The best rooftop view in the village?

I wrote recently about a wonderful meal we had with our friends Chris and Sally at La Promenade in February. You can read about it here.

When we left the restaurant we walked back to Le Pre Vert, put our boots on and strolled around the village at dusk. 

In the summer we had spoken to some neighbours, who told us that the best rooftop view in the village was to be had from the top of some stone steps, along the edge of their garden. After a few deleted snaps we managed one that we were happy with. Although we will go back and experiment some more.

We also loved the church. We have a beautiful church in our village in the UK too, but it is never lit up.

Happy Birthday Tim ............

Tim is 56 today

Happy Birthday!

Tim, not looking his best. His dad looked very much like this at 80!

Ooops, this should have posted automatically yesterday.

Better late than never!

A trip on the lake ...... to the Château de Chillon

Évian les Bains and Lac Léman is about 15 minutes drive down the mountain from Thollon, so boat transport to places along the French or Swiss side of the lake was a regular outing.

One of our favourite trips is to Lausanne, which takes about 35 minutes. The port is lovely and the Olympic Museum is about 5 minutes walk away. Shopping is above the port and there is a regular train service up the hill.

Sometimes if I had driven out to Thollon alone, Tim would fly out to Geneva. Mostly I picked him up at the airport, but sometimes he would get the train from the airport to Lausanne and then the boat to Évian.

The boats are very comfortable and the views spectacular.

The Château de Chillon sits on the lakeside near Vevey, just along the lake from Lausanne and Montreux. We visited one summer along with Tom, and his friend Ben.

The site has been occupied since the Bronze Age.

The Château is the result of several centuries of constant building, adaptations, renovations and restorations. The rocky island, on which the château is built, was both a natural protection and a strategic location to control the passage between northern and southern Europe.

Togetherness!

The history of the château was influenced by three major periods:

The Savoy period (12th century to 1536)

The oldest written document mentioning the château dates from 1150; it says that the House of Savoy already controlled the route along the shores of Lac Léman.

During the 13th century, the Counts of Savoy conquered most of the territory of Vaud. This marked the beginning of Savoy domination over approximately two-thirds of the territory which makes up today’s French-speaking Switzerland.
This land lay both to the north and to the south of the Alps, so they controlled the two major routes across the western Alps, the Mont Cenis Pass and the Grand St Bernard Pass.

The Bernese period (1536-1798)

The Swiss then occupied Chillon in 1536 so the château continued to be a fortress, arsenal and prison for over 260 years.

The Vaudois period (1798 to the present)

The Bernese left Chillon in 1798 at the time of the Vaudois Revolution. The castle became the property of the Canton of Vaud when it was founded in 1803. The restoration of the historical monument began at the end of the 19th Century and continues to this day. Lord Byron gave Chillon a mythical dimension in 1816, with his poem ‘The Prisoner of Chillon’.

The Patrouille Suisse practising over the Lake

Both the château and the landscape, framed by the mountains, are well worth a visit.

The first 500.....

I've just clocked 500 views; half way to 1000 .

Now I know some of you out there are in the thousands, hundreds of thousands or maybe even millions, but I've made a start!

Relaxation Thollon style.........

Thollon les Mémises is also called Le Balcon du Léman. It is a pretty Savoyard village, perched on a plateau in the Alpes Chablais, on the French side of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva). It is situated at 1000 metres altitude and enjoys superb views over Lake Geneva.

Views over Lac Leman from Thollon.

The village is a quiet little ski station, with approximately 25km of ski runs, at green, blue and red standard. The runs are not very challenging to the experienced skier, but they are good fun. The ski area is above the village and reached by a telecabine (or bubble).

Views of the lake from the Frasse run at Thollon.

Our good friend Stephen with the lake in the background.

Our ski tracks in new snow.

For those wanting skiing of a more difficult standard and variety, the “Portes de Soleil” offers pistes from Chatel to Avoriaz, Les Gets and Mozine, all linked by cable cars and chair-lifts. Many of these stations are within an hour’s drive from Thollon.

The mountain walking is fairly challenging, but the views are worth it!

During the warmer months, the hills and mountain areas provide many opportunities for relaxation, walking and trekking. Locally, there are horse-riding, golf, tennis, sailing and rafting facilities. The Evian Masters Golf course is about 10 minutes drive away. But best of all, the thermals are perfect for those who want to experience para-gliding.

Tom, in the centre of the photograph, white water rafting.

Tim and Tom did a sailing course on the lake, and are now certified!!

Just before we sold the apartment Tim tried parapenting off the Mémises. Of course I did check his life insurance value first!!!

P.S. I will get my use of accents sorted soon. Anyone know how I go about it?

Ten years on - the journey begins ................. part 1

Since the early 1980's we have travelled in France for our holidays. In the early days we were both teaching so would set off for nearly six weeks, making the most of the long holidays. We travelled to most regions, but were drawn back to two main areas the Alps and the Charente.

In the Charente we mostly holidayed with our caravan at a small site at Bignac,near Angouleme. Our children loved it there, and wanted to return every year. It was a relaxing holiday for us as they were able to make friends and keep themselves occupied at the pool, lake, boules or tennis.

The Charente department

Camping Marco de Bignac (from their brochure)

Winter holidays were spent skiing, staying mostly at the small village of Chatel  in the Portes du Soleil ski area.

In 2004 we decided the time had come to buy a property and that Chatel  in the Haute Savoie was just the place!

The campsite at Chatel was full, so we booked a small site at St Paul en Chablais in the hills above Evian les Bains as our property hunting base.

St Paul en Chablais,  Haute Savoie.

Quite by chance one morning we drove up to Thollon les Memises and found views to take your breath away. Within an hour we had found the apartment we wanted to buy!

Our apartment (the one with the yellow sale boards) with the Memises behind.



The developer was building some new apartments, and to show us the quality of the build took us into another block, which was a year old ,where unexpectedly a re-sale had just come on to the market.
We were staggered by the views  from the balcony of Lac Leman.

Lac Leman from our balcony, looking west.



The apartment was the right size and prices were lower than at Chatel. Tim knew straight away that we had found 'the one'. Being Libran it took me a little longer!! Within a day we had signed our first contract.

The rest is history (as they say). Or for readers of this blog the history will be the future, as periodically I  blog about this beautiful area and the wonderful time we had there.

Dydd Dewi Sant - St David's Day

 HAPPY ST. DAVID'S DAY!

St David's Day is celebrated in Wales on  March 1st, in honour of Dewi Sant or St David, the patron saint of Wales. Little is known about him for certain. What little information there is based on an account of his life written by Rhigyfarch towards the end of the 11th century.

According to this Latin manuscript, Dewi died in the year 589. His mother was called Non, and his father, Sant, was the son of Ceredig, King of Ceredigion. After being educated in Cardiganshire, he went on pilgrimage through south Wales and the west of England, where it is said that he founded religious centres such as Glastonbury and Croyland. He even went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he was made Archbishop.

Stained glass window depicting St David 

He eventually settled at Glyn Rhosyn (St David's), in south-west Wales, where he established a very strict religious community.

Many miracles have been attributed to him, the most incredible of which was performed when he was preaching at the Synod of Llanddewibrefi - he caused the ground to rise underneath him so that he could be seen and heard by all.

How much truth is in this account of his life by Rhigyfarch is hard to tell. Rhigyfarch was the son of the Bishop of St David's, and the account was written as propaganda to establish Dewi's superiority and defend the bishopric from being taken over by Canterbury and the Normans.

From the 12th century onwards, Dewi's fame spread throughout South Wales and as far as Ireland and Brittany.

St David's Cathedral and Bishop's Palace (built on the old monastry).

St David's Cathedral became a popular centre of pilgrimage, particularly after Dewi was officially recognised as a Catholic saint in 1120. From this period on, he was frequently referred to in the work of medieval Welsh poets such as Iolo Goch and Lewys Glyn Cothi. In 1398, it was ordained that his feast-day was to be kept by every church in the Province of Canterbury. Though the feast of Dewi as a religious festival came to an end with the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, the day of his birth became a national festival during the18th century.

Now St David’s Day is celebrated by schools and cultural societies throughout Wales. It is the custom on that day to wear either a leek or a daffodil , and for young girls to wear the national costume.

When I was at school, St David's day was a half day holiday. The morning would be taken up with the school Eisteddfod, with performances of poetry, short stories, music and singing (a Glee for the olden days!)

The traditional food would be Cawl (a kind of lamb stew) and Welsh cakes. I haven't made Welsh cakes for a few years, but have dug out an old recipe.

Welsh Cakes Recipe

Pice ar y Maen

 

Welsh Cakes are a specialty of South Wales. Essentially they are griddle cakes (called a bakestone in Wales), but they can also be cooked in a heavy pan or skillet.

500g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
250g  butter
250g  sugar
pinch of salt
250g mixed currants and sultanas (seedless raisins)
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice or mace (optional)
2 eggs
a little milk

Mix together the flour and baking powder with the salt, then rub in the butter.

Add the sugar, spice and fruit. Mix in the beaten egg and just enough milk (about 3 tablespoons) to make it the same consistency as short-crust pastry.

Turn out onto a floured board, roll out and cut into rounds about 5cm across and 1 cm thick.

Cook over a medium heat in a very lightly greased pan or bakestone for about 3-4 minutes on each side. If they brown too quickly, lower the heat, for the inside must have time to cook thoroughly so that it has a brittle, sandy texture.

Serve either hot or cold sprinkled with sugar or cinnamon.

Makes approximately 20.