France is a beautiful country with a lot of culinary wonders, divine designs & interesting culture. I hope to update this page with more of our travels!
COL DE LA FAUCILLE – GEX
30mins from our place, this is the most convenient place to go to 1) learn to ski, 2) to sled 3) to go up and get breathtaking views of the Mont-Blanc and 4) go sledding. Because it’s in France, lessons are cheaper than St. Cergue in Switzerland which is also 30mins away. Great for beginners.
- Office de Tourisme buy passes for the cable car here before ski lessons
- Ecole de Ski – ESI La Faucille affordable ski lessons for beginners
- Giroud Sports forgot something? Found my gold puffer jacket & knapsack in this fab store!
- Télécombi du Mont-Rond ride the cable car/ski lift up to..
- Vue sur Le Mont-Blanc see the stunning panoramic view of the Alps
- Luge Sur Rails toboganning in the mountains is breathtaking
- FREE sledding slope see a video here, bring sled, helmet, gloves
- Cafétéria Le Slalom self service cafeteria with pay toilets right beside the telecombi
- Logis Hôtel la Petite Chaumière a calmer place to eat than the cafeteria but only one toilette each for men/women.
NICE, COTE D’AZUR
Easy daytrips from Nice:
- St. Paul de Vance
- Monaco
- Menton
DIVONNE LES BAINS
Divonne is literally 5mins from us, so we do a lot of our grocery & bread shopping there.
- Carrefour convenient location, but higher priced coz of how near it is to Swiss border
- Aux des Armes bakeshop the reason I go to Divonne! Soooo yum!
- Pharmacie Centrale I save a lot on French personal care brands by buying here
- Casa Italia good pizza and pasta!
- Carrefour City a small version right in the main street
- Audren’s Favorites a fabulous place for Scandinavian products
- Borey Ankor love this Asian restaurant! Lots of parking across too.
- La Table du Lac stunning view of the lake with fine food. Great lunch meals!
- L’Accord Parfait Paella’s in summer & lots of good meat dishes for sharing
LYON
France’s Capital of Gastronomie is definitely a must for foodies. Our first visit for the Festival of Lights we didn’t book any reservations in the well-rated restaurants so we couldn’t get a table. That’s why we went back just to food trip lol!
See the Lyon locations easily on GOOGLE MAPS
Driving there for the Festival of Lights December 2021
- Driving to & from Lyon snowstorm vs clear weather Dec 10
- Lyon Centre Château Perrache hotel review of the privilege hotel room & amenities
- Château Perrache bar & breakfast review our dinner at the bar & the breakfast buffet
- Le Grand Réfectoire a Michelin-listed restaurant in Grand Hôtel-Dieu a grand historical complex
- Grand Hôtel-Dieu surprise ballet performance & Christmas market in historical hospital structure
- Festival of Lights Dec 11 8:30pm
- Five Guys our first time eating in this fastfood joint
- Going around Lyon See the Bartholdi Fountain, Roman Amphitheater & Montée de la Grande-Côte
- Brasserie Georges Serving fine food & beer for almost 200 years!
Taking the train to Food Trip
- Taking the train to & from Lyon & getting around
- Lyon Centre Château Perrache hotel why we had to change one of our rooms
- LYON BITES: L’Institut Restaurant
- Place Bellecour the best view is from the Ferris wheel
- Shopping in Lyon King Jouet for kids & Zara Home for mamas
- Saku Restaurant a Bib Gourmand Japanese resto that’s worth the detour
- Parc de la Tête d’Or fun for the whole family including pets
- Sometimes you just want casual Indian & Pizza
- Brasserie Georges this time we had to line up & stay at the bar
Daytrip to Lyon with kids
- Confluence Shopping Mall is a lovely, airy mall for lunch before visiting the museum. Don’t stay too long. Parking is SO expensive! Free for a few hours then almost 19Euros for 5hrs.
- We should have moved the car to Parking LPA – Musée des Confluences Gerland which is 6mins nearer to the Museum and only 7,70 Euros for 5hrs if you validate your parking ticket upon arrival at the Museum.
- We walked through the scenic LYON CONFLUENCE campus by the river. It should be a 15min walk but was longer because the kids were so interested in so many things along the way, from the building designs to the housebooats
- Carrefour we grabbed some yummy pastries but the self-checkout is a disaster. 30mins instead of 5mins. We got stuck in rush hour traffic because we wanted to grab a quick bit here. Never do SELF-CHECKOUT IN CARREFOUR FRANCE.
PARIS
