Next year we’re hoping to ski in the French Alps. Although we ski each year in California’s beautiful Lake Tahoe, it’s been over 26 years since we were on our skis in Europe. The French Southern Alps, Les Hautes-Alpes of Provence are only a three hour drive from Lourmarin. We’ve been told that the skiing there, specifically in Serre Chevalier, is very good, so we decided to take a peek. It was a beautiful drive heading north from Lourmarin, up the A51 autoroute towards Grenoble. The mountains are visible in the distance almost immediately and within 90 minutes we had left the autoroute and were headed toward Gap, not the shop, but the city!
Gap
Gap is the prefecture (the administration center) for the département of Les Hautes-Alpes and sat at 735 meters, (2412 feet) Gap is the highest prefecture in France. It is a small historic town with colourful buildings lining its cobbled streets.
Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Arnoux Cathedral
Dominating the skyline are the spires of Gap’s 19th century neo-Gothic cathedral, Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Arnoux cathedral with its 70 meter (230 feet) high bell tower.
Lac de Serre-Ponçon
We left Gap headed to the ski resort of Risoul. 30 minutes later we found ourselves by the shimmering, turquoise water of Lac de Serre-Ponçon, a popular watersports and holiday destination, flanked between the mountains it was easy to see it’s attraction. We were soon crossing the water over the long arched Chanteloube Viaduct towards Savines-le-Lac on the far side. It came as a surprise to learn that at certain times in the summer the viaduct becomes submerged, its white arches temporarily drowned in a watery grave. Once the water level drops below 773 meters (2537 feet), access across the bridge becomes possible, intially just by foot or bike until the water lowers enough to allow vehicles to cross.
Risoul, Les Hautes Alpes, Provence
The ski resort of Risoul was a further 30km (19 mile) hairpin drive from the lake. Not our final destination, but as the closest place to ski from Lourmarin we thought we’d include it on our tour. At 1850 meters (6070 feet), Risoul is part of the Forêt Blanche ski resort, and partners with the neighbouring town of Vars.
We wound our way back down the mountain to the valley floor, the extensive views were breathtaking.
Serre-Chevalier Vallée
We continued on our journey for a further 40 minutes to Briançon at the mouth of the Serre-Chevalier Valley, the ski region we’d come to see. The Serre-Chevalier Valley, is a charming, linear interconnected ski area made up of several villages, nestled below the towering peaks of The Massif des Écrins mountains and strung along the scenic road known as the Routes des Grand Alpes from Briancon to the larger ski resorts of the northern French Alps. Skirting the town of Briançon we headed up the valley, a short 10 minute drive to the resort we’d already singled out Chantemerle-Saint-Chaffrey.
We discovered that Serre Chevalier is the eleventh largest ski resort in France and ranked among the top 30 resorts in the world. 80% of its’ slopes are at an altitude of over 2000m (6560 feet). And in 2030, when the Winter Olympics will be in France, Serre Chevalier will hosting at least three events.
Even in late summer, bereft of snow, the ski slopes looked as appealing as we’d hoped. The hotel we’re planning to stay was as promised, only steps from the chair lift. All we would need is good snow!
We left Chantemerle and continued a further 11km up the valley to Le Monêtier-les-Bains and the delightful hotel, Hotel Monêtier where we were staying.
The hotel exceeded our expectations, a large, well appointed room with a trendy, modern vibe and a delicious, bistro style restaurant. We had great views of the mountains from our terrace and were it not for the fact that the chair lifts are a considerably longer walk away than those in Chantemerle we might have reconsidered our hotel choice for the ski season.
View from our room at Hotel Monêtier
La Meije and La Grave
The next day we drove a further 34km up the Serre Chevalier Valley to La Grave. A stunning journey, the magnificent La Meije towering 3,984 meters (13071 feet) above the peaks.
We ended our journey in the village of La Grave
From La Grave from late December to May it is possible to take a cable car up to Col des Ruillan and the Girose Glacier which at 3211m, offers magnificent panoramic views of Le Meije and in the distance, endless peaks of the Alps including Mont-Blanc, Europes’ tallest mountain at 4801 meters.
Streets of La Grave, La Grave, Serre Chevalier, Les Hautes-Alpes, Provence, France
Lac du Pontet
As the cable car was not open, instead we wound our way through the picturesque streest of La Grave and took the winding single track up to Lac du Pontet.
Surrounded by the mountains the views were stunning.
The silence was broken only by the tinkling of bells as a large herd of sheep and goats picked their way down the slopes to the water’s edge
We sat spellbound as a young girl followed them across the slopes. Clad in walking boots, a mobile phone poking out of her jeans’ pocket she looked like any young hiker except she wasn’t, she was a shepherdess. Assisted by her trusted four legged friends we watched as together this team ushered the herd, of close to two hundred animals, across the mountain side in search of new pastures.
We eventually tore ourselves away and headed back down to the valley floor. A small collection of cows were happily munching their way through a late lunch as the small village of La Grave appeared far away in the distance.
Below is a map of where we went today, the next day we were headed across the Alps into Italy………….
Let’s goooo!!