#hautes-pyrenees

#hautes-pyrenees

Easter Monday in Lefkimmi was alive with families spilling from cafes, a marching band dazzling in the sun, and priests chanting beneath their hats. Men let off shotguns, filling the air with excitement.

The early morning sun is bursting around the dark corners of High Dodd and Sleet Fell, sending a flush of light across the golden bracken and on to the hammered silver of the lake.

Owl's Head has officially joined the Indy Pass, a fantastic news for Townships locals and travelers alike. It remains fiercely independent since Fred Korman opened it in 1965 with just three lifts.

Les Deux Alpes keeps unfolding lap after lap, zone after zone, until you realize you've spent the entire day chasing terrain that never really ends.

Rocher de la Vierge is a rocky promontory connected by a footbridge to the beach, that offers one of the most photographed panoramas in Biarritz. Access to the site is free, and it is best visited during daylight hours to fully enjoy the views.

On the wooded lower slopes of the valley are clusters of tall houses, some plumed with wood smoke. There appears to be a lot of building work going on, some of it to repair the damage caused by the 2023 earthquake. The sound of a concrete mixer comes cutting through the cool mountain air mixed with birdsong and human voices.

In 2025 the University of Oregon concluded from their research that "... hot-water immersion produced measurable changes in inflammatory markers. These effects can persist beyond the session, suggesting a sustained health benefit." Long before this the Romans knew that a good soak in hot water had therapeutic benefits for the body and mind. Hot tubs, spas, aren't considered just a luxury anymore, they're great for wellbeing as well as for fun, family time and a lot of je ne sais quoi to life in France.

We'd been dreaming of a girls' trip for the past two years, but nothing had ever materialized because of our clashing schedules. Luckily, though, we finally found a time when we were both available. Because we aren't huge planners, we were excited about the idea of a last-minute trip. After a truly exhilarating week, here are three things I enjoyed about the experience and three I'd do differently next time.

Lovely Lussan in Gard, southern France, is officially one of the prettiest villages in France (' Plus Beaux Villages '). This pastoral region in the heart of Occitanie has everything an ardent Francophile could desire - picturesque villages, castles, gardens, vineyards, rich in culture and history, and great gastronomy. What to see and do in Lussan in Gard The medieval village of Lussan is perched on a hill, surrounded by rocky aromatic scrubland peppered with rosemary, lavender, thyme, sage and juniper.

I parked in a big underground garage and popped up out of the ground like a rabid squirrel right at the lifts. This was the first and only day I've skied alone the entire trip (I've been out here since Feb 3). I had absolutely no idea where to go. I jumped on the Olympique tram-gondola because I'd never seen a setup like that before. Each cabin was massive, holding maybe 40 people or more, with tons of seating. Everything is so civilized here.

AllTrails, a hiking app with trail maps and reviews, dug into insights from their 90 million-plus members and team of trail experts to spotlight lesser-known places where the trail alone is worth planning a trip around. Their guide, Travel-Worthy Trails for 2026, spotlights eight unexpected destinations around the world where the trail is the destination.

In reality, most French people do not spend their summers chasing iconic landmarks or ticking destinations off a bucket list. Their idea of a successful vacation is quieter, slower, and often much closer to home. Rather than Paris or Saint-Tropez, they favor rural regions, discreet coastlines, forested hills, and mid-sized towns where life moves at a gentler pace, often staying in family homes, rented gîtes, camping sites, or small guesthouses.

While most are familiar with the world-class Mont Tremblant, the route there is dotted with independent resorts-each with a distinct vibe-that light up the Laurentians ( Les Laurentides ) like constellations against an ancient sky. These ranges offer something different than towering peaks: intimate terrain steeped in character. They tease the eye, spark the imagination, and possess a certain magic for producing champion skiers and snowboarders. Their ancient geology creates a singular landscape of rolling, forested hills and tight tree runs that feel worlds away from the mega-resorts.

We loaded the chair around 10:30 a.m. and followed a new local friend, Luke, into a wild pillow-stacked gully. That first run showed us exactly how deep and perfect the snow really was. I lapped the chair twice more before noticing a sign saying another, higher chair would open at noon. It was 11:24 a.m. Perfect timing. I headed over to wait for the Marquise chair, which rises above treeline into mellow, rolling alpine terrain.

BackcountryFor most skiers, "all-inclusive" means a lift ticket and a buffet. Forrest Schmidt means something very different: a hot titanium stove in a tipi, filet mignon next to a steaming hot spring, and ancient araucaria trees holding cold smoke over a perfectly set skintrack. Schmidt, a 44-year-old "East Coast kid" from rural New York, runs APEX Andes (Andes Puro Exploraciones) out of Malalcahuello in Chile's Araucanía region. His guide service is small by design with

Snowfall in France this week has been huge, with some resorts seeing more than 2 meters (6.6 feet) in the last five days. A massive winter storm hammered the French Alps from February 10-13, unleashing monster snowfall that has buried resorts and reshaped the mountain landscape just days before Valentine's Day weekend. Across the Northern Alps - including iconic resorts in Haute-Savoie, Savoie, and Isère - weather stations reported extraordinary snow totals.

Backcountry | The Télécphérique de La Grave in France is mythical. It owns myth. It deserves myth. It owns my fear. I've been wanting to come here since I was 22, but I knew I wasn't ready. At 47.6 years old, I suppose I finally felt prepared to explore La Grave and see how she treats me. Conditions ReportMy friend Per has been a guide in La Grave for 30+ years and his calm demeanor and laissez-faire attitude towards the place calmed me some.