Housesitting in France

This was to be our first experience of housesitting in France.  After 20 months of travelling and housesitting our way around Asia, we were looking forward to the experience in Europe.

Lake Como to Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval 

We had stayed four nights in the spectacular Lake Como area in Northern Italy (click here to read our blog) so it wasn’t going to be a long drive across the border to get to our destination of Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval.

We had time up our sleeve to get there so wanted to make the most of the drive and take the more scenic route.  Google maps told us that the shortest route was going to take us 4 hours and 344 km to get to where we needed to be.  We navigated our way through the border of Switzerland and extended our drive by a couple of hours.

The scenery was just spectacular and there were plenty of “oh WOW” moments as the scenery unfolded before us.

Housesitting Priorities

It would be fair to say that we didn’t know anything about Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval so we had to do some research to find out just where we would be staying for a little over two weeks.

Our charges were going to be 5 chickens (yes, they all had names) and two cats.  This would mean that we had a little more time during the day for exploring.   

We pride ourselves in the fact that we are homebodies during our house sits.  Our first priority is always the animals in our care and the property we are in charge of.  Only then, do we start to get to know and become familiar with our local area.

Sightseeing always takes a backseat, especially if there are dogs to look after.  They crave human contact and are prone to fretting when their human parents leave.  Because of this, we tend to stick around home more.

Our Assignment

Our housesitting assignment was located close to town and was a modern yet traditional alpine chalet.  This style of housing has become an instantly recognisable icon of mountain living.  We were surrounded by this style of home which although are attractive, take into account more practical considerations.

Because of the town’s altitude (ranging from 720m to 3,000m), snowfall is heavy so these homes are built to withstand the most extreme weather conditions.  Snow on the roof adds three times the weight of the roofing material so they are certainly of solid construction.

Shutters are on all of the windows to help withstand the strong gusts of wind and guard against the extreme cold.

The stacking of firewood was a pure art form.  This must be a skill that is past down through the generations as we saw some pretty impressive looking woodpiles.  Carefully stacked logs against the walls of the home also provide extra insulation during extreme temperatures.

Our Mountain Chalet

We were more than comfortable in our lovely alpine chalet.  It was a spacious 2 bedroom home but had a fully self-contained apartment below which is used as an Air B&B.  Our hosts are kept busy during the winter months with skiers coming to enjoy the close proximity of some of the country’s best ski fields.  There was even a ski lift less than 100m from our front gate.

Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval 

The Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval area forms part of a natural reserve, three-quarters of its area (9,200 hectares) are uninhabited.  Sixt shares its border with Switzerland on the Northeast side and Chamonix-Mont Blanc to the South.

The name comes from the shape of a natural amphitheatre, which from above, looks like a horseshoe.  It receives over 500,000 visitors a year.  This horseshoe was part of our wonderful lounge-room vista.

Mountain Lovers Paradise

The town seemed quite deserted but we had a feeling that this certainly changes when the first snow falls and the area is blanketed in white.

Sixt is a year-round haven for mountain lovers, adventurers, walkers, skiers and mountain bikers.  There are plenty of trails and paths to choose from.  We had the amazing Cascade du Rouget (Queen of Alps) waterfall, an easy 10-minute drive up the road.

It is also an authentic winter sports resort town, catering for paragliders, mountaineering, ice-climbing and rafting.  There is no less than 265 km of slopes for skiers to enjoy.  One ski slope alone is 14 km long!

Even though winter hadn’t yet arrived, there was a steady flow of visitors (especially at the weekends) as they are certainly spoilt for choice when it comes to activities in the area.

We made the most of this luxury and endeavoured to conquer as many of those tracks as we could.  We could set out on foot and discover the most spectacular tracks of various lengths.

Spoilt for Choice 

A short trip in the car up the road opened up even more choices for us.  During our 2 weeks housesitting assignment, we ticked 8 hiking trails off the list.  These varied in degrees of difficulty and ranged from 7 km up to 19 km.  And yes, some did test my fear of heights with old vertigo kicking in as I had to negotiate cables, ladders and narrow ledge rocky outcrops. 

We were thankful that our time in Kathmandu helped us combat the higher altitude.  Although we sometimes felt breathless on some of our hikes, it could have had a worse effect had we not been staying in Kathmandu for 5 weeks prior to us arriving in Europe.

Further Afield

We wanted to make the most of our stay and scheduled in a couple of trips further afield.

Lake Geneva

Lake Geneva was only a little over a one hour drive away so we were keen to do some exploring of the area.

The city of Geneva lies in the French-speaking part of Switzerland and with a population of around 1.2 million people it is the second largest city.

It is probably best known for the Geneva Convention as this is where it was signed, setting rules in place for the treatment of prisoners of war.

It has the highest number of international organisations in the world, including the headquarters of the United Nations.

We were not keen on visiting the city itself as it is known for its expensive cost of living and horrendous traffic and parking woes.  Instead, we headed for the lake, and for this trip stayed in French territory.

Lake Geneva is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe.  It is split by two borders,  345 square kilometres is Swiss and 234 square kilometres is French.

Yvoire

Yvoire is a small medieval town on the banks of French area of Lake Geneva.

The town is well known for its medieval buildings and gardens.  It is called one of the most beautiful villages in France.

We parked up outside the ancient town walls and spent a couple of hours wandering around the streets and alleyways.  

It is certainly worthy of a few ‘picture postcard’ moments.  

Lake Geneva would have to be the most pristine lakes we’ve ever seen.  The water was so incredibly clear, you could easily see the bottom of the lake, even in the deeper parts.

It was here that we had our most expensive Cappucino in Europe…..actually the entire world!  At €7/$12NZ for a small cup, we should have not eaten anything for the rest of the day!

Chillon Castle

Chillon Castle is an island castle in the Swiss territory on the banks of Lake Geneva.  It is the most visited castles in Switzerland and Europe.

Now it is fair to say that we have been through our share of castles but we really enjoyed spending time at this one.  It is very well laid out and armed with an English map with a write up about each section, we set about exploring the castle and learning all about its checkered past.

The oldest part of the castle has not been confirmed, but the first written record of the castle is 1005.  It was used to control the road from Burgundy to the Great Saint Bernard Pass.

During the 16th century, it was used as a prison.  The chain and rut marks of pacing prisoners are still visible in the basement of the castle.

As we didn’t have any Swiss francs we made sure we didn’t need to spend money unless we could put on our credit card.  That meant no food or beverages for us, only the castle entry.  Luckily we didn’t need to pay for parking.

Switzerland has a reputation for being extremely expensive.  Our entry fee into Chillon Castle cost us €40/$70NZ which by far the most we’ve paid to enter a castle.

Glacier 3000

Glacier 3000 is the name of a company that operates a cable car to the highest point of the Vaudois Alps in Switzerland.  The Diablerets (the abode of devils) is a huge cluster of mountains, the highest being at 3,210 meters (10,530ft) above sea level.

We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ride to the top of this impressive mountain peak in the ‘mother of all’ cable cars.

The Peak Walk

We were also keen to see the suspension bridge they call “The Peak Walk” which is located at the top of the cable car ride.  This is a unique suspension bridge, the first one in the world that links two mountain peaks.

You truly feel like you are standing on top of the world as the Scex Rouge summit is 5 metres higher than the Glacier 3000 lookout.  The views were jaw-dropping.  We circled the summit, taking in views across to the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc.  In fact, there are a total of 25 mountain peaks that can be seen from this point.

The 107-meter long suspension bridge has a load capacity of 120 tonnes and anchored by 4 pieces of supporting steel cable.  These cables are attached to the rock at no less than 20 points.  Apparently, 300 people can be accommodated on the bridge at one time, however, the swaying I experienced with 4 people walking towards me only reinforced my belief that this number should be a lot lower.  The designers also had to take into account the extreme conditions and can sustain winds of over 200 km/h.  This made me feel slightly better.

The Glaciers

After The Peak Walk, we caught chairlift down to the start of one of the two glaciers (Tsanfleuron and Diablerets).  We started out on the icy walk but it soon became apparent that we were ill-equipped as far as footwear was concerned.  Trainers just weren’t going to be suitable as we started to get icy seepage into our shoes.  The last thing we felt like enduring was wet, cold feet for the rest of the day.  We tiptoed our way back to the chairlift for our ride back up to start the descent back down on the cable car.

The Glacier 3,000 experience cost us €150/$261NZ for both of us.  Yup, that’s Switzerland for you!

Click on the link below for a short video on our highlights of Glacier 3000.

Summary

Our housesitting assignment gave us the perfect opportunity to experience a small part of France, one that surprised us and left us wanting more.

The area we stayed was just what we needed after being on the road, travelling through Italy.

Both of us will always hold very fond memories of our time in our mountain chalet, tending to the girls (chickens), looking after the veggie patch and keeping entertained by the two cats.

We were surrounded by huge mountainous Alps, forested slopes, waterfalls and rivers.  Our village of other mountain chalets reminded us of a storybook.  We spent the rest of our days and nights comfortable and cozy.

It was not an area that we would have chosen to pass through let along stop for a couple of weeks.  That is the huge benefit of house sitting.  To live like a local amongst locals and to see parts of the world that are easily by-passed.