Val d'Isere France

Travelled:43km
Visited: Val d'Isere, Tignes
Stay: free parking area near Val d'Isere-as per last night

Even though the weather clouded over and we had a bit of drizzle, we still had a lovely day around Val d'Isere. After a short walk along the river taking in the views, we drove into town. 

We stopped on the way to admire the pretty stone chalets in a small village. We chatted to a local carpenter who has lived here all his life. 

After a stroll around we continued into town and stopped at the tourist bureau. We were told that the lifts were free to use, so after we got our arm band we were riding a gondola up the mountain. Amazing how a 1000m rise in altitude can effect the weather. It didn't bother the downhill mountain bike riders. It seems like there are 100's km of tracks available for them between here and Tignes, along with numerous lifts. 

We then went up another chairlift to have a walk around the lake there. 

After coming back down and walking through the town 

we drove to Tignes, another ski resort. On the way we did a pit stop at the aire-free services, payable overnight parking.

 In Tinges the gondola was also free, so we decided to have a quick look. There appeared to be some interesting walks from here that we may do tomorrow if the weather improves. So after a drive around the resort that seemed to have lots of activities on offer... tennis, trampolines, giant water slide, golf, horse riding etc, we were doubling back to Val d'Isere for a bit of shopping and then back to the same parking area as last night.