Exploring Rhine Valley and Ardennes

Walk along Moselle

During the summer of 2024, we made a last-minute plan to visit the Rhine Valley in Germany and the Ardennes region in Belgium. We didn't have much of a plan to start with but ended up having a nice time, exploring places on the go. We first drove to Alken, stopping on the way along the Rhine, in Bonn. We stayed there for 2 days exploring the area around. Then we drove to Nexhelet in Belgium and spent 2 days there, exploring the towns of Crupet and Namur. And while coming back to Amsterdam, we stopped in Brussels. It was a short trip but typical of a driving Euro trip where you can experience interesting things on the way, making it a memorable trip, always.


Day 1 - Drive to Alken, with stop at Bonn

The drive through Germany was very different than the Netherlands. It was greener and (of course) had more mountains. I also touched 225 kmph while driving on the autobahn, my record speed till date! It's an exhilarating experience but also dangerous I must say. It takes so long to slow down your car after reaching those speeds, that if you don’t have a lot of space to do that, its extremely dangerous.

Tesla stop in Bonn

On the way, we stopped at a Tesla supercharger in Bonn, next to the Rhine. And what a spot that was. We ate lunch at the Rohmuhle restaurant overlooking the river while waiting for the car to charge. And there was a nice riverside promenade all along the Rhine where people were walking and cycling. It was such a nice location, we spent a lot longer there than planned.

Thereafter, the drive in Rhine valley all the way to Alken was fabulous – in the valley, with green mountains on both sides, the river alongside, castles on the hilltops, tons of vineyards on the mountainside and small picturesque villages every few minutes. The whole drive felt right out of a painting, an absolutely delightful experience.

Castle view from airbnb

Once we reached our airbnb, we realised it was right on the Moselle river with a view of the river in front and the Alken castle behind. It was a very comfortable apartment and quite a relief given we had booked it just a couple of days before.

Alken

In the evening, we got out to explore our village and walk outside a bit. Alken was so cosy; so old and well lighted and full of people. The main village had a row of restaurants and hotels, the lighted castle behind, the boats in the river and the twinkling of the villages across the river, it was just so dreamy along the walk.

Flowers up the mountainside

We climbed a mountain which was lined with blue flowers, to get a better view of the sunset and the river. And then we kept walking to the next village, Oberfell. It was just so picturesque, so idyllic everywhere.



Day 2: Exploring around Alken

Morning run to Lof

We spent the whole day lazily around the neighbourhood only. I first went for a run along the river. It was foggy when I left but cleared up and got hot and sunny soon. It actually felt difficult to run fast. I ran through some vineyards, crossed the bridge and reached the neighbouring village of Lof. It was quite charming. And then on the way back I just walked into one of the vineyards up the hill. It was quite an interesting walk. I saw so many people either cycling along the river or in the water swimming and kayaking. There were also many river cruises on the river, stopping at places on the way. During the day, it felt like a place for an active holiday.

Walking in Alken

In the afternoon, we walked into town and went to the nearest winery, Hammes Anton. They had a nice open air restaurant and a very friendly staff. We had lunch sitting in the sun, while chatting with their owners. They mostly grew white wine, Riesling being the most common in the area. Their family had owned the vineyards for the last 300 years. But as enviable as their life looked to us, it turned out their children had chosen a different life, they chose to work and live in the city. So the old owners were looking to sell their vineyard once they retired as their children were unwilling to look after it 😔. It felt a bit sad to hear about that. Anyways, after an amazing lunch there, we explored the town a bit but then went back to our airbnb to sleep as it had got too hot.

Evening walk

In the evening we again went out for a long walk along the river. We passed Oberfell, and past yachts parked along the river. Then there was a long wild green patch. There were wildflowers all along. We saw a gorgeous sunset and the night sky was stunning too. After sunset, we decided to turn back. A huge cruise ship which had been parked all day outside our Airbnb had also left by then. It had been such a nice day and I totally fell in love with this area- the Rhine valley. With mountains, hiking, biking, a river, river cruises, small villages, vineyards and wine tasting. It has everything.


Day 3: Drive to Nexhelet in Belgium, visit to Verviers, Huy

Riverside walk

I wanted to spend more time in the Rhine Valley but we were not able to extend our accommodation. So, we left for Ardennes in Belgium while looking for places to stay on the way there. We first drove along the Moselle to the village of Brodenbach to check out a viewpoint. Then we just walked in the village along the river, it was so serene. Wildflowers in the sun, still but flowing water, boats idling away and some tourists walking along enjoying the sun. I feel warm just thinking of that scene

Yellow fields

We kept driving along the river for some more time - it was just stunning. Beautiful small villages on the way, green fields along the hillsides. As we left the Rhine valley, we stopped twice at sarson khets near the village of Landkern (actually we later realised they were rapeseed fields). And of course we stopped there, for DDLJ sake 😁 .

As we kept driving, slowly the landscape changed to Belgian - softer rounder hills with lot of greenery and small colourful towns with orange roofed buildings. The trees all had different shades of green, from the bright green to dark. And there was a lot of maroon too. We drove through valleys. And bridges crossing them. And villages all around. And we kept driving…

We first stopped at a small village looking for lunch but turned out no restaurants were open at 2:30pm in the countryside 😁. So we stopped at the Verviers Tesla supercharger. We ate there, bought chocolates and shopped at the local supermarket. Verviers looked like a gorgeous city too when we later drove through. We reached our Nexhelet hotel in the afternoon. It turned out to be a fancy golf resort, surrounded by rolling green hills and some villages far off. But somehow, we weren't impressed by the hotel.

So we drove to a nearby village, Huy for dinner. It was a biggish town, with a river and lovely bridges. There was an old church we walked past. As it was already dark, we didn’t explore much and stopped for dinner at the Brasserie. As it was a tiring day, we came back and crashed soon. And it turned out that night, as a rare event, the northern lights had been visible in Belgium! I am sure we could have seen it where we were, given the sky was so clear, with no night pollution but alas we were sleeping and missed it 😔.


Day 4: Exploring around Nexhelet, visits to Crupet and Namur

We searched for a few places to explore nearby and made a plan for the day, but in the end ended up having an outstanding experience with an unplanned stop. And that's just what Euro trips are about.

First, I went for a run in the morning around the hotel and its surroundings. There were loads of farms and small villages around. It was green and grand all around. This place is so idyllic. As I kept running up and down the hills, I landed at some residential school which shoo-ed me away when I reached there.

The hotel turned out to be quite a fancy hotel. When I came back from my run, there were some 10 Lamborghinis parked outside. And some car washers had driven there to wash all of them. I once thought of asking them to wash my humble Tesla but could not muster enough courage to ask 😁. There were so many groups of people playing golf. And everyone and everything felt so proper and boring! It’s interesting how we feel sometimes that we want a particular kind of life but when we come closer, it doesn’t feel as appealing, this was one of those moments. 

Airfield

Anyways after this idyllic morning, we left looking for some restaurants. There were beautiful villages on the hills but around somehow no restaurants nearby. After turning up at a few closed or non existent restaurants, we randomly landed up at a flying school where people were coming to spend the day to take out their planes and practice flying them. Some were flying their microlites and some were hand gliding. And they had a small cafe there, La Piste Maillen, offering limited but tasty food options for visitors all through the day. We had such a lovely afternoon just sitting outside and enjoying the planes going for their spins, while also finding food to eat after 2:30pm 😁.

Crupet castle

We next drove to the village of Crupet, in Wallonia. It was a small village with a cute little castle surrounded by water, some old hotels and beautiful houses everywhere. We walked around a bit along the stream up the hill and the city centre. I also went into the grotto for a bit. It was to be honest quite average, but a good change from the typical very touristy places we usually visit.

Our next visit was to the town of Namur where there were some festivals going on. We walked a bit around the old town and citadel, which is on a small island surrounded by rivers on both sides. It was a good stop, but nothing major to write about. Back at the hotel, we spent some time outside at night, waiting for northern lights to appear, but they did not humour us tonight.


Day 5 - Back to Amsterdam, with stop in Brussels

On the drive back, we stopped at Brussels as my friend hadn't been there before. She saw the Banksy museum, apparently it was quite good. Then we just walked around the old city centre. It was actually quite lively. We spent some time there and then after this short stop, we drove back to Amsterdam, with the drive back being as boring as always.

Brussels

Overall, I enjoyed my time in the Rhine valley, and would love to visit again. Its a definite recommend.

Lounging in Agonda, Goa

‘Goa’, the word that evokes so many emotions in all us Indians. The place of warm waters, of beaches, of palm trees, of fun, of relaxation. Of something different than India, in India. Its interesting that the state still has a fuzzy effect on us all. I always think if I live in India, I would like to be in Goa, with its chill holiday charm all year long.

View from our bungalow

This was my fifth visit to Goa and as usual, every visit has been different. The feel of different parts of the state are different, and I am still discovering all its varying vibes. (Staying in the forests of Goa is still on my to-dos, but the beaches have such a strong allure that the forests keep getting deprioritised, every time). 

This time we decided to stay at a south Goa beach, Agonda (well to be honest, it was one of the few places we could find on the beach given we were booking so late!). Agonda is not on the most popular beaches list, so it was relatively quiet and authentic. We had booked a room in one of the many small setups lining the beach. And the holiday turned out to be just what we expected – relaxed, slow and rustic.

We landed at Panjim, and rented a car from there to drive to our beach. The person whose car we took looked shady. He gave us his car without much paperwork, and we still think it may have been a stolen one. We were never able to figure out who was the owner of the car, as every time a different person spoke to us on the phone 😁.

The drive south was through lot of greenery, palm trees and in between passing through small villages. The roads were quite narrow and traffic was mostly single lane, slow traffic. Though at times we were on some highway with better roads. We drove through many local villages full of old churches. And I loved the old colourful houses lining the roads all through. Life in these villages feels so rural, so different than what we imagine the touristy Goa to be like, the contrast is quite stark.

Rustic Goa

Agonda beach is next to the village where the locals live. They seem to be involved in fishing looking at the number of boats there. When we parked our car, it felt like we were inland, with small rivers around. Nothing about it seemed fancy. But when we got to the beach, it was different. 

Our bungalow

The beach is lined with beach huts all along. They are all small enterprises, probably by people living in the village. Each one got a small piece of land on the beach and has built their own huts and bungalows to rent out to tourists. And in between the bungalows are loads of restaurants. Most of the restaurants are open air, and people sit inside or on the beach for dinner. This beach had enough tourists but not too many.

We were staying at Agonda beach villas, in a sea-facing bungalow. It was a single room, simply furnished but very comfortable. And we had an open bathroom, with no roof! That’s always so unnerving. We had a balcony overlooking the sea, where I sat most of the time unless it got too hot to be there. Though on a crowded beach, we always felt close to nature, as we had many palm trees all around. And we heard the sounds of birds, (and lot of crows) all day long.

Agonda beach

In the evening, we went for a long walk on the beach at sunset. We have an amazing Goan fish dinner at Simrose and then walked back all the way. And then we slept to the sound of the waves all night long. It was quite loud actually.

Agonda beach

The morning was still warm but the sun was fogged out every morning. And there were many cows and dogs on the beach. It looks like at night, all the local animals come and sleep on the beach. And leave during the day when the tourists arrive. It was quite a sight actually, I have never seen so many animals on a beach like this.

Goan huts

We had plans to do many things in Goa, including check out some holiday homes to buy. But there is something in the air of Goa that all plans go out of the window and you end up just ‘being’. Our first day, we chilled on the balcony and then went out for a walk in the neighbouring village. We just walked wherever the road took us and it was such a surreal experience.

Goan huts

Walking through a village with colourful bungalows, yellow, orange, pink, blue all along the road. Every house was huge, surrounded by palm trees and had a garden with loads of flowers and fruit trees. And everywhere there was so much undergrowth, tropical vegetation and all. And it felt like such a good life, what we all aspire for. Living in a warm place, with nature, forests, hills and beaches around. Sigh. It did get too hot too quickly, so we walked back to the AC in our bungalow and enjoyed a Goan siesta all afternoon. In the evening, we again just walked on the beach and ate at a local restaurant, the Mariposa. The food here wasn’t as good as the previous day though.

Palolem beach

The next day was the Cricket World Cup final between India and Australia and all morning we spent finding a good beach sports club to watch the match. We finally found the Big Bull bar on Palolem beach and drove there to watch the match. The beach has changed now, it’s become happening and commercial. When I had last visited in 2009, it was still slow and relaxed. But now it is lined with eating joints, hotels and crowded with people. It was tough to drive there and find a parking spot. But we managed.

Anyways the highlight of the day was the cricket match which wasn’t going our way. We watched half the match there and dejected, came back to Agonda. When some wickets went our way, we found ourselves at the Coco Nest watching the rest of the match with the local crowd. It was a nice experience to watch a match sitting outside, but the match result didn’t go our way, and so the excitement waned. So we came back dejected to our rooms, still not believing that after beating everyone convincingly throughout the series, we lost so badly in the finals.

Bliss

Anyways the next day was our last day in Goa. I went for a last swim in the sea, and was surprised to see that the water was warm even in the morning. (After living in Europe for so long, warm waters in the morning seem like an impossibility). After the swim, it was time to return to the hustle bustle of city life. As always, it was quite a relaxed time we had in Goa. And to the next time…

In the village of Ely

Ely Cathedral

In the summer on 2023, I made a trip to the UK and spent a few days with a friend in Cambridge. Unfortunately, I caught flu on the second day but the first day I explored Cambridge and a nearby village called Ely. And it turned out to be such a hidden and unknown gem.

Village of Ely

We took a short train from Cambridge to get to Ely. It was a cute little sleepy town with a famous cathedral and lot of canals around, enough to spend a nice day walking its streets. And it was nice to see so many tourists around too. 

Ely cathedral

We first explored the old town. We walked past King’s Ely, a famous old school from the 900s, an old Bishop's house and then came to the imposing Ely cathedral overlooking everything in town. It was grand from the inside, decorated with a fully painted roof and stained glass all around. It was just spectacular in its beauty and scale. And the outside was stunning too. Apparently, this cathedral (and town) had a prominent place in medieval times but lost its importance later. The other famous spot in town is the famous politician, Oliver Cromwell's house.

Inside the cathedral

There are loads of such charming little Jane Austen-esque buildings all around. We walked into one such place for coffee, the Poet's house. It felt quite relaxing to just sit in such surroundings and have tea. Apparently, the town was originally built on an island, and therefore has a lot of canals around. There were many river distributaries around too, many of which have been reclaimed. 

Ely riverside

After exploring the town, we walked to the riverside, and it was quite fascinating.. There were lot of pubs and restaurants to hang around there. And of course lot of boats 😊. We walked around a bit, all the way till the fields out of town and then were off to Cambridge.

 

Cambridge

Cambridge is always a pleasure to be in, to walk by the river around the colleges. We had dinner there, amazing Korean food. Guess given the diversity of students here, the food places are also diverse and tasty. The main student area felt quite active but as soon as you get out of the main student area, it's so quiet and peaceful. As if you've come to another place itself. Overall, we had a nice ‘countryside ‘day there and I can't wait to be back for more such leisure days.

Long weekend in the Ardennes region

Our chalet in Ardennes

In the summer of 2023, I finally got a chance to spend a long sunny weekend in the Ardennes region, an area of deep forests and rolling hills, spread out across three countries - France, Belgium and Luxembourg. It was a lovely driving trip over 4 days. On the way there, we stopped in the mountain resort of Valkenburg and in the student town of Maastricht while driving back. In Ardennes, we spent one day walking around and visiting (apparently) the smallest city in the world, Durbury. And the second day, we visited Luxembourg City.

I loved my time there, relaxing while being surrounded by nature. And the chalet we were staying at was another highlight of this trip. It was such an idyllic weekend, and so close to Amsterdam, that I could see myself going there again for sure (though that never happened 😁).


Driving to Ardennes, through Valkenburg 

It is a 4 hour drive from Amsterdam to Durbury, though it took us a lot longer due to rains on the way. The first part of the drive was through dried out vegetation as it had been a hot summer. The second part got greener though. And for the first time I saw hills in the Netherlands (yes they exist!) in the province of Limburg. So we decided to have a lunch stop in the hilly town of Valkenburg. And what a stunning stop it was.

As usual it was a rainy day, and I timed our stop so that we could spend the non-rainy hours exploring the town. We had lunch next to the city walls, with a view of the hills around. At the restaurant, we ran into a waiter who knew a lot about India, its culture and history, and chatted with us through our lunch about it. It was such a welcome surprise, I would never have expected to find someone who knows about India in such a small restaurant in a small town like Valkenburg.

Valkenburg city walls

After lunch, we walked around the old town. It was such a gorgeous little place, with a castle, a moat and city gates all around. And there were colourful flowers everywhere. The old town was full of grand buildings, all made of yellow stone. All around there were huge city gates. After that, we walked up the hill to the castle ruins and loved the views of the town from the top – they were stunning.

We spent some time in the high street, it was lined with charming shops, restaurants and hotels. The wares being sold there was quite nice actually. Apparently, Valkenburg is quite a popular resort in the Netherlands and that showed in the good quality of stuff being sold there. We walked into a shop selling the famous cuckoo clocks from Blackforest and ended up buying one! Another surprise for us, as we wouldn’t have expected it.

City gates of Valkenburg

The people here felt different too, they were less tall than the Northern Dutch and appeared less fit too. They spoke in a softer tone and were warmer. I now understand why the North and South Dutch say that they have different cultures. I felt the same about the people here too.

We were supposed to have a very short stop at Valkenburg but ended up spending 3 hours exploring the town, it was just so inviting. We didn’t want to leave but had to, and its good we left when we did, because by the time we left, it started raining again! After that, we also got stuck in a thunderstorm on our way to Belgium. There was a heavy downpour and the highway was flooded with water. For some time, we could barely see the road or the cars ahead of us. It was a bit scary, but thankfully all the cars started driving slowly and we all made it out safely. It was still quite an interesting experience to drive on a highway with such heavy rains when you can’t see anything.


Our accommodations

View outside our chalet

We reached Durbury still in daylight and got a chance to look around our accommodation for a bit. We had booked a chalet at Sunclass Durbury – a vacation bungalow park in Ardennes. It was a green wooded area with secluded wooden chalets spread out across the park, surrounded by trees and greenery. It felt like we were very close to nature, living a simple life nestled in the the woods. But with all modern amenities. The vacation park was managed by a company and had many facilities including an indoor pool. We loved our stay there, waking up to the chirping of birds. And eating our meals in the outdoors, under the trees. Even though it was summer and very hot during the day, the mornings and evenings got a bit chilly. But we still ate outside every time, to just enjoy the nature all around.


Day out in Durbury

Walk to Durbury

Our first day, we walked about 4kms from our bungalow park to the town of Durbury. It was a sunny day and so was fun to be in nature and the countryside. We walked through an adventure valley and then along a small river all the way to Durbury. There was such a vibrant green colour all around, every turn was just picture perfect.

Durbury

The city was small and quaint. Most of the houses were built of a grey coloured stone and had an eerie look to it. Once at the city, we walked through the main street, past a castle to a waterfall. And spent some time there. There were a few food festivals going on and loads of people enjoying the summer everywhere. It was just so idyllic, we just spent some time walking around and exploring the place. The heat got to us though, and we rested the rest of the day in our chalet.

Durbury along the river

Our bungalow park did not have an electric charging point. So in the evening we drove around a bit looking for one and found one next to a random restaurant along the road. While waiting for the car to be charged, we walked to the neighbouring village of Petite Han, and took a walk in the village. Even that was such a surprise. There were these huge palacious houses in that village, most of which looked empty. Still it was impressive to see a random village somewhere like this offer such luxurious living.


Day out in Luxembourg

Radhadesh

Some of our friends lived in Luxembourg and we thought of visiting them during the day, covering another country too 😀. On our way to Luxembourg, we first stopped at Radhadesh, the European headquarters of the Hare Rama Hare Krishna mission. It was located right next to our bungalow park. We had seen the boards earlier and somehow couldn’t believe it, so went for a visit anyways. Radhadesh is a huge castle type chalet located atop a small hill, with green grounds all around, and some houses in the neighbouring area for people to stay.

Radhadesh

We had breakfast there which was simple tasty Indian food. And free. The volunteers were cooking and serving us food. It was quite a nice experience. After that we went into the castle which was decorated like a Hindu temple. They had photos of Indian gods and their teachings on the walls. There were a few other places to see nearby, so we explored it for a bit. It was quite a surprise to run into such a place in the middle of nowhere in Belgium.

Terrace of Europe

After that, we were on our way to Luxembourg. It was a 2 hour drive through forests, hills and charming villages everywhere. And then we were in Luxembourg. It is a very small but extremely rich country. You can sense it as soon as you enter it, the roads and infrastructure all around is much better. Also all public transport in the country is free – buses, trains, everything. All public transport is also electric.

Luxembourg City

The capital city of Luxembourg, called Luxembourg City is spread out all along a valley with steep cliffs on both sides. The old city with its grand buildings are all along this valley, the rest is spread out on the top. After lunch at our friend’s, we took the local bus into town which apparently is also the scenic route bus. The entry into the city is impressive, you go down a valley and see the whole city spread out in front of you. The first view is quite spectacular and rich. All the buildings are grand and well maintained. And you can see a few castles all around.

Shopping street

We got off at the main bridge, and walked towards the city centre. We explored some of the shopping streets and the main market square. It was clear from the stuff being sold in the flea market, that this was a rich country. As was visible from the other shops too, they had a lot of good expensive stuff.

 

Adolphe bridge

We crossed the Adolphe Bridge to the other side of the valley and took another bus, no 13, and then tram no 1, from one end of town to the other. The city was pretty actually, simple and pretty. There were grand houses all the way. And the bus at the end goes into charging after every trip. It almost felt like we were in a toy city. We stopped at a park for a bit too, to rest from the sun.

We walked past a few of the places listed on the to-dos for Luxembourg City - Terrace of Europe, Grand Ducal palace, Place de Armes, Golden Lady (Monument of remembrance) and Notre Dame cathedral (which was closed) - but to be honest nothing was striking. And thus the trip to this country was over.


Driving back, through Maastricht

Maastricht along the river

While driving back, the weather was better and we saw gorgeous Belgium without a thunderstorm ruining our view. We stopped in the student town of Maastricht for a break but were unimpressed with the town. We visited the market square and did some local shopping. Then walked along the river and saw loads of churches everywhere. There wasn’t a lot more else to do there actually.

So we didn’t stop there long. And kept driving back to Amsterdam. On the way, we stopped at a random place on the way for lunch, at a lake called Strand in s-Hertogenbosch. It was full of people enjoying the sun, swimming and just enjoying the good weather. And this is what I will miss about the Netherlands the most – the Dutch know how to enjoy good weather, by being active and in nature. After the stop, we drove on towards Amsterdam. The rest of the drive was the same old, flat Netherlands.

Living in nature

Overall, I loved our trip to the Ardennes, the simplicity of nature it offers. Definitely a place I would recommend for weekend trips from the Netherlands.

Skiing in Chamonix valley

Chamonix valley

This year we went skiing to the Chamonix valley, a French resort we had heard about for years but somehow never managed to get to. I always perceived it to be a very tough resort to ski in, and to be honest the first day felt like that too. But once we got the hang of it, it turned out to be a breeze and we had a fabulous time there. Of course a major reason for our enjoyable trip was the awesome weather we had - sunny and double digits temperature every day! But the gorgeous valley views and diverse mountain slopes definitely added to our experience.

We stayed in Argentiere for about 5 days. It is a small little ski village located somewhere in the middle of the Chamonix valley. The whole valley is made up of multiple ski resorts – Brevent (near Chamonix), Flegere (near the village of Les Praz), Grands Montets (near the village of Argentiere), Domaine de Balme (near the village of Le Tour), Courmayeur (in Italy), Verbier and many more. All the resorts are connected by a convenient bus network and we ended up skiing at Brevent-Flegere, Grands Montets and Le Tour over the 5 days we were there. And each of these resorts had their own unique feel and experience.


The skiing experience

View from airbnb

We took a night flight to Geneva and then a taxi to Argentiere. It took us about 2 hours to reach the village. The views outside our chalet were stunning - snow covered mountains and wooden chalets in front. The location was perfect too as we were staying right by the ski lifts. So the next day, it was a breeze to rent skis, get the passes and off we went.

No snow in villages

This year was a low snow year, there wasn't enough snow even by the end of January as the weather had been extraordinarily warm – temperatures were in double digits for all of December and January. So even when it was to snow, there was rain instead and the snow melted. The slopes of Chamonix are at a relatively higher height, so the snow up the peaks was ok but skiing all the way down to the villages wasn't always possible. And apparently a lot of other resorts are having a shorter skiing season this year. It's definitely not a good sign for the years to come - climate change is real and closer than we think.

To make it easy for us, we went up the nearby Grands Montets slopes on the first day. And in hindsight it wasn't a good move, at all. Of all the resorts in the valley, it had the toughest slopes. One because most of them were narrow and steep. But also because that side of the mountain does not get much of sunlight. So given the warm weather and the recent rains, there was a lot of slush and ice here. I was also skiing only the second time since 2020, so was a bit rusty too.

We started the day with the blues and had a difficult time navigating the slopes. I fell many many times all day, even on blues! We went down the same blue slope 5 times to get some confidence but every time it was tough. All the slopes were too icy and slushy that day, it felt like they were good only for the experts. And once I even fell and skid for a few metres down a slope, when my skis almost fell off the slopes! It was a massive kick to our confidence as we thought we knew how to ski but that day made us feel we had learnt nothing in all our years of skiing 😳.

There weren't a lot of blues up the mountain and we had no confidence to go on the reds. So we felt quite limited too as the only slopes we could go on, we sucked at. The day felt quite brutal to be honest and we were doubting if we had made the right choice to even come to this resort. I also was doubting how we will make it through the next 4 days if each day would be like this. I don't know how we navigated the day but we came back home with a bruised ego. And a very low morale.

Valley views

The positive side was that the views of Argentiere below and the whole valley were absolutely stunning. The sun was out all day. And we had lunch at the Plan Joran restaurant which had a beautiful view around. Every day after that got better though. And our confidence kept getting a boost slowly and slowly.

The next day I took a bus to the neighbouring village of Les Praz from where you can take the gondola up to the slopes. It was just a 10 mins bus ride from Argentiere and quite convenient to get there. The village below didn't have much snow for January given the warm winter but the peaks were full of soft snow.

The slopes of Brevent and Flegere resorts are linked through a gondola and so there are many more slopes here. Also the variety was more than Grands Montets with enough blues and reds. And even some greens! So I started with greens (after years) and only after doing a few of those went on to the blues. Such was the state of our morale😂.

But I did well and got my confidence back too. It actually felt easy that day though we were still treading carefully after the battering from the previous day. I skied there the whole day from one valley to the other. I also went down a slope which is built for speed, and a photo is taken of when you are at your fastest. I was clicked going down at 84 kmph there 😊.

Les 2 Aigles

These slopes were extremely crowded that day with loads of people around, including lot of children. The day was quite sunny till quite late in the day and the day felt perfect. The views of the valley and villages below were again gorgeous. And I had lunch at Les 2 Aigles, with fabulous views again.

I had gone up the Flegere gondola and came back the Brevent one – and it was a big mistake! It took me 1.5 hours to come back to Argentiere from there as I had to change buses and wait for both of them! Chamonix definitely seems to be a bigger resort, with a more complex bus system and less markings than other resorts I have been to. I, along with a few other skiers complained together about all this on our long ride home 😊.

Relaxation spots at the top

On the ride home, I also figured out that apparently Argentiere is the toughest of these resorts, Brevent Flegere less and Le Tour the least. And the third day we decided to go to Le Tour, clearly in the wrong sequence. It was again a 10 mins bus ride to get to the village. And the resort was amazing. It was a breeze to ski there, criss-crossing the wide mountains along the easy blues. We finally got our mojo back and enjoyed skiing the reds there too. They were quite easy and there weren't a lot of people there either. We also stopped at a few relaxation spots on the top, where chairs are kept at spots with panoramic views of the peaks around. They were fun to take a break at, sometimes even at the beginning of the day. Also apparently we were quite close to the Switzerland border while on the slopes.

Le Panoramic

The next two days got a lot more easier after that. We went back to the same resorts as before and spent all day enjoying skiing in the sun, with our confidence and ski level back. So we did mostly reds all day, and enjoyed the scenery around as we were not as scared of being unable to ski. And I think it was now that I fell in love with this resort. Brevent Flagere was brilliant again. We had lunch at Le Panoramic with views of the valley below. And since I knew the bus system better now, we came down from Flagere itself. So the bus back took us just 10 mins today, it all seemed so much more convenient today.

Glacier view from Bochard

The last day we skied in Argentiere itself. And the slopes which had seemed daunting 4 days ago felt like a breeze now. So we went down all the reds and had a great day. We went up the Bochard from where we could see glaciers and villages in the valley far off. And people walking on the glaciers. It was quite an impressive view. And the slopes, even the red ones felt beautiful that day. It was a good way to end our trip, on a high. We even skied all the way back to our chalet. The drive back to Geneva felt quite depressing actually after such a great holiday. It was all green all the way back with rarely any snow. And Geneva was hot - just a reminder of climate change, and how valuable these ski holidays should be for us all.


Eating at Argentiere

We had been hoping for some lively Apres skiing at the end of the day every day but there wasn't much to do at Argentiere. And we planned to go to Chamonix but every day we ended up eating in our village only. So we now know all about the best places in town 😃.

The first evening, a cafe barista suggested to us to go to Fubar, an underground and lively restaurant but we weren’t impressed - it was quite empty and just about ok. So we walked to a small cosy pizza place (whose name I can never find on Google maps) and ate there for two nights. They even had Asian dishes there but without the spices. But being in France, how much could I expect? Another place suggested to us was the Office which had great food but a very senior clientele. Our last dinner was at Aux Dix Vins, a fancy French place. It was fun there too. The favourites for me were definitely on top of the slopes though – with gorgeous views, and a welcome break with sore muscles.


About the ski resort

• In hindsight, the slopes in Chamonix were gorgeous - wide, not too steep and with spectacular views. Grands Montets was a bit tougher but if you go there after a few days, it doesn't seem tough
• All the eating places on the slopes had magnificent views, I loved my lunches at each of those places
• There were a few video locations where you could ski on tough slopes and get yourself video graphed or photographed. I found that quite interesting, especially the extremely steep high speed one
• The maps were shit. There is no other way to describe it. I've been to many other resorts but nowhere else was it so tough to figure out the lifts and slopes to take to get from one place to another. Sometimes the slopes weren't even named in the maps, sometimes they weren't even on the map! It’s something they can definitely improve
• The bus system was also complex as it was a big resort. So if you had a direct bus, it was easy to get somewhere but otherwise not as easy
• Lastly , the ski pass here was quite expensive, more than other resorts I have been to