Page 207 - Lonely Planet France’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

Eating & Sleeping

Annecy 1 Chamonix 3
5 Le Denti French €€ 5 Les Vieilles Luges French €€
(%04 50 64 21 17; 25bis av de Loverchy; lunch (%06 84 42 37 00; www.lesvieillesluges.com;
menus €22, other menus €32-42; hnoon- Les Houches; menus €20-35; hlunch daily
1.15pm Thu-Mon, 7.30-9.15pm Mon & Thu-Sat) winter, lunch & dinner by reservation summer,
A few blocks off the beaten track but worth min 25 people) This impossibly atmospheric
seeking out, this unassuming restaurant serves 250-year-old farmhouse can only be reached
traditional French cuisine – their speciality is on skis or by a scenic 20-minute hike from the
fish – prepared so the taste of the super-fresh Maison Neuve chairlift. Hunker under low wood
ingredients shines through. The menu changes beams to savour dishes such as grand-mère’s
twice a month according to the seasonal bœuf bourguignon and creamy farçon (potato
produce available in the markets. bake prepared with prunes, bacon and cream),
washed down with vin chaud (mulled wine)
4 Hôtel Central Boutique Hotel € warmed over a wood fire. Magic. ALPS, JURA & RHÔNE VALLEY 17 ALPINE ADvENTuRE
(%04 50 45 05 37; www.hotelcentralannecy.
com; 6bis rue Royale; d/tr €70/80; pW) 4 Auberge du Manoir Hotel €€
Forget the prosaic name – this splendid (%04 50 53 10 77; www.aubergedumanoir.
canal-side hotel, occupying a late 17th-century com; 8 rte du Bouchet; s/d/q €133/154/225;
building in the pedestrianised heart of the hclosed 2 weeks late Apr & 2 months autumn;
city, provides comfortably the most eccentric W) This beautifully converted farmhouse,
and visually entertaining digs in Annecy. ablaze with geraniums in summer, offers 18
Choose the Chambre Couture (complete with pine-panelled rooms that are quaint but never
dressmaker’s doll and antique sewing machine), cloying, pristine mountain views, an outdoor hot
the psychedelic Chambre Coco, the Chambre tub, a sauna and a bar whose open fire keeps
Orientale or any of the other 11 rooms: they’re things cosy. It’s family-owned, and prices fall
all delightful. during the week and in low season.

St-Gervais-les-Bains 2 Bonneval-sur-Arc 6
4 Les Dômes 4 Auberge d’Oul B&B €
de Miage Campground € (%04 79 05 87 99; www.auberge-oul.com;
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(%04 50 93 45 96; www.camping-mont-blanc. 73480 Bonneval-sur-Arc; dm/d/q incl breakfast
com; 197 rte des Contamines, St-Gervais; €26/58/108, incl half-board €37/80/148) Smack
unpowered sites €21.20-26.60, powered sites on the village square, this flowery-balconied,
€25.80-31.20; hmid-May–mid-Sep; W) Mont slate-walled gîte (self-catering cottage) has one
Blanc is your wake-up call at this well-equipped seven-person dorm and three spotless, rustic
campground, beautifully set in wooded hills, rooms. The 2nd floor is a more private chambre
900m above sea level. The first-rate facilities d’hôte (B&B), and the entire auberge opens from
include 150 pitches, a restaurant, volleyball mid-June to mid-September, and mid-December
courts, table tennis and other diversions. to the end of April. The half-board option offers
great-value, home-cooked mountain meals.

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