Geneva Airport Car Hire: French or Swiss Side?

A question that we are frequently asked by guests at Chalet La Giettaz is “what is the difference between hiring a car from the Swiss or French sectors of Geneva Airport?”

There are several factors to take into account, most notably in price and ease of access, so this edition of the blog will explain these differences and hopefully make your choice easier when it comes to booking a hire car for your next ski trip.

1. Location

Geneva is in Switzerland, although the airport is situated right on the French border and part of the airport is technically in France.  When you land, you will pass through Swiss customs and immigration, but it is then possible to walk through the terminal into the French sector.

The Swiss car hire offices are located in the main terminal building, and the car park from where you pick the car up has direct access out on to the Swiss motorway network.  If you are travelling onwards to any of the French Alpine ski resorts, it is actually easier to pick up your car from the Swiss sector, as you can then go directly on to the A1 motorway that leads over the border and straight on to the French A40/A41 autoroute to the ski resorts.

The French sector is tucked around the back of the terminal building (accessed from the check-in level of the terminal, at the opposite end to the Easyjet check-in area, i.e. turn left when you come out of arrivals, go up one floor and follow the “Destination France” signs).  If you hire from the French side, you have two choices for your journey to your ski resort: you can either cross back into Switzerland and join the A1 motorway as before, or else drive through the suburbs of Geneva to reach the French autoroute.

The crucial point to make here is that in order to use the Swiss motorways, cars must display the annual toll “vignette” sticker on the windscreen.  This sticker comes as standard with all Swiss hire cars, however it is unlikely to be supplied with a French hire car.  The sticker costs CHF 40 (currently about € 33 or £28).  When you pick up the car, it is likely that you will be able to access the Swiss motorway without being stopped to buy the vignette.  However, when you return to Geneva at the end of your holiday, as you pass the main motorway border crossing from France into Switzerland, you are almost certain to be stopped and asked to buy one.

As we said before, it is possible to travel to and from the French sector of the airport without travelling on the Swiss motorway.  However, the route through the suburbs of Geneva is complicated and could take up to an hour longer than simply following the motorway.   If you are not sure where you are going, a GPS or other sat-nav device is absolutely essential as the route is not well signposted (all signs direct you via the motorway) and you should allow considerable extra time for the journey.  It is possible to hire a GPS unit with your car, for an extra charge.

When returning your car, there are petrol stations directly before the entrance to the Swiss car hire area and also just beside the turn-off to the access road to the French sector.

2. Opening Hours

A further complication arises from the fact that the French car hire offices appear to keep shorter hours than their Swiss counterparts.  This means that if your flight arrives late in the evening, you may well find that the office has closed for the night!  The Swiss desks will not honour reservations made with the French office, even if it is with the same company, so you would then have to pay the standard Swiss rates to hire on-the-spot from them.

3. Price

We invariably find that the same category of car is cheaper when hired from the French sector, even from the same company.

This morning, we checked the following example: 1 week’s standard (i.e. VW Golf or similar) car hire with one of the major companies, from December 26 2011 to January 2 2012, is currently priced at € 739 when hired from the Swiss sector of the airport.  The same category of car over the same period costs € 350 if hired from the same company in the French sector.

However, it is important to note that the Swiss cars have “winter cover” included in the rental price, which means they will have winter tyres fitted as standard and they will have snow chains ready for use in the boot.  This is not the case with French cars and you will have to pay extra for this vital service.  It is compulsory to carry chains when driving in the mountains in winter, even if your car has winter tyres, and you can be fined by the police if you don’t have them.  The company we viewed currently charge € 52 for 1 week’s hire of snow chains for French cars.

4. Conclusion

As you can see, there are several factors to take into account when deciding where to hire your car.  For convenience, the Swiss side is undoubtedly easier, but the flip side of that is clearly the higher cost involved.   If you have extra time and a GPS unit, then the French side may be the best option for you.  In all cases, it is advisable to shop around as much as possible, as we find there are always significant differences in price between the various companies in both locations, and one company is never consistently the cheapest.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us via the Chalet La Giettaz website.

Thanks for reading.

Top-flight Football comes to Savoie!

The French football seasons starts this weekend, and it is an auspicious occasion here in Savoie, as for the first time ever the region will have a team in the top division.  The rather grandly named Evian Thonon-Gaillard FC will make their debut in Ligue 1 tonight, with a tricky away fixture in Brittany against Brest.

To mark the occasion, this edition of the Chalet La Giettaz blog takes a look at Evian-TG’s chances, as well as those of the more famous French clubs, in what promises to be an exciting season…

Who are Evian-TG?

If you’ve never heard of Evian-TG before, you’re probably not in a minority.    The club was officially founded in 2003 with the merger of FC Gaillard and FC Ville-La-Grande, two clubs little-known outside of the Rhône-Alpes region for almost the entire duration of their 70-year-plus histories.  The merged club went through various moves and name changes during the 2000s, finally settling on Evian Thonon-Gaillard FC in 2009, when the president of the giant Danone food conglomerate (owners of Evian mineral water) became honourary president of the football club.  New investment and a fetching pink and white strip to match the water bottles followed, and in 2010 the club won promotion to Ligue 2: one level below the top division of French football and its highest ever position.

Participation in Ligue 2 brought changes to the club’s location, since the existing stadium in Thonon-Les-Bains was not up to French Football Federation standards.  After an attempt to play home matches across the Swiss border in Geneva was blocked by UEFA, the club struck a deal to play in Annecy in time for the start of the Ligue 2 campaign.

Not even the most ardent ETG fan would have expected the Ligue 2 season to play out the way it did: the club led the division virtually from start to finish, securing promotion to Ligue 1 with 3 games to spare and winning the championship itself on the second last day of the season.  Which brings us up to date, as the club and the Savoie region prepares for its first-ever season in Ligue 1…

What are Evian-TG’s chances of survival?

In short, ETG’s chances are better than you might expect of a side who have achieved two successive promotions and who have never played at this level before.  The club have invested carefully in the transfer market this summer, most notably with the signing of Sidney Govou, a former French international striker with 7 French championship winners’ medals on his CV from his time with Lyon.  Other positions have also been strengthened and avoiding relegation would appear to be a realistic objective this season.  The Annecy stadium has been extended to hold almost 15,000 spectators and season ticket sales have been strong, indicating the Savoie public, more used to cheering for skiers and cyclists, will give the club their strong support in the coming season.

What about the rest of the league?

Perhaps unusually for one of Europe’s top leagues, Ligue 1 has seen 4 different champions in the last 4 seasons.  A period of 7 consecutive titles for Lyon was ended in 2009 by Bordeaux, who were succeeded as champions by Marseille in 2010, and Lille in 2011.

However, the big story in French football over the summer has been at Paris St-Germain, where the perennial underachievers from the capital have been taken over by cash-rich Qatari owners and have spent almost € 100 million on new players in only a few weeks.   Traditionally, French clubs have never been able to match the big spenders in England, Spain and Italy (although Lyon and Marseille have done their best in recent years), so these are novel times in Ligue 1.  The idea of PSG outbidding Chelsea for the Argentine forward Javier Pastore would have been unthinkable a year ago, but whether or not this brings the Parisiens their first league title since 1994 is another matter.  Despite the spending, question marks still remain over PSG’s defence and the club’s checkered history of problems with fan violence has also been a distraction in recent years.  PSG’s finances have seen them installed as favourites by the bookies, but there is no shortage of other clubs with designs on the title.

Since losing their crown in 2009, Lyon have gone through a period of transition, and with a new manager in charge this season they will hope to challenge once more.  Marseille, undoubtedly the biggest club in France in terms of fanbase, are third favourites, although with a relatively settled squad under manager Dider Deschamps, the smart money would be on them to take advantage of any teething problems with the new regime in Paris.   Lille’s title-winning squad from last season has lost some of its star names to the lure of money abroad, but they have retained enough power to still be considered serious contenders.  Other clubs tipped to perform well this year are Rennes, Sochaux, Toulouse and Bordeaux, although the middle reaches of Ligue 1 are traditionally extremely tight and any one of around 10 or 12 clubs could conceivably find themselves pushing for a top-5 finish next spring.

Chalet La Giettaz’s predictions for the season:

Champions: Marseille

Runners-up: PSG

Relegated: Valenciennes, Dijon, Nice (sorry Julien!)

Evian-TG final position: 15^th

Thanks for reading, and look out for further updates during the season!

Alpine plants: from mountain-top to table-top

During the summer months in La Giettaz, the Alpine meadows around the village are full of colourful plants and flowers.

Meadow flowers

However, we must confess that until recently we thought they were just there to look pretty.  That changed last month, when we went on a walk with local expert, Sandrine, and discovered that many of the flowers and herbs are edible, and some even have medicinal properties.

Lichen

Our walk began in the forest, where the ground and trees are covered in lichen, evidence of just how clean the air is in this part of the world – something that we take for granted living here, but we’ve lost count of the number of people who comment on it as soon as they arrive here on holiday.

The local flora are untainted by pollution, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are comestible, or edible.  Some of the plants are naturally toxique – or even mortelle – such as these luscious-looking berries, which were so tempting we were very glad to have Sandrine to warn us away from them!

Sapins

The wood of these forest trees (les sapins) are of course used for building in the Alps, but the needles (les aiguilles), buds (les bourgeons de sapin) et cones (les pommes de pin) are also used for decoration in the home, therapeutic remedies and in cooking.  Sandrine plucked some sprigs of pine for us to try – to chew rather than swallow – and explained that this particular species, with faint tinges of lemon and rosemary, is often used to flavour salads, oils and “eau de vie”.  We later tried some “eau de vie de bourgeouns de sapin” in one of the mountain refuges, brewed by La Madame herself and offered as a digestif gratuit.  As with many of the regional homebrews, it had an “interesting” bouquet, with potent top notes of Christmas Tree, followed by a distinct after sensation of pure petrol!

La Reine des pres

One of the prettiest wild flowers in the fields is La Reine des Pres - The Queen of the Meadow. Sandrine popped some in a flask of hot, honeyed water and let the flowers infuse, producing a subtle and genuinely lovely cup of floral tea.

Menthe

We also discovered two different varieties of Menthe. This species has a strong, peppery fragrance and makes a great homemade herbal tea, either on its own or in combination with La Reine des pres. The other variety, with its pink flowers, has a milder, sweet scent and makes a great accompaniment to lamb dishes and seasonal vegetables.

Next, Sandrine introduced us to two plants that are now a regular feature in our summer salads at Chalet La Giettaz.

Epilobe

The first is Épilobe or Willow Herb.  These plants can grow to be very tall, and the upper leaves nearest the flowers are the most flavoursome and can be eaten whole. Sandrine also showed us how to make a very simple, tasty hors d’oeuvre by fine chopping the leaves and grinding them with some olive oil, salt and fresh garlic to make a delicious topping for mini toasts.

Carrote Sauvage

Our other salad favourite is Carotte Sauvage. We were also excited to find plenty of it growing in the Chalet’s very own meadow. Sprinkling some of these little buds on a salad adds a fresh tang to mâche - lamb’s lettuce leaves – and works well with a simple dressing of lemon juice and olive oil.

Wild Thyme

Another alpine herb we have made great use of is the wild thyme that is dotted all over the hills here. We have a large batch that we have dried for use in our home made stock and seasonings, and we also now pick it freshly when making dishes such as the Coq au Vin or the home made paté on our bar menu.

Fraises

Finally, one of our favourite plants to stumble across on a walk are these alpine strawberries that are bursting with flavour despite their tiny size. If we’re honest, we never hold onto them long enough for use in our homemade tarts!

Sandrine Coulaud speaks fluent English and is available for guided walks throughout the summer, which she will tailor to your needs, from high-energy fitness hikes to gentle strolls along well-trodden paths. The “Rando-cueillette des Plantes de Montagne”, is a 2-hour walk followed by a tasting and recipe suggestions and costs €12.

A beginners’ guide to the Tour de France… Part Two

Our guide to the Tour de France continues with a run-down of the main contenders in this year’s race…

The reigning champion is the Spaniard, Alberto Contador, who has won three out the last five Tours, including the last two.  His participation in this year’s event had been in doubt until recently, as he is currently under investigation for alleged doping in last year’s Tour.  This is sure to cause much controversy throughout this year’s race.  Contador has already won this year’s Giro d’Italia (the Italian equivalent of the Tour), but whether or not he has fully recovered from that extremely tough event is a key question for the Tour.  Furthermore, Contador’s team, Saxo Bank, is not as strong as some of the other contenders’ teams.

The clear second-favourite is Andy Schleck, from Luxembourg.  Runner-up to Contador in last year’s race by only 39 seconds, many fans felt Schleck was hard done by when the chain came off his bike at a crucial point of one of the mountain stages, and Contador took advantage to race ahead, rather than waiting for the problem to be fixed.  Schleck’s team, Leopard Trek, is one of the strongest in the race, and includes his older brother, Frank, who is also a top-10 GC contender.  If Contador is not at full strength this year then Andy Schleck should be in pole position to take advantage.

Beyond Contador and Andy Schleck, there are a number of other riders who will fight it out for a place on the GC podium at the end of the race.  These include Robert Gesink (Holland, Team Rabobank), Cadel Evans (Australia, BMC), Ivan Basso (Italy, Liquigas), Samuel Sanchez (Spain, Euskatel Euskadi), Bradley Wiggins (UK, Sky) and Jurgen van den Broek (Belgium, Omega Pharma Lotto).

The top sprinter in the race is widely recognised as Mark Cavendish, from the Isle of Man (team HTC-Highroad).  Although he has no chance of winning the overall GC, Cavendish currently sits 12^th on the list of all-time Tour de France stage winners, an extremely impressive statistic given that he has only taken part three times.  He has never won the green jersey, finishing second in both 2009 and 2010.  Other sprint contenders include the 2010 green jersey champion Alessandro Pettachi of Italy (Lampre), Thor Hushovd of Norway (Garmin-Cervelo) and Tyler Farrar (USA, also Garmin-Cervelo).

Other notable personalities in the race include the Swiss Fabian “Spartacus” Cancellara (Team Leopard-Trek), who has been practically unbeatable in individual time trials in recent seasons, Philippe Gilbert of Belgium (Omega Pharma Lotto), who won all three of the spring “Classics” races in Belgium and Holland this year, and home favourite, Thomas Voeckler (Europcar).

Apart from Wiggins and Cavendish, there are three other Britons taking part this year: Ben Swift and Geraint Thomas (both Sky), and David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo).

As of today, Contador has made a dreadful start to the Tour – he was held up by a crash in the peloton on Day 1, and lost over a minute to most of the other GC contenders.  On Day 2, Saxo Bank struggled on the team time trial and he lost further time.  It is going to be fascinating to see how Saxo Bank adapt their tactics over the coming days to try to make up the lost time.

As ever, the key stages for the overall outcome of the GC will be those in the mountains, and the race organisers have included many of the Tour’s most legendary climbs this year, culminating in the Stage 19 finish at Alpe d’Huez which is sure to be heaving with fanatical supporters.  Alpe d’Huez could be decisive, but if the race for the GC is still close, the following day’s time trial round the environs of Grenoble will also be incredibly exciting.

We hope this has thrown a little more light upon this fantastic sporting event.  Watch out for some updates throughout the next three weeks on how the race is shaping up.  As ever, comments and questions are always welcome: please use the form below.

Allez!

A beginners’ guide to the Tour de France… Part One

To mark the start of the Tour de France this weekend, we thought it might be fun to provide a beginners’ guide to the race, as we are often asked about it by guests at the chalet – particularly as we are surrounded by fabulous cycling terrain!

We’ve split the guide into two parts: Part 1 gives some background to the Tour and explains how the race works.  Part 2 looks at some of the contenders for the race, and gives you some information on how to watch it, and will be published tomorrow.  Happy reading!

What is the Tour de France?

First run in 1903, the Tour is the most prestigious bike race in the world, and is a fascinating combination of extreme physical endurance and cunning tactical play (sometimes with more than a hint of skulduggery), culminating in a showpiece final stage through the streets of Paris that regularly attracts over a million spectators.

198 riders will start this year’s race: 22 teams of 9 people each.  Each rider’s time over each stage is aggregated up, and the winner is the racer with the shortest overall time across the 21 stages.  This overall ranking is called the general classification (GC for short) and winning it is a realistic target for at most 5% of the field.  However, that is not to say the others are simply there to make up the numbers: there are a number of sub-competitions that are as keenly contested as the overall GC itself, and team tactics are of huge importance throughout the race.  The leader of the GC after each stage wears the famous yellow jersey in the following day’s stage.

What is the route?

The route changes every year, although it always covers 21 stages and it always finishes on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.  The Alps and the Pyrenees are always featured and it is not unusual for at least one stage to take place outside France.   The total length of this year’s race is 3,471 kilometres (2,157 miles), with just two rest days between today’s start and the final stage on Sunday, July 24^th.

How does the race work?

To properly understand the race, it’s worth looking quickly at the different specialities that exist within the professional cycling ranks.  Climbers are good on the very hilly mountain stages but can be slower on the flat stages (particularly against-the-clock time trials).  Sprinters have explosive power on flat finishes but tend to struggle on long, hilly routes.  Time-trialists are able to sustain a fast pace over a long, rolling stage, but are not quite as strong on steep climbs or indeed a straightforward sprint.  All of the star racers on the Tour fall into one of these three categories.  Domestiques make up the rest of the bunch: workhorses who are there to support the big names on each team, by protecting them in the peloton – the main pack of racers – and performing such menial tasks as fetching water bottles from the team cars that follow the race.

A strong climber who is also able to compete reasonably well on the time trials will win the Tour, because the time gains that he can make from performing well in the mountains far outstrip the time he will lose on a flat stage contested by the sprinters.  However, the importance of the teams cannot be underestimated.  A cyclist can expend up to 40% more energy riding alone on an open road as they would if they were riding at the same speed within the peloton.  Over a 3,000km, 3-week event, energy conservation is vital and it is simply not possible for one rider to consistently race away from the peloton every day: rather, the top GC contenders will sit tight within the safety of their teams for much of the race, waiting for the mountain stages where they can show their strength and go for the yellow jersey.  This means that each flat stage offers the opportunity for other racers to gain much-coveted stage victories, even though they have no chance of winning the overall GC.   Often, breakaway groups will form, as small groups of riders attempt to race away from the peloton to increase their chances of a stage victory; sometimes these groups work, other times they are caught by the peloton – it just depends on the conditions on the day and how much effort the peloton puts into the chase.  GC contenders and their teams are usually content to allow these breaks to occur, as long as the riders involved are not considered as threats in the overall classification.  Over the course of the 3 weeks, a fascinating tactical battle will develop between the top contenders and teams for the GC.

Thanks for reading, and please tune in for Part 2 tomorrow!

Why the Alps are a great choice for a summer holiday…

For the first of our Chalet La Giettaz Blog posts, we thought it might be interesting to look at why the Alps can be a great choice for a summer holiday as well as the annual winter sports trip.  Read on to discover more about what the region has to offer a summer visitor.

Probably the most obvious attraction of the area is, well, the Alps themselves.  It’s not difficult to run out of superlatives to describe the scenery here: magnificent, majestic, overwhelming, breathtaking – we’re sure you get the idea.  Dramatic peaks – the highest of which are still covered in snow, even in July and August – tower over forests, lakes, meadows, valleys and a seemingly endless trail of sleepy, rustic villages.

Yet if there is still snow on the highest peaks, that is not to say that holidaymakers looking for sunshine and heat are going to be disappointed.  As you can see from the graph below, average highs in Megève are well over 20° all the way from May through to September, and it is not uncommon for the thermometer to hit 30° in June, July and August.  Moreover, many visitors are pleased to find night-time temperatures are not nearly as sticky as they can be in the Mediterranean, and there is no need for mosquito repellent either.

So the scenery and the weather are lovely, but what is there to do?   Well, there is a huge range of outdoor activities available in the region.  Superb walks are available on the many hundreds of kilometres of marked and well-maintained trails that criss-cross the region.  Road cyclists will need no introduction to the legendary Alpine terrain, although the areas around Lakes Annecy and Geneva offer flat, easy routes in equally stunning scenery.  Mountain bikers can enjoy graded, marked trails, accessible by chairlift, and the opportunities for climbing, including via ferrata, are endless.

But you don’t have to be an adrenalin junkie to enjoy a summer visit to the Alps: those looking for an altogether more sedate pace will find plenty of things to do as well.   The area is dotted with freshwater lakes, many of which are filtered, and have lifeguards and areas set aside for children.  There are cafés, children’s playparks and grassy areas for sunbathing – a welcome change from finding sand everywhere after you’ve been to the beach!

Kids will love the other activities available in the area too, such as summer luge (essentially a sledge on wheels that runs down a metal track laid on the hillside) pony trekking, crazy golf, go-karting and simply exploring the many paths and trails across the countryside.   They will learn about wildlife and geography, and may even pick up some French along the way!

Annecy, and the lake to which it gives its name, is a must-visit on any summer trip to the Alps.  The town itself has a beautiful medieval centre, complete with fairytale castle and postcard-perfect canals, but it also has real substance, full of interesting boutiques, good restaurants and a young, vibrant atmosphere.   The centre stretches neatly down on to the north-west corner of the lake and there are glorious views across the water to the mountains beyond.  The shore is lined with boat-hire companies, swimming spots and cafés, as well as a flat, family-friendly cycle track.

Mont Blanc is equally unmissable.  At 4,810 metres, the highest mountain in Western Europe maintains its covering of snow throughout the year and offers a formidable presence throughout the region.  For an up-close view of the mountain, the Aiguille du Midi has a viewing platform at 3,800 metres, reached by cable car from Chamonix, and from here you can even take another car across to the Italian side of the mountain.

We could go on: the point is that a summer holiday in the Alps can be as active or as laid back as you like – either way you’re sure to return home feeling refreshed and relaxed.  What’s more, a summer break in the Alps offers excellent value and an escape from the crowds.  Cheap flights to Geneva are available from airports throughout the UK, or alternatively the area is well served by France’s excellent motorway and high-speed train networks.

We hope this has given you a little flavour of what you could find on holiday in this beautiful corner of France.  Comments and questions are always welcome on the blog, and we’ll do our best to answer them in future posts.

A bientôt!

Welcome to The Chalet La Giettaz Blog!

A big bonjour and welcome to The Chalet La Giettaz Blog!

We are looking forward to using The Blog to keep our readers updated with news and information from the Chalet, as well as discussing the finer points of life in this beautiful corner of the Alps.

We’ll be talking about things to do in the region, investigating special events and festivals over the summer, checking out the best pistes in winter, giving you the lowdown on the best places to eat and drink around us, and generally providing our followers with as much information as possible about La Giettaz, Savoie and the French Alps in general.  We also hope to open up The Blog to as many of our guests as possible, so they can share tips and suggestions of places they visited while here with our other readers.

Comments are always hugely appreciated and if you have any topics you would specifically like to discuss, please let us know and we’ll do our utmost to include it in a future blog.

Thanks for reading, and we hope you enjoy The Blog!