[bigletter]Happy New Year! Last night was a blast. We spent it at a bar, where we got hit on by some teenagers, and they took us dancing to the local nightclub – random and quite the plot twist, given the fact that Saint Gervais has been surprisingly quiet. Last year was pretty eventful as a whole – filled with first times! I flew into Paris last week, after spending my first Christmas in Rome. Another first was my move to London in February 2018 which was followed by my visit to Paris for the first time – I went alone, if I may add. To add to my list of new experiences, I hadn’t ever been to the mountains, and especially not in winter when there is snow and the town looks like a winter wonderland on top of a hill.[/bigletter]
Though I lived a great part of my life in Bogotá, which is surrounded by mountains, I had never seen actually been on top of a mountain until now. It’s been such a treat.
The Experience
I highly recommend Saint Gervais-Les-Bains for a getaway in the French Alps, but I must say it’s not exactly the most exciting place to spend NYE unless you’re throwing a party with family or friends in a chalet. Those kids were heaven-sent – hahah, and they made our night!
The town is extremely quiet, and small, and there isn’t much else to do besides skiing and perhaps having drinks in the center of the town.
It’s a great place for some downtime, with some quality wine and cheese, which is never lacking in France, so make sure you bring good company. If you’re looking to visit,
I recommend searching for an Airbnb. We found one on a mountain about 2.5 miles up. The chalet is owned by Colette, a 78-year-old lady who is the sweetest. We arrived at Saint Gervais in the evening, took a cab from the train station to her house, and she drove us up the mountain. It was about 11 p.m. and pitch dark, so you couldn’t see much more than a sky full of stars…but in the morning we woke up to this view:
Bonjour Colette!
The scenery was amazing from the moment I opened the doors of the chalet in the morning. The stairs would take us to a smaller road that led us to the main road; the one that we needed in order to head to the town. Colette, the sweetest woman you will ever see and meet, met up with us the evening before and drove us up to her chalet, where we would stay throughout the weekend.
She also offered to come by and pick us up the following morning – at 9 a.m. – so she could show us around town. Colette only spoke French, but luckily Val and I speak it as well, so we didn’t have a problem. However, highly recommended is a French/English dictionary and your Google translate at hand, although, there isn’t much reception, so the dictionary will due.
She showed up at 9 a.m. on the dot, and the tour commenced. She drove us down the mountain for what was about 12 minute’s drive. The walk would have been about 40 minutes…more details on that coming next! xx
Hitting the Town
In the town obviously, they have all the necessary businesses where we found everything we wanted to take back to the chalet: grocery stores, coffee shops, a bakery or two, charcuterie, fromagerie (cheese shop)…everything for a good raclette for dinner. I brought my camera because the sceneries of the center of Saint Gervais are like something out of a fairy tale!
My favourite part about it, was that since Saint Gervais is a vacation spot where most people come to spend a few weeks of winter, the actual people who live in the town (such as Colette) are very few, and they all know each other for the most part. They are all businesses owned by the same people who live in the town, and many have their homes above the shop – so cute.
Our go-to was a corner pastry and coffee shop with the most beautiful and colorful desserts and bites. Yes, they had savoury foods, but my sweet tooth would win me over every single day…
Indulging
Every day we have had breakfast at that corner pastry shop, and I would order the hot chocolate, heavy on the whip thanks 😉
Though Colette was super sweet to drive us down the first day, we were on our own after that, which gave us plenty of time to burn off the hot chocolates and almond croissants as well as to explore the town and its magical corners. We took about 6 hikes this weekend. Obviously hiking up the hill will always be tougher than coming down.
I was so glad I was able to capture so many beautiful sights and colours, because there is so much from nature that we could appreciate: from the trees to the mountains, the sun shining on the snow that laid so beautifully at every tip, the flowers and even the contrast of the white foggy skies against the log cabins and houses embellished with Christmas lights and festive decor.
Connecting with Nature
I had never seen anything like this place before – only in movies. People aren’t too friendly (the French rarely are) but who needs people when you have these views?
Being in nature, in silence and disconnecting from everything really makes you think a lot.
I thought so much about my decisions in the past year…about my move to London, and one of the reasons being to be able to live more experiences such as this one without such a hassle like it is in America. I thought about the letter I wrote on the train while on my way here from Paris. I feel so free, and so at peace and it’s a really great place to set my intentions, meditate and open up with myself about my plans for 2019.
Cherishing lifelong friendships
While I was alone wandering, my friend Val was also somewhere meditating or drawing…but most of the time, we were together sharing good food and great laughs. Val and I grew up together. We met when we were 13 and in the 7th grade, and we immediately became inseparable in school. She’s like me, where she travels a lot and looks at the world a little differently than most. We’re very different, but in the end, we are very much the same in more ways than one.
She’s one of the few people I could sit in a room with in complete silence and be at my peak comfort and relaxation. Meeting her in different parts of the world is always fun, and catching up from years of not seeing each other, over wine and food is always something I look forward to.
Welcoming 2019 with open arms
Yesterday evening we sat together and watched the sun go down for the last time in 2018. She asked me what was one thing I wished for in 2019, and I said wisdom. I wish for wisdom this year to make the right decisions and to have faith in what is coming, because I know it will be the best.
Once we said our ‘cheers,’ chugged the wine, and got ready for dinner, we hit the town to welcome the New Year!
The experience of the French Alps is one I will repeat in a few years, but it’s definitely one for self-reflection and time for sports and with family and loved ones. If you’re a party person, pass on it for New Year’s. Take advantage of life’s opportunities to experience a place like this because spending time in Saint Gervais means taking time to disconnect and enjoy your surroundings.
Here’s to a new series of 365 days; to sipping my hot chocolate a little slower, and putting away my phone a little more as I sit on the balcony or the grass in silence and stare at the view.
Watch my experience in Saint Gervais through my Instagram highlight here
I adore capturing every highlight of my travels and sharing them in hopes of helping a curious traveler with a bit of insight. If you want to see more visit and follow my hashtags #CBtalksTraveling & #CBgoestoFrance or #CBgoestoTheAlps to stay in tune with where I go next.
With love, from my chalet in the French Alps…
