Mountain biking in Les Gets & Annecy day trip

Thursday 19th July 2018

Today is the day we finally get to meet up with Nick for the weekend away mountain biking we planned when we were in Amsterdam a few months ago. Lew and I had a flight at 5.45pm out of London City Airport with British Airways and the plan was that he would meet me there after he finished work. I had the pleasure of dragging the heavy 22 kg bag around the London underground from home to the airport as we had all sorts of outdoor gear for the weekend so we could run, hike, climb and bike if necessary. I was amazed at the amount of people who offered me help with this giant bag as I lugged it up and down many flights of steps. Lew ended up being on the train behind me and we checked the bag in relatively smoothy other than the fact that it was considered oversized luggage but that man said that because it is a small airport everything is considered oversized. Bit of a laugh really because I doubt they would do that in some of our tiny airport in NZ! Our flight ended up being a hour late but the airport is excellent in the fact that you can park yourself up at a desk overlooking the runway watching the planes coming and going. Very distracting for Lew considering I was trying to book a long weekend to Slovenia in October for us and required some input from him. Finally we got to board and as always when we fly British Airways it is much more of a treat with a checked bag each (which we only discovered this morning) and snack onboard the plane with a choice of a drink. Standard for Air NZ but when you fly budget airlines there is none of this treatment. We arrived into Geneva airport after flying over the beautiful green valleys of Switzerland with rivers flowing through them just as the sun was beginning to set. After passing through border control and collecting our bag we were surprised to see a familiar face waiting for us on the other side. It's been awhile since anyone has been waiting for us at the airport! Nick had driven a rental car from Lyon all the way to meet us here in Geneva. We loaded up our large bag around his bike and made our way off into the mountains in the dark. We had lots to catch up on during the journey and lucky for Lew and I London time was an hour behind so it wasn’t too late for us. We picked up the keys to our Airbnb from a rental agency and struggled to find which small cabin was ours. It was the strangest laid out place with a set of bunk beds in one tiny room and a pull out double bed in the living room. There was no way Lew was fitting on the double bed so the decision was made as to who was sleeping where. After looking high and low we discovered that there wasn’t any towels and after having read the Airbnb listing properly we discovered that they don't supply towels or sheets without an extra payment. Fantastic! Especially since it was about 11pm at night and we were feeling a little icky after the amount of travelling we had just done. We had to make do with my tiny hair towel which worked fine and we discovered some sheets in the cupboard to make the bed up with and settled in for the night. I also had baked some fresh lemon loaf which we snacked on before bed ready for a big day of biking tomorrow.

Too cheap arse to pay for seats together

Packed to the brim ready for an adventure!

Friday 20th July

The room was the darkest Lew and I had been in forever and we didn't even realise we woke at 8.30am with Nick showered and ready to go! He did remind us that we are an hour behind in time so technically it is only 7.30am for us right now. We quickly showered and made our way down to the Carrefour supermarket 2 minutes walk away to grab some items for breakfast and lunch. With our backpacks full we had a quick look for some bikes for Lew and I but figured we would come later and rushed back to the apartment to eat some cereal and make some sandwiches as the sun was shining and it was promising to be a stunning day. With our backpacks full of food and our new POC helmets in place we went to check out a few different bike shops in the small town of Les Gets (said “Lee Jay”). The town was a stunning wee place with many shops selling wines and cheese made in the area and it was clear to see this was a popular place in both winter and summer. The prices of the bikes were much the same in each shop so we decided to just go for one at a shop called 'Evasion Sports' since we were just wasting precious daylight hours trying to find a better deal. We were fitted out with knee protection (which were a little grotty) and two bikes for a day of Enduro riding which was a new word I added to my vocabulary this weekend but it basically means a bit of everything in terms of mountain biking. The total cost of the bikes for the day was quite a lot at €168 (£150/$290 nzd) and then we added a 5 hour lift ticket onto this costing €44 (£39/$76 nzd). I guess this is why if you have a bike of your own you bring it with you and just paying for the lift pass wouldn’t be bad at all. With 5 hours under our belt we made our way up the first ski lift which they had altered to carry a couple of bikes on the back of them. They only carried two bikes so we split up and I watched how the boys did it in front of me as I was a little concerned about how I was supposed to get my bike off at the other end. Turns out the lifties have a great system where they removed it and put it in a bike stand and all you do is hop off the chair at the top, grab your bike and continue onwards. Nick is fluent in French so we let him decipher the signs and decide where we should go today because I must say that its not overly well sign posted. It was a Friday so it wasn’t as busy as it was going to be in the weekend which was nice since Lew and I haven’t been on a mountain bike for over a year now since we took my parents to Rotorua on Queen Birthday Weekend. First run just after we begun Lew had to pull over as he managed to pop his back tyre. Nicks repair kit came out and as he located the hole Lew and I bathed in the sunlight eating Haribo lollies. Unfortunately once the hole was located he discovered his patch glue had gone solid so we were probably going to have to wait for him to go to the bottom and buy some more to bring up before we could continue going. I remembered I had my first aid kit in my bag with some wound glue in it so we decided to give that a go just to get us to the bottom at least. We lathered it on applying the patch on top and the boys held onto it with two fingers a little concerned that their fingers would also become glued to the bike tyre. Miraculously it seemed to stick but on pumping it back up again there was another leak which we also had to patch with the glue using it all up. We made the decision to put the tyre on the back of my bike since Lew and I had identical bikes because I weighed less and was less likely to throw the bike around. Finally we continued down the track and were incredibly please to squeeze by back tyre at the bottom and find it still rock solid! Incredible stuff that can glue flesh back together and also fix a bike tyre! We didn't bother going all the way to the bottom to get a new tyre and road with it like this for the rest of the day and had no issues with it at all! We did a lot of the mountain around Les Gets including a long ride over the back into the beautiful mountains which were filled with secluded small log cabins which would be an absolute dream in winter and summer. The tracks were incredibly rutted along here and Lew and I were struggling to even hold onto the handlebars despite having both front and rear suspension. He knew there was something wrong at this point and Nick got his tools out to play around with them. They hadn’t bothered to ask for our weights when we were trying out the bikes to set the suspension right so we were both riding something much to solid. Mine was for a person double my weight so no wonder it wasn’t compressing over the bumps! It felt like a cloud for the rest of the day but we had already ruined our arms with the vibratone sessions from earlier in the day during the downhills. There was a bit of hill climbing during this part and we certainly struggled with the increase altitude - not Nick of course who is often out adventuring during he weekends whilst us Londoners just explore flat cities. We had lunch at the top of one of the lifts buying some chips and water to accompany the ham, lettuce & cheese sandwiches Nick had produced this morning. Everyone was saying tomorrow is supposed to be horrific weather with thunderstorms and rain so we thought it was unlikely we would be able to ride. The Tour de France was playing on the TV inside the cafe which reminded Nick that it was passing close by to us today and perhaps we could do that tomorrow. Unfortunately it moves 2 hours away from us tomorrow so there is no chance of that, perhaps next year. We would have a think later once we had finished biking for the day. One of the last rides was to a township nearby called Morzine which I thought was Swiss based on the flag for the region but I was infact mistaken. We road back via the main road into Les Gets and headed to the rentals place to pick up some towels as there was no way we would survive without them, They charged is €20 (£17.80/$34.41 nzd) for three towels and we could have probably brought some locally for less than that. I was completely had it by this stage and the boys planned on going up for one last run whilst I went back and showered. Turns out our 5 hour lift pass had already expired and they turned up at the house shortly after me. We returned the bikes venting our frustrating from earlier in the day with the tyre and suspension and they gave us a voucher for 10% off if we come back since they usually give you a better price if you hire the bikes for multiple days also. Once we had all showered we headed out to check out the town with the impending thunder clouds in the distance. We visited a couple of cute shops but ended up sitting in a some deck chairs with an Aperol Spritz in hand looking over the bike park. It was the first time either of us have tried these and I really figured with its bright orange colour it would have tasted sweet but it was infact rather bitter and Nick enlightened us as to what alcohol it actually was - a wine based cocktail. The thunder and lightening begun with a few spots of large rain drops as we finished off our drinks feeling rather woozy and made our way to the supermarket to get some dinner. The boys had decided on nachos so we stumbled around the supermarket gathering all the ingredients. We made it home just before the heavens opened up and the valley was completely drenched with rain. We had been deprived of rain in the UK for the last month so the smell of fresh rain on the earth was refreshing. Nachos filled a gap and weren't too bad tasting considering the only spices we had was salt and pepper. We discussed plans of tomorrow and an option was to drive to Annecy and hike/visit the city but we would have to see what the weather was like in the morning and decide.

Watching the thunder and lightening getting closer from our deck chairs

Relaxing post a huge day of biking with an aperol spritz

Saturday 21st July

Rain was forecasted all day in Les Gets and it really wasn’t going to be much fun biking in the rain. The weather for Annecy was much better so we decided to do a hike and Nick rung his cousins husband who lives in the area for advice on a possible hike. We donned our hiking shoes and clothes and packed up some snacks and togs in the hope of swimming in the lake and begun the 1.5 hour drive to Annecy. The morning looked like the best weather so we went straight up the mountains to begin the hike. It was beautiful getting into the forest with fresh air and mountains surrounding us as we hiked uphill. There were a couple of look out points along the way which gave us a stunning view over the town of Annecy and lake below. Boats ripped around below us on the lake and it looked 100% swimmable from up here. We continued along the mountain ridge-line struggling with the lack of sign posts and marked trails on the way up to Mt Baron. There was a rain cloud inching closer and closer to us across the lake as we reached the top but Lew still wanted to get his drone out for a whirl. He had it up there for a mere minute before we begun being pelted with incredibly large rain drops and once again the heavens opened up and drenched everything in its path. We initially hid but Nick thought it we moved 100m away we would escape it. Being soaked already we decided just to make our way to the car despite it being a 40 minute trek back downhill. Lew and I clearly need to invest in some better rain jackets as my Superdry one and his Huffer one were really not up to the standards and we were all like drowned rats once we reached the car. Thankfully the rain did stop so we were able to dry out slightly in the last decent to the car but we were still squelching around in our hiking shoes. Once we had loaded up the car and removed as much soaked items as possible we drove the short distance into Annecy itself. With it being a Saturday the city was very busy but Nick had a secret carpark by the castle which usually had space. However, even this was full and we had to queue in the middle of the road (yes this is surprisingly acceptable in Europe!) to wait for a car to leave so we could have its park. Thankfully the carpark was pretty reasonably priced compared to some of the others we had to Europe during our travels and it only cost is €2.70 (£2.40/$4.65 nzd) for the entire time we were there. We popped out above ground and wandered by the castle taking a quick snap as we didn’t really have time to visit. The small cobblestone lanes into town surrounded by old colourful building laced with climbing plants and flowers baskets was just incredibly picturesque. The town was bustling with many things going on and a creperie every few meters. We decided to go for an ice cream as we wandered the canals which were lined with restaurants overlooking them. We couldn’t believe how clear the water was in the lake and these canals as everywhere else we had been such as Venice, Copenhagen, Amsterdam you most certainly wouldn’t swim in them but this was incredibly tempting. We made our way down to the river front contemplating taking out either a paddle boat or motorboat which topless sales men where renting right there on the water yelling out to us “Hello Captains” in French. We didn’t have much time as the afternoon was fast turning into the evening and Nick had a plan to drive us further along the lake to a place called Talloires for a swim. We wound our way around the Lake passing through more small cute villages for half an hour until we reached the place. Car parking was free and we walked down to where the beach would be paying a €1.30 (£1.16/$2.24 nzd) entrance fee for each of us. Whilst the water was clear the air temperature wasn’t exactly that warm with more rain clouds making their way down the mountains towards us. Dolphins Lewis was of course keen and was off the driving before Nick and I had even put our bags down. To our surprise he came up exclaiming how warm it was and we were both keen to try it out. Sure enough it was a beautiful temperature and we swum around the pontoons whilst Lew checked out the slide and made use of the diving board. It was hands down the most spectacular place and we vowed to come back here again next summer. We only had a brief time to swim since it was such a long driving back to Les Gets and we were once again rained on. It was difficult to get Lew out of the beautiful blue water with the mountains surrounding us but we really had to get back. We went via a large Carrefour supermarket in which we wasted a lot of time going up and down isles trying to find what we needed. Steak, new potatoes and salad was the plan for dinner plus some microwave pizza for the boys whilst I cooked. The drive went relatively fast and by 9.30pm we were back in Les Gets with the pizza in the microwave oven. Unfortunately for some reason we didn’t have any hot water so thankfully we had all had a decent swim. Dinner was not bad and the boys topped it off with some chocolate ice cream and we had a bit of a surprise show with some fireworks up on the mountain before heading to bed completely shattered once again.

One of the most picturesque places to swim

Anyone want an old cable car? Buy them here!

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You can hire motor boats or paddleboats so easily

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Driving through the mountains back to les Gets

Sunday 22nd July

Having a couple of big days Friday and Saturday we slept in till 9am whilst poor Nick was once again sitting on the couch waiting for us. This morning we had to pack up our things as well as giving the apartment a brief clean. Once again we had no hot water and engineer Lew couldn’t seem to figure out why so it was a freezing cold shower for anyone who was brave enough. Nick cooked up some baked beans on toast whilst Lew and I went to grab a couple of bikes as it was probably going to be busy today with the weather being sunny again. Lew decided to put me on a slightly different bike this time which was a bit cheaper and I don't think I honestly noticed much difference. It still had two tyres, two breaks and some gears after all? Returning to the house we ate breakfast, made some sandwiches for lunch. packed up our stuff and quickly cleaned before making our way down to get a 5 hour lift pass again which would take us to just before 5pm. We planned to get all the way across to Switzerland today and try and ride some of the trails on that side of the mountain. It was ambitious and not very well sign posted but we were going to try anyways. We discovered a few more cute towns called super Morzine and Avoriaz but ran into an English man we asked for directions who didn’t recommend trying to get that far over to Switzerland in one day. We gave up our plans and decided to ride the rolling banked tracks on this side of the mountain which was much more fun. At 2pm we stopped to eat lunch in a valley town called Les Lindarets before making the most of our pass and getting back out on the tracks. Poor Lew was pushing his bike a little hard at times trying to keep up with Nick and had a bit of a nasty crash with thankfully only some superficial damaged. I pulled out the first aid kit and quickly cleansed it with saline before taping some gauze onto it to go back into the knee pads. There was a fair amount of blood soaking into the knee pad so I really hope they wash them! I didn’t want Nick to have to come back up to look for us thinking something was seriously wrong but he did anyways. There were at least a couple more times that I saw Lews yellow and green bike rolling down the hill thankfully with him not on it! The rest of the afternoon was much of the same and we became shattered by the 4th hour of riding but finally made it back into Les Gets. We returned the biked for the last time and needed to grab some quick dinner before we made the journey back to Geneva where our flight was leaving at 9.15pm. As Lew and I were walking back to where the car was parked we spotted a burger place called 'Home Burger' and knew that was the place for dinner. We order three burgers and chips and sat outside in the sunshine enjoying the fresh mountain air as we dont know when we will be back here again. The burgers were fantastic and reminded us of the typical Kiwi burger we would make at home with lots of fresh ingredients and tasty meat. Time was running out and heading back to the car we all quickly changed out of our biking gear on the footpath and reloaded the car with the bikes and our luggage. Shortly afterwards we were on the road snacking on some fresh watermelon for dessert as we made our way back to Switzerland. Arriving into Geneva it was a stunning hot evening and Lake Geneva was looking very inviting. Nick dropped us off at the airport and we sadly said our goodbyes. No doubt the next trip we will have together will be a winter one with some snow. Nick was driving back to Lyon tonight and we just had a short flight to London. Our flight was delayed by 45 minutes meaning we would be getting into Heathrow quite late. The British Airways flight was rather full this time and we didn't get any free popcorn/chips and a drink like we did out of London City Airport. We arrived into Heathrow and made our way to the underground where we could take the Piccadilly line all the way to Green Park before swapping to the Victoria line to get home. It was a very slow 1 hour and 20 minute journey but it did only cost us £3.10 ($6 nzd) to get home which was cheaper than flying into most of the other airports. We also gained an hour so despite us feeling like it was 1am by the time we got home it was only midnight London time. Back to work tomorrow! Iv attached a photo of all our upcoming trips that we have booked so far. We still need to add some travelling in during November so there will still be more! Oh what a problem to have deciding where to go in Europe with so much on your doorstep!

Team Kiwi ready for another day on the slopes

Testing out that full carbon fibre today

So difficult to get a nice photo with this kid

There was a cute musical festival on during the weekend so the town was forever full of different tunes

ShannenJuly 20, 2018Les Gets, Mountain Biking, Annecy, French Alps, British Airways, London City Airport, London, Geneva, Lake Annecy