And fair enough. They’re beautiful.

High above the lake, tucked into the mountains, there’s a small Alpine village that doesn’t need to make a fuss — it’s just one of the best places around.

Thollon-les-Mémises.

If you’ve ever stood by the lakeside and found yourself looking up at the mountains, wondering what’s up there …this is it — and if you’re discovering Thollon for the first time, consider this a gentle introduction.

Still wondering whether it’s worth the detour — or what there actually is to do — the answer is more than you might think.

The view over Lake Geneva

There are views…and then there are views.

From Thollon, the whole of Lake Geneva opens out below you – wide, silvery, and constantly changing.  You can see right across to Switzerland — not just on a clear day, but every day — with Lausanne sitting quietly on the opposite shore and the boats tracing slow, deliberate paths across the water.

It’s one of those places where you find yourself stopping mid-sentence just to look.

And then stopping again five minutes later.

And again.

It’s a ski resort – and it depends when you go

Yes, Thollon is a ski resort.

But what it feels like depends entirely on when you’re there.

Come during the school holidays – Christmas, New Year, February – and it’s full-on. Car parks overflowing. Queues for the lifts. Children everywhere. That slightly frantic energy that builds up as everyone tries to make the most of their week in the mountains.

It can feel busy. Properly busy.

Then January arrives… and everything changes.

Suddenly it’s quieter. You recognise faces. There’s space again – on the slopes, in the cafés, even in the car park.

March sits somewhere in between. A bit more relaxed, but still with a sense of the season ticking along.

And then, right at the end, those last sunny weekends bring everyone back out again. One final burst -ending with a giant village party- before it all winds down again.

Same place. Completely different experiences.

If you’re after peace and quiet, avoid the school holidays. If you don’t mind a bit of chaos, you’ll fit right in.

It’s quite hard to beat.

Summer in Thollon has a life of its own

If winter belongs to the slopes, summer belongs to the lake.

And when the weather turns – properly warm, blue skies, that clear Alpine light – people head down. Not up.

The beaches along Lake Geneva fill quickly. Towels spread out early, children in and out of the water. It’s a different energy altogether.

Up in Thollon the lifts open again at the beginning of May, but this time for walkers. The mountain changes character completely — green replacing white, wildflowers appearing almost overnight along the paths

You can walk for hours here.

Sometimes properly, boots on, slightly out of breath.

Spend the morning up in the hills and be down by the water in the afternoon. It’s not about choosing between the mountains and the lake.

You get both.

The in-between seasons are when you really see it

This is the bit most people miss.

The weeks between winter and summer, when the snow retreats slowly up the mountain and the village seems to pause, take a breath, and reset.

Shops close for a while. The gondola stops. The carparks empty.

And suddenly you hear everything.

Water running everywhere as the snow melts. Birds you didn’t notice before. It’s quieter yes – but not in a sad way. More like the village is stretching after a long season and getting ready to begin again.

If you want to understand a place, come when nothing much is happening.

It’s just above Evian – but feels a world away

One of the nicest surprises about Thollon is how close it is to everything… and yet how separate it feels.

Evian is just down the road – lakeside cafés, boats coming and going, that slightly polished Riviera feel.

But a short drive up the mountain and you’re somewhere completely different.

Cooler air. Slower pace. Fewer people. Bigger views.

You can dip in and out of both worlds in a single day – morning coffee by the lake, afternoon up in the mountains, evening watching the light fade and the sunsets over the water.

It’s a very easy place to settle into.

So…is Thollon Worth Visiting?

If you’re looking for somewhere in the French Alps that combines mountain air, lake views and a slightly more understated kind of charm – then yes.

Very much so.

It doesn’t try too hard. It doesn’t need to. But it stays with you.

And once you’ve been, you tend to find yourself looking up at those mountains from the lakeside and thinking…

I know what’s up there.

The post 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Thollon-les-Mémises (above Lake Geneva) appeared first on Tales from the Balcony.

You hear it before you really see it.  From the balcony above the lake you can hear a soft sigh, as if the whole place is gently exhaling.

The first sign is the water.  Snowmelt is everywhere – running along the edges of the road, dripping from rooftops, trickling across pathways. Snow, which only weeks ago covered everything, begins its quiet retreat up the mountain.

After the clear, bright ‘bluebird’ days of the ski season, the sky softens too. The flat greys of early Spring give way to blue again. Everything feels lighter – even if there’s still a chill in the air that catches you off guard.

And then, just as the days begin to hint at summer…everything pauses for a moment.

After Easter, when the last skiers have gone, the village seems to take a breath.The gondola closes briefly for maintenance before reopening at weekends in May.

Car parks empty. Even the bus to Evian stops its daily grind up and down the hill. Cafes and restaurants shut their doors for a while – terraces stacked neatly and waiting.

There’s an odd stillness.

It’s just…. quiet.

As things slow down you start to notice the little details – birdsong replaces the background hum of visitors.

Up on the Hucel, where the radio tower overlooks Lake Geneva, red kites circle lazily in the warming air before drifting out across the water.

The meadows and the pathways burst into flower – the fields carpeted with golden dandelions.

And the cats return.

Each field surrounding the village has its own silent guardian, sitting proudly at the centre of its little domain. It’s one of the little things that I love about Thollon.

A few second-home owners drift through, carefully avoiding school holidays. But, for the most part, the village feels as though it’s been left to itself.

And then, very quietly, life begins again,

Down by the lake in Evian, there’s a gentle stir of activity.

Not busy. Just purposeful.

Boats are opened up after winter – engines checked, chrome polished, bags carried back and forth along the pontoon. The same quiet rituals, every year. Fridges are stocked with a few essentials… and, of course, a bottle of wine.

This is France after all.

Along the waterfront, the promenades begin to bloom again.  In Evian, workmen  are out replanting the borders bringing colour back to the town.

And then there are the smaller details.

Birds nesting quietly in the backs of boats, undisturbed until the chicks have hatched. The lido being cleaned and prepared for the new season.

The old wooden trading vessel, the Savoie, one of the last of its kind on Lake Geneva, is made ready once again.  Her great double sails catching the fresh spring winds like echoes from another time.

Nothing dramatic. No grand reopening.  Just small signs, one after the other.

Spring in Thollon isn’t a showy season.

It doesn’t arrive with crowds or colour or noise, it comes quietly – in the sound of water, in that pause after Easter, in the gentle return of life along the lake.

And if you’re lucky enough to be there in that in-between moment, you begin to see it for what it really is –

Not the start of something,

But the quiet turning of the year.

The post Spring in Thollon: The Quiet Season Above Lake Geneva appeared first on Tales from the Balcony.

Maybe here in the beautiful Haute Savoie.

Yes, the circus is coming to town and the Alps are buzzing with excitement

The 2026 Tour de France runs from 4-26 July and starts with a dramatic Grand Départ in Barcelona, before sweeping back to France and finishing in Paris.

The official route is 3,333 km over 21 stages.

It includes legendary Alpine giants such as Alpe d’Huez and the Col du Galibier, the highest point (“roof”) of the Tour at 2,642 m.  It’s without a doubt one of the world’s toughest endurance races.

With 23 teams this year and eight cyclists in each team, 184 riders in total, the atmosphere on the mountain roads and lakeside stretches will be even more electric.

Each year millions of people line the route of the Tour de France to experience the exhilaration and sheer razzmatazz of this extraordinary event.

Not only are there the 184 cyclists, but there are also over 4 500 support and technical staff accompanying the race.

The Tour returns to my corner of Lake Geneva

This year the Tour de France travels from Barcelona through the Pyrenees, the Alps and finally to Paris – but what caught my eye was Stage 16, when the riders race along the lakeside road between Évian and Thonon, a road familiar to anyone who knows this corner of France.

Stage 16 Evian – Thonon is scheduled for Tuesday, 21 July 2026

The day before, Monday 20th July, is the Tour’s rest day in the Haute Savoie. By the time Tuesday arrives the whole area will be buzzing. There’ll be team buses and support cars galore, roads might already have restrictions and camper vans will be parked up everywhere.

The cafes and bars in each town and village in the Haute Savoie will be full of lively discussions about who’ll wear the yellow jersey this year.

By Tuesday, 21 July, after the rest day, the lakeside road between Évian and Thonon will hum with anticipation as the riders set off one by one against the clock.

Plan to arrive on Monday evening if you want the best roadside spots!

Other beautiful route highlights

This year’s route is wonderfully mountainous and has been described as a crescendo route, building drama towards the Alps and Paris. Worth watching are:

•  the Pyrenees in week one
• Gavarnie-Gedre summit finish
• Plateau de Solaison (first time)
• Alpe d’Huez twice
• final Paris finish

The Razzmatazz

Preceding each stage of the race is the ‘not to be missed’ Caravane.  You’ll hear the Caravane arriving long before you see it. With it’s fanfare of popular summer hits, played at full blast, it’s a 20 km long procession of over 160 sponsors’ floats and cars.

The official Tour describes it as the “Tour and it’s partners” putting on a two-hour show before the riders.

To add to the Carnival atmosphere the sponsors throw around 16 million freebies, from keyrings and caps to sauce sachets, into the waiting crowds. The time it takes to pass the crowds is in stark contrast to the blur of the peloton a couple of hours later.

It’s all one giant party.

People sit for hours in stripey deckchairs beside the road, children wait excitedly with bags to fill with goodies. Helicopters swirl overhead filming the procession of giant product and sponsors vehicles.

In the distance you can hear the roar of the crowd as the riders appear and ….whooosh….they’ve gone in the blink of an eye.

Who’s Who

Even if you’re not a cycling devotee, it helps to know who the stars of the show are. It can be difficult to work out who’s in the overall lead and who’s  won each individual stage of the race.

Tour de France Prize 2026

The Tour ends triumphantly in Paris on July 26th 2026, after 21 days of gruelling cycling. On the final leg, the cyclists head up the crowd-filled Champs Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe where the overall winner is crowned champion.

A total of €2.3 million in prize money is divided among all cyclists in the various categories. For all the glamour, the yellow jersey winner receives €500,000 euros – usually shared among teammates, mechanics and support staff, which feels quite fitting as it’s without doubt a team effort.

Each stage winner takes home €11,000, the green jersey winner €25,000, polka dot €25,000 and the white jersey €20,000.

Of course, the real winners are the vast crowds that turn out to watch the theatre of it all – the caravan, the helicopters, the flags and the sudden flash of colour as 184 riders sweep past.

Where can I see the Tour?

Yes you could sit at home and watch it all on TV from the comfort of your sofa. But where’s the fun in that? Or you could plan ahead a little.

Check the official website of the Tour de France 2026 and the local tourist office websites.  They’ll tell you the exact route of each of the 21 stages, the starting and finishing times, and also the times of the local road closures.

Top Tips for Watching the Tour de France

• To get the best out of your day you’ll need to do a little homework.
• Check the official Tour de France website in late May for detailed maps of the route.
• You can also find all information you need in the detailed ‘2026 Tour de France Official Programme and Race Guide’  which is available to pre-order.
• While spectators tend to line almost the whole route, you’ll see more of the cyclists on uphill mountainous stretches. They tend to cycle more slowly and you’ll see more of them as they come toward you.
• Arrive early.  The Gendarmes close the roads early, often a couple of hours before the Caravane arrives, so it can be difficult to get to where you want to be.  You can find the times of road closures on the local tourist office websites.
• Take a fold-up stool or light portable chair with you, you could be standing for several hours otherwise.
• Remember to take a packed lunch and plenty of snacks and drinks.  French restaurants are fairly strict and only tend to open from 12 noon – 2 pm. You may not want to lose your viewing spot to look for food.
• Pack a sun hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, camera, binoculars, and maybe a light raincoat or poncho. The weather in the mountains can be a bit unpredictable.
• Check the weather forecast before you leave home

Oh, and don’t whatever you do, forget to take your goody bag. You never know when 26 sauce sachets and a novelty hat will come in handy.

The post Tour de France 2026 in Evian appeared first on Tales from the Balcony.

A guide to life from above Lake Geneva, local walks, seasonal traditions, villages, mountain adventures
and the stories that make my favourite corners of France unforgettable.

It’s been a little while.

Not because I’ve run out of places to write about – just the opposite. Life’s just shifted direction slightly. I’m still drawn to the same places. Lake Geneva, The Alps and beyond – and probably always will be.

I’m writing from Scotland now. Different light, different landscape… but I haven’t gone anywhere, really.

Why Scotland?  After living in Thollon les Mémises above Lake Geneva for several years, where Tales from the Balcony first began, I moved back to Scotland for family reasons.

I may have decamped, but this idyllic corner of France still feels like home, and I’d love to continue sharing its stories with you.

I’ll tell you more about favourite places, daily life and the changing moods of the lake and the mountains. I’ll also take you beyond the borders to exciting new places that are easily accessible from Thollon, such as Lausanne, the South of France or Italy.

Think of it like opening a treasure box, you never quite know what you might find.

So, whether you’re a first-time visitor, a seasoned traveller or a second homeowner, come travelling with me around one of the most beautiful parts of the world.

The post Back to the Balcony appeared first on Tales from the Balcony.

A Tale from my Thollon Balcony

Home is where the heart is in Thollon

In the daytime, we drank coffee with friends on the balcony. We watched the buzzards as they cruised the thermals way above our heads. We counted the small white boats that crisscrossed the lake for business and pleasure.

A winter wonderland in Thollon

The post A Tale from my Thollon Balcony appeared first on Tales from the Balcony.

Twice a week the lakeside town transforms into a colourful maze of food stall, clothing rails and dangerously tempting goods.

I love a good French market.  For the congenitally curious like me, it’s paradise on earth.

But, here’s a cautionary tale  on how not to shop in a French market.

Have you ever done something so awful that you break into a cold sweat every time you think about it?

I’m not talking about a really heinous crime. Just one of those excruciatingly embarrassing moments when you wish the ground would open up.

If that was you, standing outside the makeshift changing room at last Friday’s outdoor market, I can only apologise, profusely.

Setting the scene

It was one of those glorious spring days. The sun was shining, birds chirruping away, blue sky and Simpsons clouds, you get the picture.

The perfect day for a trip to the colourful, assault on the senses, outdoor market in Evian.

Up in Thollon, Mr B rolls out the car. And off we charge down the mountain like a ball bearing in a pinball machine.

Since arriving here over a year ago, Mr B has become more ‘confident’, his word, driving down these twisty little mountain roads. Reckless would be a more accurate description.

Wild animals in the surrounding woods tremble at the sound of our garage door opening.

Market days in Évian-les-Bains

Our little market in Evian takes place twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday mornings. The Tuesday market is a fairly restrained affair but on Fridays, it’s the full potato.  Everything you want a market to be.

A riot of colourful handbags, handwoven baskets, and enough sunhats to build a raft with.  Flimsy dresses swing on hangers beneath the canopies, like the spinnakers of yachts on the nearby lake.

What you’ll find at a French outdoor market

As I weave from stand to stand, Mr B saunters behind, examining the ‘designer’ watches as if he were an expert on the Antiques Roadshow.

  I peruse the bowls of fat, succulent olives and buy aubergines the size of rugby balls, they must be a bargain, mustn’t they?

I’m talked into a kilo of roast potatoes along with my roast chicken by the good-looking young man on the chicken stand. Well, he did wink at me as he put the chicken in its seep-proof bag. Neither of us eats potatoes.

Each time I come home with 2 slices of ham so thick you could cobble a street with them.

Every week we have the same conversation, ‘No, we’re not adopting a beehive for the balcony from the woman at the honey stall’ …

but I’m working on that.

What embarrassing incident?

Anyway, I’ve been trying to deflect you from asking ‘what embarrassing incident?’ Here’s a little lesson on how not to shop in a French market.

It all began when I spotted a bargain hanging on the rail of the slightly dodgy dresses and blingy trousers stall.

Fed up with the countryside uniform of t-shirt and jeans I thought I might jazz up my wardrobe a bit.

The dressing room disaster

‘You’re not buying that without trying it on, are you?’ Said the voice of reason over my shoulder. ‘Yes, yes, this way Madame, I have a changing room here for you’, steering me through the jungle of coat hangers, over 3 empty cardboard boxes, and behind 2 very flimsy floral curtains.

Somewhat reluctant to strip down to my undies in the middle of the outdoor market, I rashly decided to slip the dress on over the jeans and t-shirt. Top plan!

What could possibly go wrong?

Five minutes of deep inhaling, lots of shimmying, and I get it on.

It looks like a burst sausage skin, and so off it comes……. well, no, in fact, it’s jammed tight at around shoulder height.

By this time, I’ve got my arms over my head like a drowning man, and somehow the whole thing has twisted around and I’m breathing through the zip hole.

Subtle alterations

‘Mais dis donc……qu’est qu’elle fait la’ ?  comes the murmur from the small crowd gathering outside the curtain.

‘Ca va?’ enquires the increasingly impatient stall owner.

I break into a cold sweat convinced I’m going to pass out at any moment.  Nothing else for it, I’m going to have to open the curtain and ask him to cut me out of this straight jacket.

Then suddenly I remember reading about Harry Houdini.

His trick to escape from a padlocked trunk while bound in chains was to breathe out deeply and simultaneously relax all of your muscles.

At this point, I’ll try anything.

Miraculously it worked, and centimetre by centimetre I worked the dress off, accompanied by the sound of groaning stitches and creaking seams.

A fashion triumph

I emerged from behind the curtain like Eric Morecombe on Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

Before the stallholder had time to admire the minor alterations I’d so carefully made, I stuffed the dress in my bag.

With a big broad smile I beamed, ‘why yes, it’s just perfect.’

20 euros later and I’m now the proud owner of an eye-catching pink and orange floral dress with strategically placed air vents.

The moral of this story is, don’t be tempted to buy your clothes in the outdoor market…..oh, hang on…..what’s this…

The post How Not to Shop in a French Market in Evian-les-Bains appeared first on Tales from the Balcony.

Living in the Haute Savoie connects you to Romance in a big way. I’m not talking about the Valentine’s Day type of romance. I’m talking ‘Romance’ with a capital R.  Passion, raw emotion, and the occasional craggy rockface.

We took the plunge and moved to the Haute Savoie a few years ago, leaving big city life behind us. We swapped a view of a busy main road in wet and windy Glasgow, for a view of Lake Geneva and the Jura mountains.

However, we’re not the first to be captured by the distant snow-capped peaks or the golden sunsets, by the wild storms or the soft greens of the alpine meadows.

In the footsteps of the true Romantics

The shores of Lake Geneva have welcomed the British for centuries. From pilgrims heading to Rome for salvation to sensation-seeking young aristocrats on the Grand Tour. From the asylum-seeking Lisle and Ludlow, responsible for the death warrant of Charles I, to writers such as Edward Gibbon and William Beckford.

The French and Swiss Alps were a magnet for poets, artists, and writers from all corners of Europe at the turn of the 18th century.

Two of the greatest 18th-century writers and philosophers, Voltaire and Rousseau, drew disciples of the Enlightenment from around the world to their homes on the lake. Also known as the Age of Reason, this innovative period emphasised rational thinking and the advancement of science and technology.

For ordinary people, however, this time of growth and expansion was less about the intellectual and more about grinding poverty in the rapidly industrialising cities of Europe.

The Romantics swept into this era of huge political and social upheaval, revolution, and war like a breath of fresh air.

While science sought to identify and catalogue nature in a rational way, the Romantics breathed life into it. They captured the very essence of sublime landscapes on a profoundly emotional level.

The French and Swiss Alps – Cradle of the Romantic Movement

Lake Geneva, Mont Blanc, and the Alps sparked the creative genius of Romantic poets such as Byron and Shelley.

Byron wrote prolifically here during the summer of 1816, including some of his most famous works. ‘The Prisoner of Chillon’, the ‘Third Canto of Childe Harold’, and the apocalyptic poem ‘Darkness’.

Mont Blanc is the monarch of mountains;
….. on a throne of rocks, in a robe of clouds,
With a Diadem of snow

by George Gordon Byron

Percy Shelley wrote ‘The Hymn to Intellectual Beauty’ on the lake, while his wife Mary was inspired by the lightning storms of that summer to begin her supernatural novel ‘Frankenstein’.

Coleridge penned the ‘Hymn before sunrise in the Vale of Chamouni’ celebrating the beauty of Mont Blanc,

companion of the morning-star at dawn

Countless artists, including the illustrious J.M.W Turner, attempted to capture the sublime landscapes and the sheer power of nature in their works.

Their experiences of nature weren’t filtered through the lens of a camera or a smartphone, as ours often are. Their passion and connection to the natural world still shine through in so many diaries, journals, and paintings centred around the majesty of the Alps and Lake Geneva.

A Short Romance?

The Romantic Movement was relatively short-lived (1790’s – 1840s) and slowly made way for the hard-headed business-minded Victorians. Its emphasis, however, on the individual and his place in the world and on the power of the imagination is of lasting importance.

The ability of nature to affect our moods and emotions was seen in a new light and changed the way that people looked at the world around them forever.

Reinventing the New Romantics

The popularity of programmes about nature, and the iconic status of people like David Attenborough, show that we’re still passionate about our surroundings. We can still stand in front of a landscape and look in awe at the beauty of the natural world.

We can admire its timelessness, its ability to absorb shock and upheaval and yet still bounce back. Nature offers us a sense of stability. Those mountains have been there for millions of years and will still be there whatever the future holds for us.

One thing I think all of us have learned recently is the value of our outdoor places.

Property Trends in the Haute Savoie

Is it true that people are being tempted to swap the daily grind of urban life for a simpler life in the countryside?

I asked local estate agent, Theo LePennec if he’d seen a general trend. ‘Definitely’, he said ‘the property market has seen a considerable rise due to the recent pandemic. It’s pushed a lot of city dwellers from Île de France (Paris), and the Grand Est (the Strasbourg region), towards the countryside.

For the moment, the market’s very buoyant and there’s a lot of demand for the few properties available.

Are you one of those people who loves getting out of the city? Do you relish the peace and quiet of the countryside? Are there times when you feel awestruck by the sheer beauty of the scenery around you?

So, come and join me in the New Romantic movement

You might not be able to up sticks and move to the mountains, but you can still dig out the hiking boots, grab a bike, or just take a sandwich.

Find a view you like and soak up the atmosphere.  Maybe you’ll be inspired to paint, or sketch or write too. if so, you’ll be following a long Romantic tradition.

The post The Romance of the Haute Savoie appeared first on Tales from the Balcony.

My husband’s Scottish, and has always hankered for a light drizzle, a distant misty peak, and a good peat bog. It’s taken him n….. years to persuade me to venture higher than 50 metres altitude.

An Intro to the ‘high life’

At first we started with a package holiday ski trip to Austria.

Hated it! Cold, wet, hard work, and spent the whole week in a sweaty vest and salopettes (think shiny dungarees with embarrassingly placed braces). Fortunately, I then moved on to the portable duvet and flowerpot hat, much more sofisticated (sic).

The only highlight was the Après-Ski; watching middle-aged people in similar cringe-worthy outfits attempting to dance in ski boots after knocking back a litre of schnapps each!

Slow down, you move too fast

But….. let’s fast forward another trillion years. It pains me to say it, but he was right all along, again. Life is better in the mountains. Everything moves at a different pace.

It’s taken me a while to get used it, but I’m getting there. Can you believe that almost everywhere in France closes for 2 hours at lunchtime?

By the time I get my act together, do a few star jumps, pound away on the pc for an hour and get a brush through my hair, all the shops are shut. They have slightly erratic reopening times too. Last year I stood outside the bank waiting for it to reopen at 2pm, yes even the banks… at 2.30 pm an amused shop assistant came out to tell me that they’re all closed on Mondays. What??

In the real world

Of course, it’s not all a rural idyll. Life’s hard for many people living in mountainous areas. The economy is mainly agriculturally based with additional income from tourism.

Many villages and hamlets are completely isolated in the winter. Internet connection is poor and power blackouts still happen when heavy snow brings the cables down.  Children are often bussed for miles to go to school and many villages have no doctor or medical facilities.

Village Life in Thollon

Here in Thollon we’re incredibly lucky. Our village of around 750 permanent residents, although sitting at over 1000 metres, benefits from 2 tiny supermarkets, a doctor, and a vibrant primary school. In the tourist seasons we even have a cinema. You can see more about Thollon here, and read my regular blog on life in this wonderful corner of France, Letters from Thollon

Winter and Summer

In the winter, the snow plough clears the roads daily and the postmen battle their way here through all kinds of weather.

The 16 ski lifts that cover the Mémises, serving 50 km of ski-runs, ensure that in normal times the village buzzes with activity from the end of December till the end of March.

Turn around twice and the village is full of summer visitors.  Many are decked out in hiking gear that’s been in the cupboard under the stairs since 1910, or failing that, new fuschia pink ‘should be stretchy’ but ‘already bagging at the knees’ outfits (yes, that’s me) that would give any meandering Marmotte a heart attack.

Life IS better in the Mountains

Of course, I’m super happy that this year, with the ski lifts closed, I don’t have to do the compulsory throwing yourself downhill on two planks of wood with the Scottish fanatic.  It means there’s more time to appreciate the incredible scenery, adapt to a different pace of life, and soak up the peace and tranquillity of mountains and lake.

Postscript 2020/21

While it’s all very well writing a light-hearted piece designed to entertain and amuse, I’d like to say that I’m deeply aware of the impact that the pandemic is having on the livelihoods of those reliant on tourism here in the mountains. Like much of the world, things here are very tough for many, many people at the moment.  My writing may sound flippant but at its heart is the desire to keep this little corner of the Haute Savoie, France, uppermost in your minds.

Come and explore for yourselves, when we can all travel again easily. You’ll be very welcome

The post Life is Better in the Mountains appeared first on Tales from the Balcony.

Nestled in the foothills of the Alps, our little village of Thollon is ideally placed for exploring the romantic shores of Lake Geneva and the rugged mountains that surround it.

This little gem of a museum is almost on our doorstep, in Les Gets, and is well worth a visit. On the way, you can admire the stunning scenery and stop at one of the little cafes or restaurants that dot the roadside.

Musical Marvels

If you’re traveling from the lakeside, take the ‘Route des Grandes Alpes’ and head through spectacular mountain scenery to Les Gets for a visit to the Museum of Mechanical Music. Small museums and landscape gardens were amongst the first businesses allowed to reopen after the pandemic in France. Most are run by volunteers and struggled to survive without visitor income.

This ultra-modern museum, housed in one of the oldest buildings in Les Gets, is home to a collection of over 800 musical marvels. It’s the largest collection in Europe.  Every form of honky-tonk piano, ghost accordion, and phantom violin is represented and all are in full working order.

Ever wondered who the mother of the Wurlitzer was?  Well, she’s here, in the form of giant circular metal discs pierced at strategic points, playing lively polkas and whirling waltzes to turn of the century pleasure seekers. From jazz to alpine melodies, from tiny delicate musical boxes to giant, colourful fairground organs they’re all here and the best thing is….. you get to hear them all.

My favourite?  It has to be the huge Belgian dancehall extravaganza.  This incredible organ was built in the 1950s in Antwerp. It’s painted in ice-cream colours with neon lighting, and it’s fronted by two Belgian saxophones, alongside mechanical accordions, trumpets, drums, and percussion. It’s a Saturday night at the ‘bal populaire’ kind of beast that could certainly tell a story or two.

On the next visit

When we visited, only half of the museum was open to visitors.  We weren’t able to see the collection of the earliest gramophones or visit the ‘Salle des Machines Parlantes’ with the first reproduction of the human voice. I would also have loved to see the automatons from the shop windows of the Faubourg St Honoré in Paris with their fairy story and Jules Verne themes. Still, that’s a good reason for a second visit sometime in the future!

Current opening times: Check the website for opening hours
Entrance fee: Adult 9 Euros, Child 5 Euros

Full details at www. http://www.musicmecalesgets.org/

The post Museum of Musical Instruments appeared first on Tales from the Balcony.