France

I’ll be pretty honest, my exposure to the French Alps is a little confined, as of this point. From our location, the thick of them is a solid 5-hour drive that I’ve only been to as part of a dude’s trip, sans family. What I can tell you is that you don’t need a windshield vignette for the French highways and the scenery is obviously going to be beautiful…and French!

The French Alps fall on the southwestern side of the alpine region and shares borders alongside both Switzerland and Italy. France doesn’t use some freaky-deaky currency so their cash is the Euro just like most other European nations. From my limited French alpine visits, I thought everyone to be pretty friendly. Shockingly enough, I even saw them having a sense of humor.

From my other experiences in seeing both the northern French coast and, of course, Paris, what I have noticed is that they take their cuisine pretty seriously and French cooking is definitely a unique experience in-and-of itself. What this translates to is that you won’t find, Schnitzel, Brats, and Spätzle at the slopes’ huts like you will the German-speaking alpine regions. You’re more likely to find Croquettes, Paninis, Crêpes, and Chocolate dishes. I would never say this is a bad thing. It totally depends on individual taste; however, when I’m beat from the snow, I need heaps of pasta, sauce, meat, and beer. A glass of vino and a ham and butter sandwich just don’t do it for me.

My recaps will be without kids, but I made sure to take plenty of notes for the benefit of you guys. Whenever it is we make a family trip down there, I’ll make sure nobody reading is without as many details as necessary to make easier and more informed decisions. Click here for my post about Les Houches!

Oh right. The inset title in this page. Well, when I visited last, I ran into Emmanuel Macron. Which was kind of cool.

Bis nächste mal!

-The snowboard dad in europe