Unlike older European resorts that evolved naturally from wealthy mountaineering hubs, Orcières was a purpose-built project engineered by locals to create regional jobs.Before the modern high-altitude resort existed, local merchants installed a rudimentary, standalone ski lift down in the valley in 1952. This proved there was a local appetite for winter sports, though the infrastructure…
As I mentioned several times, all across this website, the pure existence of this blog roots in its main topic’s connection to the world famous road cycling event Tour de France. Tour de France visited the Alps for the very first time in 1911 (one year after its first visit in the Pyrenees) and returns…
Although the Alps sometimes appears in public imagination as barrier between Northern and Southern Europe, some important trading routes went through its slopes even during the Bronze Age. Today salt is inexpensive and abundant, but during the Bronze Age (roughly 2200–800 BCE) it was one of the most valuable resources in Europe. Obvioisly, was far…
Évian-les-Bains or simply Évian, is a commune in Eastern France, by the Swiss border. It is located in the northern part of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. During the early years, Tour de France used to start from Paris (more precisely, from its suburbs), the first time it happened otherwise was in 1926,…