Seyssel, which is located half in Savoie and half in Ain, had a boat festival which included art, entertainment, music, boat rides, demonstrations and any number of interesting things. We spent the day there but we suffered through 98 degree heat. We still managed to have a good time and here is a video of the festivities.

As promised, here is the video of the Flag Thowers at the Italian Festival in Bourget. The tradition goes back centuries and originates in Siena, Italy. While I call them Italian Flag Throwers, I actually don’t know if they were Italian or French. It’s possible that there is a French Association here that teaches the tradition and performs around France. We are near the Italian border so it’s hard to know exactly where they are from. Either way, they were fantastic to watch. While I’ve seen flag throwing before in Italy, I have never seen the ‘foot work’ of these talented young men.

After a year of planning, designing, researching, etc, my French Alps Tours takes its first guests on a sightseeing tour of the region beginning today! The tour has been carefully designed to touch on the best that the region has to offer. I have personally created this tour keeping in mind the places that has brought me the most pleasure in the two years of living here, as well as focusing on those things that are unique to this region and can’t be experienced in other parts of France.

It’s a very small group but it’s a good start and great way to do a trial run for future ‘adjustments.’  I’ll let you know how it goes.

We have scheduled two new tours for next year: June 4 – 11 and September 3 – 10, 2011. We already have four sign-ups for the June Tour so don’t delay. Put them on your calendar, and come join us for a fantastic tour of the French Alps.    

P.S.  Happy Labor Day to all my American readers!

If you read my blog regularly you know I’m a lover of Italy and all things Italian, so when an Italian Festival came to our area, I made a point of going. It was held at the small town of Bourget, which sits on the Bourget Lake, about 30 minutes from Chambery.  I took two videos of the event. This one is an overview video showing the yummy food and wine they were selling as well as some of the entertainment and demonstrations.  The next video will show you the amazing talents of the Flag Throwers.

I’m in Alsace, France for my birthday which was a present from my husband, Bernard.  His daughter joined us.  The town we are staying in, Rosheim, is a Medieval village with wonderful timber-lined homes. We also visited a 1400′s castle and another Medieval town, Riguewihr, which was as cute as it could be.   Today we spent roaming the streets of Strasbourg and visiting its stunning Cathedral.  It’s all on video and camera and I’ll be putting videos of the trip on the blog in the coming weeks.  It’s a very German-influenced area but don’t say that to an Alsacian because they don’t like the German comparisons.  The dialect here is quite interesting too – I hear German, French with a touch of the Swedish inflection.

And for those of you who read my birthday reflections post, I wanted to update you.  The inspection happened today and all went well. The house is in great shape but there is a lot of cleaning, painting, some repairs, three rooms that need flooring, plus a new refrigerator.  But thanks to credit cards, it’s all within the realm of possibility.  So thanks for your good wishes.

Now that you’ve seen how we got to the top of Mont Blanc, here’s what the views are like once you get there. It is truly a magnificent place with awe-inspiring beauty. It makes you feel very small. Thanks to my nephew, Jon, who took some of this video from the high platforms where my fear of heights wouldn’t let me go.

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My husband, my family who was visiting, and I took a day to visit Chamonix, specifically to take the Auguille du Midi cable car up to the top of Mont Blanc.  The last part of the first cable car was a bit scary. We thought the second cable car up to the summit would be worse but it was actually a smoother ride, albeit VERY high. The views were spectacular and I would definitely recommend doing this (as long as you don’t have a serious fear of heights). Be aware that the air is thin there and we found ourselves having difficulty breathing normally, especially after walking up the stairs to the observation platforms. We wanted to do the train ride to the Mer de Glace (cave under the glacier) but it was closed due to rock slides.

What astonished all of us was that towards the summit we saw numerous people hiking up the mountain and others with their hang gliders waiting for the right winds to jump. We also saw ski trails down the mountain. Keep in mind these are 85-90 grade slopes. Once you start skiing there’s no stopping and you can’t see that far in advance to know if you’re going off a cliff or not.  When we got to the top, we also saw young men and women suiting up to scale down the cliffs.  To me, it seemed like everyone had a death wish but I’m just an old woman with a fear of heights so what do I know!

Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe, peaking at 15,782 feet.  Chamonix was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. You can take the Auguille du Midi to the top of the mountain (about 48 euros) or take a train to see the Mer de Glace (glacier cave). You can also take the train over the mountain into Italy for a quick visit of the local small town (without your passport). More information can be found at:
http://www.chamonix.com/welcome,0,en.html

Enjoy the ride up on the Auguille du Midi:

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