This is a entry for the 10 days in the Annecy area when Ive been a with a paragliding tour. The tour has been expertly run by a German/Kiwi and has been more of a course than tour, although there has been a fair amount of touring. For me one of the best things about how this trip has been organised is that we have travelled in the area, and over the 10 days we have stayed in Doussard, Albertville, the Chamonix valley and Grand Bornand.
Its been a very good trip, and thats from the perspective of a For all the pilots I think it will have been excellent. With only 5 on the trip there has been plenty of attention to individual needs so Im sure all will have improved and from the discussion they have enjoyed it as well. I was volunteered to drive for the group, which had its challenges (narrow mountain roads and the vagaries of navigation using Google) but it also made it fun for me. I really enjoyed the exploration of the local area. For years I have travelled here but as this has predominantly been for skiing holidays I have
never explored the area, and it is a brilliant area. At this time of year other than Annecy and Chamonix it is also not that busy.
The weather was kind and the group flew on 9 out of 10 days, although the flights were a little weather constrained on the last couple of days when the threat of thunderstorms was real (we had a very heavy storm one day at about 4pm). With such a small number the trip could be flexible on places to stay and we booked these as we went to suit the conditions. The refuge on the Col de lArpettaz above Ugine, is popular with cyclists, but is a beautiful place to spend the night as it is at almost 1600m with views up to Mt Blanc, but I could spend many happy summers in Lathuile or the Grand Bornand valley as well. As we had houses/apartments we could choose to eat in which suited the group well. On the 21st June – World Music Day there were a few events on in the area so we walked down to Doussard and enjoyed the outdoor live music from 6 local bands playing a variety of
The past week has confirmed my view that the European Alps are one of the best places to be at this time of year. In June it is not busy (French high season is still a few weeks away) so we had no problem finding places to stay. The benefit of travelling with someone who knows the area well and doing this for flying is that we went to places I would never have thought of visiting. The night at the refuge at Col de lArpettaz was particularly good and I really liked driving over some of the famous cols. The Grand Bornand area which we reached over the Col de la Colombiere is even better driving than watching it on the TV coverage of le Tour.
