Last stop in France - Thones

Our final stop in France consisted of three nights in Thones, in the heart of the Savoie cheese producing country. We had a very scenic three hour drive from Ceillac through Briancon before briefly entering Italy to take the Frejus Tunnel (13km) under the Alpes back into France and continuing on to Thones. It is situated at the junction of two rivers in a huge valley and some impressive mountains surrounding it. Once again we had three days of glorious weather - sunny and low 20s.

Saturday was market day in Thones, and market day here was quite impressive. We stocked up on fruit and veges, brioche, and of course, some of the local cheeses - the Tomme de Savoie was definitely our favourite. A good thing because we ended up with quite a large chunk, although it was surprisingly cheap. We enjoyed a coffee at one of the bars fronting the markets and as usual had to contend with the local French cigerette smoke - very prevalent in this part of the world!! We certainly have it pretty good in Australia. Conveniently, one stall was was doing rotisserie chickens, so it was one "petite poulet" for us and we had some roast potatoes thrown in to make a tasty lunch.

Earlier, we had booked Heather a Saturday afternoon reflexology treatment in a nearby village. After lots of driving, feeding in the middle of the night and carrying Matthew a lot, it was desperately needed. We drove up to Saint-Jean-de-Sixt about 8km away which had great views back down the valley to Thones. While Heather had her treatment, Matthew and I had a drink in the hotel and Skyped back to Grandparents in Australia. They also had a swimming pool and hot tub which we might even come back to before we leave.

Having not had a run for nearly a month due to being so sick, it was time I got back into it, so I went for a run along one of the rivers that goes through Thones on Sunday morning. Very enjoyable, but it looks like it might take a little while to feel comfortable running again!

This weekend happened to be the annual Palais Gourmard (Gourmet Palace) in Thones, a food fair showcasing local food and wine. There were around 100 stalls and we spent Sunday morning sampling and buying more local produce at the Salon which was hosting the event. Unfortunately alcohol is off limits to Heather (and Matthew!), so we steered clear of the all the wine sellers, of which there were plenty. By the end of our "tour" we had some new cheeses, dried fruits, some local prune and custart dessert, chocolate and some salmon for dinner! We happened to be passing an oyster and mussel stall when we started to feel hungry for lunch so decided to indulge. Ordering was a little difficult, but what a treat when the dozen natural oysters, tub of mussels in a wine broth, bread and glass of dry wine arrived. Matthew was thoroughly entertained by the ice-sculpturing that happened to be occurring just a few metres from where we were eating. By mid-afternoon we headed back to the hotel, full of food and exhausted, so Heather and Matthew headed off to bed for a sleep.

Monday was our last day in Thones, so the morning involved our usual packing routine before we decided we would head back to Saint-Jean-de-Sixt to take Matthew for a swim. He hadn't been swimming since we left Australia so it was definitely time to have some serious splash time in a big pool. We had the place to ourselves so this allowed Matthew to splash to his heart's content, and even had a little "dive" underwater before finishing off in the indoor hot tub - lots of fun! Even Mummy had a quick dip in the pool - very refreshing and check out the view of the mountains in the background.

It was now time to leave our favourite holiday country and head to Geneva where we were due to catch our next flight the following day. It was an only an hour's drive and we were at our hotel very close to the airport by mid-afternoon. After emptying out the hire car, I drove over to the airport vehicle return area a few hundred metres away, to do the drop-off. However, this is where things got exciting....NOT! When I booked the car I had accidently chosen the French sector of the airport as the drop off point rather than the main Swiss side where we were. Whoops!! So it was back to the hotel to get my passport, drive back into France, find the slip road into the French sector, return the car, walk back through the airport to the Swiss side and catch a bus back to the hotel. What should have been a half hour task took nearly two hours! Heather had her own excitement in my absence with Matthew - a slight nappy accident involving him rolling on the lovely white bedspread.

After that exhausting end to the day, Heather and Matthew met me in the hotel bar for hot chips and a beer. Our flight the next day was not until lunchtime, so we had breakfast at the hotel before taking the hotel shuttle bus to the airport for our flight to London. We had a three hour wait until our next flight to Calgary to start our fortnight in Canada, but that's for our next post....