Holiday ideas at the Griyotire in Summer 2013

 

This summer, from Saturday 8 June to Sunday 15 September, the charming “Griyotire” Hotel and Residence is proposing several themed holidays: wellbeing, mountain biking, family hikes, etc. Situated in the heart of the village of Praz-sur-Arly, only a few minutes from Megève, it’s the ideal place to discover the Mont Blanc region!

 

 

->Take advantage of an extra night free in June and September:  7Days=6 : one night free for stays of 7 nights in half-board.

-> Discover the numerous holiday offers (in French only):  http://www.griyotire.com/

There are holidays for all tastes and ages with numerous mountain activities:

- Megève Family Multipass holidays

- Well-being holidays

- Hiking and Needlepoint holidays

- ”Short walks” around Praz sur Arly holidays

- Hiking holidays

- Holidays in the “Chalet de Tradition” Hotels in the Espace Diamant region

- Hot Air Ballooning holidays

->Pay in advance for your holiday and take advantage of a 15% reduction on the price of your room. Your credit card will be debited for the full amount on the day of your reservation. The rates offered are prepaid, non-modifiable and non-exchangeable. This offer is valid outside weekends and school holidays for all stays of 3 nights minimum.

 

Tel. 04 50 21 86 36 Information:

Sylvie Bontaz hotel@griyotire.com

www.griyotire.com

 

 

This summer’s main events

 

Sunday, 7 July:  The MB Race, the most difficult mountain bike race in the world!

From 11 to 16 July:  20 years of “outsider art”. Exhibition.

Saturday, 13 July:  Pays du Mont-Blanc Baroque Concert and Festival

Sunday, 14 July:  Local Produce and Traditions Festival, and French National Day

Weekend of 20 and 21 July.  Praz’s Savoy Festival with Jean-Michel MATTEI

Sunday, 28 July:  NEW – Young Talent Festival with Brice CONRAD and Fréro DELAVEGA

From 29 July to 4 August:  Mountain, Nature and Wellbeing Festival

Weekend of 10 and 11 August:  Praz Mediaeval Festival

Thursday, 15 August:  End of season jumble sale, entertainment and fireworks

Sunday, 18 August:  NEW - Retromobile (Vintage Car Day)

Sunday, 25 August: Discovery of Espace Diamant Mountain Bike domain

Wednesday, 28 August:  NEW –  Passage of the Mont Blanc Ultra Trail (PTL) Marathon.

Entertainment

Every week, there will also be a rich and varied programme of concerts, shows, workshops for children as well as parents. Also, fun activities like nature walks, fishing, etc. You can also try rock-climbing and mini-golf, and take home lots of unforgettable memories!

Click on the image below to see all this summer’s events!

 

 

The idea

The idea was to create a fun, interactive footpath on the theme of the Val d’Arly smugglers.

It is organized in the form of a treasure hunt, with riddles and answers, and is aimed at a wide public of families and adults with its simple and attractive subject. Access to the pathway starts at the arrival of the Crêt du Midi chairlift.

It is based on a comic strip and interactive panels dotted along the pathway, which are directly linked to the story recounted in the comic strip and to the riddles posed.

 

The comic strip

 

This comic strip was specifically created to be used in conjuction with this fun family walk.

Although the book can also be read independently of the walk, it serves as a base to be able to follow the pathway and participate in the proposed game. The cost is 5€, on sale at the Tourist Office and at the dtart of the Crêt du Midi chairlift.

 

The walk

The path starts at the arrival of the Crêt du Midi chairlift at 1,785 metres. A round trip of about 1 hour and 50 minutes takes the hikers from the summit of the Crêt du Midi to the Ban Rouge, via the Basse Combe Alpine pastures. The path is marked out with fun panels.

This hike is suitable for all the family. The highest point is at the arrival at the orientation table at Ban Rouge – 1,983 metres.

 

You can see Praz sur Arly, the Aravis and Fiz ranges and, of course, the Mont Blanc is straight in front of you!

The panels on the side of the pathway allow you to decipher a code which you can check on a remote control at the end of the walk. With this code in hand, you can then head to the Tourist Office for a souvenir gift!

The story of the Val d’Arly smugglers

 

When the Savoy became part of France in 1860, a free zone, exempt of taxes, was created. Praz-sur-Arly was part of it. The border of this zone was at the limit with Flumet. The inhabitants immediately set up a vast smuggling network with the rest of the Val d’Arly.

Read the story about the smugglers by clicking on this page (in French only):

http://www.prazsurarly.com/ot/la-montagne/patrimoine/les-contrebandiers-du-val-darly

Marc Joguet came home from Neukirchen Am Grossveniger (Austria) this week with a superb silver medal around his neck. He won the title of  World Vice-Champion in dog-sledding (2-dog sprint category) at the race meeting which took place from 21 to 24 February. The event should have taken place in Slovakia but was transferred to Austria at the last minute. This didn’t put off the racer from Praz-sur-Arly, nor his dogs, Arctick and Clyde, who sped around the 3 x 6-kilometre course.

Marc Joguet with his silver medal

This race will no doubt be one of the most memorable for Marc Joguet because he was accompanied by his daughter Maeve who was one of his dog handlers. “She coped with it like a champion! I’m so proud of her because she’s only 10″, said the musher from Praz. It’s a well-deserved reward for our sportsman who is enjoying one of his best seasons ever. This winter he has already won the title of Middle-Distance National Champion in Méaudre and 3rd place in the Sprint National Championships. He also finished first in the famous Alpes du Grand Serre race.

Marc and his dogs

But the season is not over yet. Marc Joguet is leaving again for Austria (Innerkrems) from 6 to 11 March for the European Middle Distance Championships. “This race is even more important for me than the World Championships. I have to get my revenge, as last year I missed out on the second place by only 14 seconds!” Source: article on the Mairie de Praz sur Arly website.

 

2013 Yooner Tour

Unique in France, the Yooner Tour brings together people who enjoy an ancestral sport which originated in Paret de Manigod. The Yooner is a modern adaptation of  a more intensive sport, and on steeper slopes.

Discover the format of the race, with its challenges and fun sporting aspects, set in the magnificent scenery and adventurous slopes of the French Alps…

Whether you’re competing to win, or to try out something new, or just simply coming to have fun with the family, the Yooner Tour offers you 4 winter weekends to get together and share some exciting new sensations and happy times…

200 participants at the start! At the end, one champion, but everyone’s a winner…

Racers set off in groups of 4 to 6 people and have to go through each gate of a slalom course.  Try your luck, from 10 to 75 years, the Yooner is accessible to all!

Inscriptions

Programme

Yooner Tour

 

The ”Grande Odyssée Savoie Mont Blanc” stage starting in Praz sur Arly

The “Grande Odyssée Savoie Mont Blanc” is the most difficult international dog-sled race in the world because of the topography of the mountains it covers. Each year, twenty of the best mushers in the world compete in it. Three stages will take place in the Espace Diamant, with the Praz sur Arly-Crest Voland Cohennoz stage on Wednesday, 16 January 2013.

 

• VIDEO OF THE 2012 PRAZ SUR ARLY-CREST VOLAND STAGE
• VIDEO OF THE  2012 SAISIES-NOTRE DAME DE BELLECOMBE STAGE

 

The Espace Diamant & Megève stages from 16 to 18 January 2013

 

• Wednesday 16 January: Praz sur Arly – Flumet – Crest Voland Cohennoz

-    13.45: departure of the Grande Odyssée Trophy  -    14.00–15.00, departure from the foot of the Praz-sur-Arly slopes;    14-00–15.00: passage through Flumet and entertainment in Flumet;   16.15–17.15:  veterinary check at the Périots in Les Saisies;   18.15–19.30: arrival at foot of the Crest Voland Cohennoz slopes.

• Thursday 17 January: Les Saisies – Notre Dame de Bellecombe and the Megève Challenge

-    08.45–10.00: departure from the centre of Les Saisies, in front of the Tourist Office;  10-45–11.4 : passage and entertainment at the Lachat summit in Crest Voland;   13.00–14.15: arrival at the foot of the pistes in Notre Dame de Bellecombe;   17.00–17.30: presentation ceremony in the Megève Church Square;   18.45 – 19.45: Megève Challenge in front of the Palais des Sports.

• Friday 18 January: Megève (74) – Les Saisies (73)

-    9.15–10.30: departure from the Megève Altiport;   10.15–11.00: passage through Pettoreaux, Mont d’Arbois;   12.15–13.30: arrival at the centre of Les Saisies.

 

 

 

 

The International Montgolfiades: a hot air balloon gathering in the mountains

In only a few years, the resort of Praz-sur-Arly with its ideal conditions has become THE spot for mountain ballooning in France. Year-round  hot air balloon flights are possible, thanks to the Alpes Montgolfière team.  But, for one weekend, it’s a real ballooning festival in our little village.

Why a hot air balloon meeting in Praz-sur-Arly?

Programme of the weekend

Regular visitors to our resort, beware! The route of the skibus shuttles has completely changed this winter. The Town Hall has also hired shuttle buses that are better adapted to skiers. Explanation:

An unclassifiable and multi-talented artist, Patrice Garcia describes himself not as a cartoonist, but as an “expressionist”, both in terms of the intensity of his imaginative drawings and sketches, as well as in the need for him to express himself through all art forms. From the comic strip to the cinema, from illustrations to cartoons, Patrice Garcia creates a strange and wonderful universe of dream and fantasy, revealing the existence in each one of us of our inner world.

 

Patrice GARCIA

 

 

From L’Oréal to Swatch to Canal Satellite, his work as an artist and storyboarder gave him the possibility to work on the big publicity projects of the 1980s and ’90s. In 1986, the cinema opened its doors to him and he made the animated short film, Saxum.

He has worked with the big names of French cinema: Peut-être by Cédric Klapisch (1999); Le Cinquième Elément by Luc Besson (1997); and Immortel (Ad Vitam) by Enki Bilal (2004). Patrice Garcia also created comic strips: Le Chant des Etoiles, Les Fils de la Nuit, and Allande.

In 2006, the animated film Arthur and the Minimoys, produced by Luc Besson, was a big success. Patrice was behind this project, as cartoonist and artistic director, and his wife Céline created the characters.

See an interview that he gave when the film was released:

http://inter-activities.blogspot.fr/2006/12/arthur-et-les-minimoys-entretien-avec.html

You can visit the free exhibition of his work in the Praz-sur-Arly Tourist Office from 9.00 to 12.00 and 14.00 to 19.00 daily, Monday to Saturday; Sunday: 9.30 to 12.00, 15.30 to 19.00. Nineteen pictures of Patrice Garcia’s characters are also on sale.

Arthur and the Minimoys

 

The snow report on the new Espace Diamant  site allows you to see the opening conditions in real time:

http://www.espacediamant.com/fr/plan-ouvertures-des-pistes-ski-espace-diamant-102.html

The new Espace Diamant site

 

The village and the ski domain on Saturday, 22 December 2012

The Labellemontagne staff are all set for the new season

The arrival of the Crêt du Midi chairlift

Masses of snow at the Ban Rouge

Powder skiing…