gave them the weight and name of the person ‘flying’, and attached a sort of triangular flag above her, which we guessed was to manage our speed. After asking if she was ready, a safety line was pulled and with what I’d describe as a ‘happy scream’, she was off, flying!
Ready to fly on the Fantasticable!
She’s Flying!
I watched as she turned into a dot, and heard the line buzzing until finally there was a sort of thudding noise, and I was up. At this point the nerves disappeared and I can honestly say the whole experience from that point on was pure serenity. The flight didn’t feel too fast, and I just seemed to float along above the valley, looking down with a sort of detachment at the tiny stuff below, as the air pushed at my face. It really felt like flying, quite an experience! There was some adrenaline when I came into ‘land’ though, as everything suddenly seemed very fast! A kind of ‘aircraft carrier’ mechanism grabs you at the last second and slows you down with a HUMMPPHHH. Cool.
Coming in to land!
Ju was already being hooked up to the second cable above me, and I dragged the big metal pulley thing up there for a quick exchange (she was very happy!) before she was off again on the longer flight across the valley. I followed a few minutes later and after escaping the clutches of the photo-booth-flogger-bloke we giggled our way down the road to the chair lift where we retrieved Ju’s bag from a locker and headed back to the van, watching the gnarly mountain bikers below negotiating the steep burns and jumps of downhill tracks.
Back at base, I had a wee run up to the Col de Bassachaux, about 8 or 9 miles, while Ju cut the above video together and uploaded it on the resorts free WiFi. A bite to eat and we headed off back down the valley again, popping into Intermarche to find its car park washing machines were permanently closed before tracking down a Libre Service launderette in La Chapelle d’Abondance. While the washing washed itself, I made a few forays trying to find the town’s service point, and failing. A second trip to the tourist information office sorted out where it was, and confirmed we could stay the night.
La Chapelle d’Abondance
Washing done we ignored the tourist office and satnav directions along an elbows-in roads through the chalets and shops, and using a map we’d picked up realised we could drive to the roundabout on the edge of the village and come around the back by the ski lifts – the long way so satnav would never choose it. Finally finding other motorhomes we parked up, filled our water bottles from a free fountain, and had a lovely quiet night (N46.292358, E6.783001).
Free motorhome parking at La Chapelle d’Abondance. The service point’s over the bridge behind me, should you happen to be stood in the same place!
This morning we headed back into Abondance, parked up here and walked a few miles up to the trout-filled Lac des Lagnes and back. As a reward we nipped into Le Mont Jorat riverside restaurant for a slap-up 4 course menu du jour, costing us a whole €16 each. We only had a carafe of water to drink, which seems to be fairly normal in France at lunchtime as no-one bats an eyelid, so can’t much complain: two baskets of bread, melon and ham, steak haché and egg-rice, a platter of local cheeses then an apple tart with cream. All delicious, and great service. Bob on – well worth a decent tip!
Lac des Lagnes
Ha, what a great bin-fence!
Phew! Right, that’s it, up to date! I’m signing off folks!
Take it easy, cheers, Jay
Zip wire looks great. Wish we had more time but we’re heading north to Calais this week. Our paths may cross as we are not too far from you (Just east of Lyon). We’ll be in and around Dijon/Troyes/Reims between now and Wed 18th. We’re going to see what happens tomorrow on the 14th in St Genix sur Guier for now.
See you soon maybe
Lee Humberto
Looks like we might not pass this time as we’re hanging around further south for the Tour de France. Enjoy the rest of your adventure. x
I rode Alpe d’Huez yesterday. I’m keen to see if Chris Froome can do it even quicker without mudguards, 2″ tyres, pannier racks and a total absence of preparation.
They say he’s good….We’ll see.
Just seen a constant stream of our de France traffic heading South to you as we headed North past Dijon. The usual stuff, cars like giant Oranges, cars like huge BIC but is, loads of McCain oven chip vehicles and team vehicles. I’m sad to miss it because I loved the insanity of it all in Nuits st George last year.
Enjoy.
We’re back to reality in 3 days. 2 nights in Troyes then a Britstop near Ashford….then….spreadsheets. F***kety heck!
Bring it on! Helicopters overhead all day here but they’re probably just shifting folks about. The lady’s race comes through about 12, then the caravan and the riders about 5pm. Planning on running up the Col early, then relaxing for a bit before the drama starts! Safe trip back fella, cheers, Jay
That ‘flight’ looks great. My friends bought me two days of zip lining in Wales and Velocity was fantastic. I got to the bottom and wanted to go straight back up! But your scenery is better than a slate quarry.
Ah yes, that “oh sh**, we’re miles behind with the blog” feeling; we know it well 😂 Many thanks for making the effort, we avid readers do appreciate it (though we may not say it often enough…). The Zip Wire looked great fun, and as Maggie says, much better scenery than the slate quarry. Much cheaper too!
Ah, yep, was over 30 degrees in here and there was too much to write! Blogging can be a chore at times, but having all those memories written down is priceless for us. Even after 7 years we’re not entirely sure why anyone reads any of it though! Cheers for the kind words, Jay
You are both so brave!! I really don’t think I could do that zip wire….a cable car was enough for me!
I wasn’t feeling very brave at the top Lorraine! But the Obstacle is the Way, we had to do it, and it turned out to be a great experience (don’t they always?). Keep pushing on guys, cheers, Jay 😀
Loved your picture at La chapelle d’abondance as we were parked in almost the exact same spot on our first foray abroad in our motorhome back in April. We were slowly working our way to Monaco and actually managed to park there in an underground car park in our Autotrail Dakota. We’re both avid readers of your blog and find it both interesting and useful, so keep blogging! After 10 weeks roaming round France, we returned to Heage, not far from you we believe.
P.S.just seen your picture at Le Reposoir, we were there on the 1st of May and were the only ones in the aire lol
Ah! Every man and his dog here at the moment! The locals are guiding all the additional arrivals into nooks and crannies around the village and surrounding area. All the vaguely flat spaces on the col are gone. Vive le Tour! Vive la France! Allez Les Bleus!! :-) Keep on trucking guys, sounds like you had a great tour. Jay
Great adventures and so well written, loving your journey from my office in Bradford. Counting down the months (well year) keep exploring.
Cheers Mike, keep pushing on mate, a year will pass in the blink of an eye. Cheers, Jay
Hi Both – this post reminds me of a time when we stayed in a little village nr. Abondance called Frogy (no jokes please) – beautiful area. This was pre Hilma days so you’ve reminded me I must get back there – THANKYOU.
PS – I fished the lake – caught nothing – did you try the local cheese? YUMMY
Hi Ian, we might have tried the local cheese! We had a selection with a menu du jour, which may well have included local stuff. It was all delicious though! Cheers, Jay
Zip wire looks like great fun, my children would love that! Also, great idea going to a ski resort in the summer, my favourite ever scenery is mountains, and it makes total sense to take advantage of the huge car parks that are there for people to use whilst skiing in the ski season. Maybe we will do that next year!