Well, last day of gliding pleasure… We start with a picture from the terrace of Georges in the morning. I could live with that view…

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Due to the heavy winds in Serre-Chevalier we tried Montgenèvre for skiing. Nice area, a lot higher than Briançon but the same wind, a lot of lifts closed. We are missing two team members: Els and Christine, muscle pains keep them close to the bar…

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Well, it’s actually not the ice but it’s the snow reflecting light. Result: a huge painful sunburn… we are back in Lobster country. Including a nice sunglasses mark… but that’s the problem with men, the forget to put on sunblock…

Today we are gliding our skis in the area of Chantemerle, a wider area after the rather small starters day yesterday. We lost one woman in the group. Els isn’t skiing anymore after a bad fall yesterday but she is nonetheless ready to go up and watch everything from a local bar on the slopes… I wonder why???

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Serre Chevalier is one of the major French ski resorts. Located in the southern part of the Alps, close to the Parc National des Ecrins, in the highest department of the french Alps, it enjoys a large skiing area (250 km of slopes) and very sunny weather, boasting 300 days of sunshine a year. Serre Chevalier lies close to the town of Briançon, with the villages of Chantemerle, La Salle Les Alpes, and Monêtier-Les-Bains nearby. The ski champion Luc Alphand was born in the valley of the resort. He still lives there.

One of the best things about Serre Chevalier is the wooded nature of the slopes. There’s a lot of variety, and the slopes are wooded till about 2/3 of the way up the mountains. It also has pretty good snow. There are still high, exposed areas for those who want them. It’s also pretty good for snowboarders, as there are few flat spots. Since 2005, the resort is managed by the CDA. 68 lifts : 21 chairs (among which 6 six passengers chairs, 3 high speed quads) and 9 trams and gondolas.

It is also a picturesque village with an excellent museum showing the town’s beginnings and industries. There is also a weekly ‘Skiing fair’ in which there is an excellent show of all the existing styles of skiing, stunts and clothing which is certainly worth a look. Culinary festivals are also regularly held, the most famous being the “Fete du Slip”, celebrating the making of a traditional alpine sausage.

In the summer Serre Chevalier becomes an area dedicated to kayaking, walking, cycling, mountain biking, climbing, rock climbing, sledding, paragliding and generally enjoying one of the most gorgeous mountain areas in Europe. Serre Chevalier organizes the MTB french championships in 2008

The nearest airports to Serre Chevalier are Turin in Italy and Grenoble in France. These are served by some of the UK’s budget airlines such as EasyJet and Ryanair, providing easy access from many European cities.

In 2007 Serre Chevalier was ranked the 1st French resort in the category for well-being and relaxation and 7th in the category for “breathtaking skiing”

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Skiing in Briançon, Serre Chevalier… where my aunt lives. Four women and me in a car to get there and when we got there, the fifth woman was waiting… my aunt. I wasn’t in charge anymore… since we left Stasegem…

Briançon (Latin: Brigantium) is a town and commune in the French département of Hautes-Alpes (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur), of which it is the sous-préfecture. At 1,350 meters it is the second highest city in Europe after Davos. It is built on a plateau which dominates the junction of the Durance with the Guisane.

Briançon was the Brigantium of the Romans and formed part of the kingdom of King Cottius. Brigantium was marked as the first place in Gallia after Alpis Cottia (Mont Genèvre). At Brigantium the road branched, to the west through Grenoble to Vienna (modern Vienne), on the Rhone; to the south through Ebrodunum (modern Embrun), to Vapincum (modern Gap). Both the Antonine Itinerary and the Table give the route from Brigantium to Vapincum. The Table places Brigantium 6 M.P. from Alpis Cottia. Strabo (iv.) mentions the village Brigantium, and on a road to the Alpis Cottia, but his words are obscure. Ptolemy mentions Brigantium as within the limits of the Segusini, or people of Segusio (modern Susa), in Piedmont; but it seems, as D’Anville observes, to be beyond the natural limits of the Segusini. Walckenaer (vol. i. p. 540) justifies Ptolemy in this matter by supposing that he follows a description of Italy made before the new divisions of Augustus, which we know from Pliny. Walckenaer also supports his justification of Ptolemy by the Jerusalem Itinerary, which makes the Alpes Cottiae commence at Rama (near modern La Roche-de-Rame) between Embrun and Briançon.

About 1040 it came into the hands of the counts of Albon (later dauphins of the Viennois) and thenceforth shared the fate of the Dauphiné. The Briançonnais included not merely the upper valley of the Durance (with those of its affluents, the Gyronde and the Guil), but also the valley of the Dora Riparia (Césanne, Oulx, Bardonnèche and Exilles), and that of the Chisone (Fénestrelles, Pérouse, Pragelas)—these glens all lying on the eastern slope of the chain of the Alps. But by the treaty of Utrecht (1713) all these valleys were handed over to Savoy in exchange for that of Barcelonnette, on the west slope of the Alps. In 1815 Briançon successfully withstood a siege of three months at the hands of the Allies, a feat which is commemorated by an inscription on one of its gates, Le passé répond de l’avenir.

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