Chamonix Activity Report: 9th July 2012

2-4-1 can either mean that you buy as many as you need and only pay for half or that you pay the usual price and get twice as many. Which is why cocktail happy hour at Chambre Neuf has a lot to answer for... especially when your maths gets a little fuzzy and you ask for 8 when you should only have asked for 4 and somehow end up with 16, who'd have thought drinking could be so complicated?

Saturday night was girl's night; the troops were called into action, unsuitable footwear was donned and we headed off to do with battle with whatever Chamonix had to offer. A multitude of multi-coloured cocktails probably isn't the safest way to ease yourself in but happy hour at Chambre Neuf runs from 8-10pm, so it had to be first on the schedule. They have around 20 or so cocktails to choose from, many of them so sweet and delicious that it's hard to believe they could ever turn against you. Mine tasted a lot like apple crumble, what could possibly go wrong?

After a few days of British summer we now have French summer back again and it is warm enough to sit outside late into the night, which makes Rue des Moulins come alive. This little cobbled street is tucked away behind Irish Coffee and is one of the oldest districts of Chamonix with beautiful period buildings that now house a collection of bars and restaurants; enough to start at one end and spend all night trying to make it to the other. The range of bars is also quite impressive; at one end there is the dark and dingy Bar'd Up, popular with locals and the place to go if you want to bellow along to Singstar. Just next door is the more sophisticated Bistro Gourmand, where you can sip good wine and nibble on local charcuterie in style without breaking the bank. At the other end of the street is the rough-and-ready but loads of fun Soulfood, run by two French guys who love their music so much that they are often partying harder behind the bar than the customers are in front of it. In between are the very funky Mix Bar, the chic Le Privilege and the charming Bar du Moulin - all completely different which gives the street loads of buzz. I recall a few drinks in Soulfood and there is photographic evidence of having been in Mix but, to be honest, it all got a bit hazy in the end. I imagine we had a great night out, we usually do!

Saturday's frolics meant that Sunday morning was best spent in bed with the shutters closed; apparently the heavens opened but I was blissfully unaware of this and by the time I emerged from my beauty sleep it was another blue-skied scorcher. The wonderful thing about living in the mountains is that you have the best hangover cure right there on your doorstep. I filled a bottle of water, met up with another delicate-headed friend and headed out for a hike with the hound along the Petit Balcon Sud. There are numerous points at which you can pick up this trail as it runs along the length of the valley, there is a parallel trail on the opposite side cunningly named the Petit Balcon Nord, there are also higher trails on either side called the Grand Balcons Sud and Nord - endless options! We started at Lac des Gaillands, where the new adventure-rope-tree-thingy has just opened; it is much bigger than I expected and there is a range of course from low-down ones for little kids to higher scarier ones for the adults including a 260m zipline that whizzes across the lake, the adventure park is run by Cham Aventure and is open daily from 10am to 6pm.

From the Gaillands we headed up into the forest and followed the signposts for the Petit Balcon Sud, bearing right towards Le Brevent; there are loads of options here from heading up to visit the marmots at Parc de Merlet, to bearing left and heading towards Les Houches via the massive statue of Christ that you can see from the autoroute. The path that we took was mercifully shady as the afternoon was getting hotter and hotter, the water bottle was being emptied at a rate of knots so we were thankful for the many crystal clear streams that we passed along the way. The path is mostly treelined and although it climbs quite steeply at the start it soon levels out and is an easy walk that opens out every now and then onto aerial views of Chamonix below and the stunning panorama of the glaciers and mountains on the opposite side of the valley, the Les Bossons glacier looks huge from this angle!

The path is gentle enough underfoot and we passed a few young families along the way, as well as a few guys on mountain bikes. The only obstacles were the remaining trees that had been blown over in the big storm of a few months ago, there was nothing that couldn't be ducked under or scrambled over though. We could have continued on to La Floria but that can wait for another time as we had one thing on our minds - ice cream. Chamonix is not right on the Italian border for no good reason and the ice creams that you can get here are every bit as good as those on the other side of the Mont Blanc tunnel. We went to Patisserie Richard opposite the post office, where there is usually a big queue but it is worth the wait. As well as their usual range they often have a few different "flavours of the day", I couldn't make up my mind between two of them so went for the odd combo of lemon meringue pie and salted caramel butter - odd but amaaaaaaazing! Ripples of tangy lemon sauce, crunchy little chunks of meringue, nuggets of caramel, sharp little hits of salty butter... sweet, creamy deliciousness. This was one ice cream that the dog was not getting any of, much to her dismay.

Town is getting busier by the day, I love this time of year when the restaurants have their tables outside and everyone is chilling out and soaking up the summer atmosphere. We had a look round the shops, the sales are on at the moment and there are some great bargains to be had; my new road biking obsession means that yet more new kit is required so now is the time to make the most of all those coloured stickers on the price tags, some shops are offering up to 40% off summer gear and even more off last season's winter stock.

If you are more interested in local produce and artisan goods then you should check out the market tomorrow morning in Chamonix Sud; Place Edmond Desailloud will be full of stalls selling fresh organic "bio" items such as fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese, baked goods, wine, honey, olives and so on as well as hand-crafted items. There is a lady there who sells gorgeous handmade natural soaps made from essential oils, just follow your nose and be lead by the delicious smells! The market runs every Tuesday morning throughout summer from 8am to 1pm.

The big event this week is the World Climbing Championships; spider men and women from across the globe will be descending on Chamonix from the 11th to the 13th to compete for the world cup in technical and speed climbing events. The action takes place on the wall that has been put up on the Place du Mont Blanc in the centre of Chamonix and there are also plenty of stalls selling sports gear, food and drinks. Even if you're not into climbing you should still amble past for a nose as these guys are amazing, I'm always completely awe-struck by their strength and speed. The 3 day competition ends on Friday with a firework display and massive street party to carry us through into Bastille Day, when there are more fireworks to be oohed and ahhed at on Saturday night by the Chavants lake in Les Houches and in the main square in Argentiere - vive la France!

More upcoming events and activities can be found on our What's On Calendar.