The cabin is
non smoking and not able to accept pets I’m
afraid. It features 3 double bedrooms and 1 twin
bedroom; on the main floor upstairs there is bedroom 1
with an oak king size bed and an en-suite bathroom
with bath/shower/toilet, downstairs there are bedroom
2 and 3 again with oak king size beds , and bedroom 4
is a family room with 2 single beds. Also downstairs
there is a wetroom/toilet and a separate WC with hand
basin and shaving point, a utility room with a washing
machine + tumble drier and a drying boot rack
(supplied by www.wellyracks.com), under the
balcony there is a ski locker. On the main floor there
is a spectacular open plan kitchen, dining, seating area
with a superb central walk around log fire, a large oak
dining table that seats 8 comfortably, an entertainment
centre that has a TV, DVD, MPEG/USB playback, surround
sound and Broadband/ADSL (3 times faster than UK!) is
also available. Skype contact with owner in the event of
problems is encouraged. There is a fully fitted kitchen
with granite worktops, all new appliances including a
dual fuel range cooker, microwave, dishwasher,
fridge/freezer, oak cabinets and to set it all off
there’s a spiral staircase down to the lower level
sleeping area. Most of the artworks are original oil
paintings done by Vicky, more of which can be seen
at www.clandonart.com.
Other
features include tiles throughout with thermostatic
underfloor heating, combined English and French plug
sockets, contemporary lighting, and a back up convector
radiator if all else fails. For flexibility upstairs has
hot water provided by a new gas on demand boiler that
doesn’t need electric to fire it, and downstairs uses
a standard electric heated tank system so there should
always be hot water. There are heated towel rails in every
bedroom and Egyptian cotton sheets and Christy towels are
included. The cabin also stands in it’s own 1000m of
grounds and has parking for 2 cars.

There are
stunning views of the mountains from all windows,
including Mont Joly to it’s west and
Tre-la-Tete, a snow capped glacier mountain, to
it’s East that shows snow on it’s peaks
all the year round. About 30m below is the white water
of Torrent Le Bon Nant, that provides a lovely
background noise whilst you sun yourselves on the
south facing balcony.The local ski bus picks up 2 mins
down the road in the winter but a car is preferable so
you can choose the resort to ski in whilst
you’re there to get the best weather on the day.
There are the resorts of Les Contamines Hauteluce
(quite the best, with lovely wide open slopes and well
manicured snow), St Nicolas de Veroce, St Gervais,
Megève, Combloux and La Giettaz. The Evasion Mont
Blanc ski pass will give you access to all these
resorts, but if you prefer the more expensive Chamonix
ski areas they’re only 30 mins away, and
Flaignes is about 40 mins.

Don’t
just choose the winter though, we first fell in love
with the place in the summer, it’s breathtaking.
Take the ski lift from The Gorge up to the wild
flowered slopes at Les Contamines Hauteluce and swim
in the freshwater mountain lake by the restaurant, go
hiking or biking, climb mountains, use the adventure
park and free tennis courts opposite The Gorge lift,
go horse riding, fishing, white water rafting,
parascending or just breath the mountain air!
Provisioning is easy
and good value for the region in Les Contamines, but if
they’re closed or don’t have what you want,
enjoy the experience of wandering around St Gervais, one of
the loveliest French towns ever visited, which has loads of
restaurants, café’s, and boulangeries as well as at
least one minimarket that will be open on most days, but
also it has incredible views of Mont Blanc, a vintage
Carousel that operates all year, and the Tramway du Mont
Blanc that’s open all year too and will take you
2372m up to the Nid d'Aigle on a trip that you’ll
always remember.