Mountain Living
Traditions, life & style
Aim high and you’ll find not only a privileged environment, but also considerable comfort, including spa pampering and wellbeing relaxation options. We look at traditional mountain chalet style, visit artisan cheesemakers and offer inspiration to home-makers.
The Couserans Transhumance
Celebrating an age-old mountain tradition in the French Pyrenees.
Every June villages of the Ariège Pyrénées celebrate the transhumance by throwing a big party. What better way to showcase the culture which binds these communities and to share their traditional songs and dance.
Traditional Alpine Chalet
A timeless design classic
Widely emulated and now highly coveted, the mountain chalet is a design classic whose original constructors succeeded in creating a comfortable and supremely practical home.
Annecy: perfectly irresistible
Haute-Savoie, French Alps
Annecy’s irresistible lakeside setting and proximity to top class ski resorts have created one of the most desirable locations in which to live in France.
Alpine Regional Cheeses
A taste for mountain living
Discover traditional methods of cheese-making in the valleys and the alpages, see the production process, buy and sample the best the region has to offer.
Beaufort Cheesemaking
The highly prized beaufort Chalet d'Alpage
In the high alpages beside Mont-Blanc we go in search of an award-winning producer of Beaufort, one of the most highly-prized of all mountain cheeses.
The French National Parks
Looking after France’s unspoilt mountain areas
Four of France's ten National Parks lie within mountainous zones. We take a look at what makes the Vanoise, Ecrins, Mercantour and Pyrenees National Parks so special.