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French Alps prepare for summer season with gourmet picnics and temperature checking on lifts

Chamonix
Chamonix

Never has a summer season been so critical for ski resorts in the French Alps, where winter seasons were cut abruptly short by lockdown in mid-March. But as mountain hotels and restaurants look to reopen, optimism is growing that this summer could be a très belle saison after all.

“We do believe there will be an increase in holidaymakers travelling to the mountains rather than beach resorts, which tend to be more crowded. The Chamonix Valley extends over 28km; many accommodation options and 400km of marked hiking trails make it very easy to get off the beaten track and stay in one's own bubble,” explained Claire Burnet of Chamonix Mont-Blanc Tourism. The historic resort of Chamonix, which usually attracts around 4 million visitors in summer, is expecting 40 per cent of last year’s visitors in summer 2020.

Next week the French Alps, like the rest of France, will enter the second phase of 'déconfinement'. Restaurants, cafés and bars can reopen with reduced capacity and strict sanitary measures from June 2. Given summertime terraces in the Alps frequently overlook a snow-encrusted peak, pristine blue lake or meadow festooned with wild flowers, this news is a beautifully timed gift for restauranteurs to kickstart the season.

Expect tables at least 1m apart, waiting staff in masks and a preference for al fresco dining; local mayors will be allowed to close certain streets to traffic in order to enlarge cramped restaurant terraces to a safe social-distancing size. Oh, and bring your own mask to don when moving around the restaurant (to the loo, for example).

In the chic mountain resort of Megève in Haute-Savoie, gourmet picnic lovers (wild venison and mushroom terrine, sweet smoked-chocolate macarons anyone?) are quietly hoping triple-starred Michelin chef Emmanuel Renaut at Les Flocons de Sel will continue his ingenious click-and-collect menus, available to order online 24 hours in advance and bursting with local seasonal produce, even after his gastronomic restaurant reopens.

Since May 11 when France first eased its strict two-month lockdown, almost every small family-run hotel in remote Alpine villages has reopened out of economic necessity and many hotels in ski resorts have committed to opening dates in June. Summer season in the French Alps peaks in July and August, but some properties are opening earlier in the hope of extending the season and recuperating some lost revenue.

Les Chalets des Fermes
Les Chalets des Fermes

In Chamonix, urban-chic Hôtel Mont Blanc – Cham’s hobnobbing hotspot since the 19th century and the finest spot in town to admire Mont Blanc poolside – will open on June 26. Aerial artists, live bands and dinner entertainment remain an integral part of the show at on-trend club-hotel La Folie Douce from June 19, but Chamonix clubbers hoping to dance until dawn might be disappointed; the government is yet to announce when, or indeed how, nightclubs in France can reopen.

Megève’s iconic five-star hotel Les Fermes de Marie, opening on July 3, is launching its timely Chalets des Fermes in June – a collection of private luxury chalets sleeping up to 16. A private butler and chef are offered, while holidaymakers preferring to DIY in the kitchen can order personalised deliveries of lake-fish soup, regional cheeses, truffle-spiked pasta and mountain honey from the hotel’s upmarket épicerie.

Optional remote check-in/out, protective glass shields in reception areas, single-use magnetic key cards, digitised dining menus and hand sanitiser pretty much everywhere are among the numerous new norms. “While travellers may not have previously thought of the mountains as a prime summer destination, the wilderness setting of Les Chalets des Fermes is ideal for those longing for a sense of adventure out in nature, especially families and friends reuniting after so much time apart,” said Marie Sibuet, owner and Managing Director of Maisons & Hotels Sibuet.

Complete privacy, effortless physical distancing and exclusive outdoor experiences likewise are the USP of Chalet Pelerin and Chalet Hibou, remote mountain lodges in Le Miroir – a miniscule hamlet in the Tarentaise Valley, Savoy, few have even heard of, let alone could track down without the expertise of adventure specialists Eleven Experience.

After weeks of home confinement, a liberating romp in the French Alps has clearly never been so desirable, and Alpine resorts are working hard to promote their natural assets. Hiking remains the biggest drawcard (social distancing requires walkers to keep a 5m distance from each another), and seasonal chair lifts and cable cars will function as usual from mid-June.

Mandatory face masks, dramatically reduced lift capacity and nifty thermal cameras to check passenger temperatures before embarking – already enforced on Chamonix’s Aiguille du Midi cable car and Montenvers railway since early May – are expected to be the norm across the board. A Brave new world, yes. But with mountains of good old-fashioned fresh air, natural green space and sweet solitude still on tap, who can possibly complain?