Conthey District

While skiing in the Sierra Nevada a couple of years ago, we met fellow Brits Michelle and Shaun on a ski lift. It turned out that we were all staying in the same hotel and so we spent a few days skiing together. They own a chalet in La Tzoumaz, Switzerland where they spend some time in the summer and asked us if we wanted to join them and friends Bob & Diane there. How could we refuse.

At the French/Swiss border we had to stop and purchase a vignette for the motorhome and trailer to allow us to use the Swiss motorways. From there, we passed Lake Geneva and headed south to Martigny and then east along the Rhone Valley floor before the zigzag climb up the mountain to La Tzoumaz at 1500m.

We all marvelled at the stunning mountain views before us from the chalet balcony as we settled in to our new environment, with the motorhome and trailer parked next door as we couldn't get them onto their drive!

Next day, we took the ski lift higher up the mountain then down into Verbier, walked through the town and then took a series of lifts as high as we could go at 3360m for stunning panoramic views. The return journey included a walk with a picnic lunch en route watching fearless mountain bikers descend the cycle tracks at high speed, as paragilders soared around us.

We loved the idea of descending the mountain at speed on a bike but no longer have the fearlessness of youth to do it. The solution was to 'trottinette' down instead. A trottinette is a mountain-style bicycle that has no seat, gears or pedals that you stand on and is designed just for going downhill. It's basically a cross between a bike and a scooter with very good brakes, and is great fun. It took us an hour to descend following the designated route and, after a tentative and steep start, we could have gone straight back up and done all over again.

After all the activity of walking and biking, when Michelle suggested a day at a local spa, some of us couldn't resist. The setting in the bottom of the valley was breathtaking as the lazy river current took us on a meandering journey before we headed over to the sauna and steam room and then into the outdoor and indoor jacuzzi pools. By the time we returned, we were so clean that we didn't need to shower for another week!

Our time together included watching magnificent fireworks in Martigny to celebrate Swiss National Day, a visit to the town of Sion and a boat ride on Europe's largest underground lake.

Evenings were spent enjoying Shaun's cooking and then relaxing or playing table games.

Michelle and Shaun were great hosts and we are very grateful that they shared their Swiss escape with us. It was a real treat to be in the mountains in the summer, rather than skiing in the winter, and we fell in love with it.Read more