Autumn in La Norma

It is October 2024. The week before the autumn holidays start in the Netherlands. Our children have long since left the parental home, so we can nicely avoid the holiday periods together. Not that this matters very much. It’s quiet here anyway, even during the autumn holidays themselves for that matter. So if you’re looking for peace and quiet, you’ll be right here in La-Norma-Chalet. Do note that everything in the village of La Norma itself is closed: shops, restaurants, cafés, everything! But down in nearby Modane and Fourneaux everything is open, even on Sundays. So for fresh croissants in the morning, it’s a short 8-minute drive by car. There is one exception: Norma Looping (sledding on an outdoor roller coaster, highly recommended!) is open all year round, see their website Normaloops for opening hours. However, you will never really be alone here: many French and also Dutch people come during this period to ‘get away for a weekend’ or refurbish and/or clean their houses for the upcoming winter season. There are also a small number of people who live here permanently. The municipality also sometimes does some work in preparation for the winter season and there is especially a lot of sporting activity: hiking, mountain biking, skating in the village below (lessons were even given!). The children’s playground is also widely used. Peace and quiet has an important advantage: the animals in the forest show themselves a bit easier. In the two weeks we were there, we saw 5 deer, a lot of squirrels and a fox. The morning that winter time set in, we even heard some trudging and grazing right next to our cottage La-Norma-Chalet: most probably deer, given the fresh droppings we found fresh in the garden a bit later. Hiking in the La Norma area is very varied: from ‘easy’ (big wide paths, slightly uphill) to ‘extremely adventurous’ (not signposted, not found on Google or Komoot). I will devote a separate blog to this later. Mountain biking: The forest around La Norma (and also in the wider area) is littered with trails. I am no expert in this area, but if I had to judge what I have come across, it also varies from ‘easy’ (long routes that rise and descend slightly) to downright ‘neck-breaking’ cq ‘insane’. Mountain biking must almost have been invented here, the French are crazy in this area. But then again, to each his own challenge! The weather. In the more than 15 days we were here, we had only 2 rainy days and 1 day with light drizzle. Some days were cloudy (and then it gets pretty chilly at this time of year), but most days it was just sunny with accompanying lovely warm wind chill. At night, temperatures dropped to around freezing. Frost and snow stayed away. Snow did show up on the higher peaks around La Norma. Fortunately, the heating in La-Norma-Chalet works well and the shower was lovely and warm. The La-Norma-Chalet cottage is heated with small electric wall heaters, which in no time heat the whole cottage comfortably. The living room and bedroom have large windows, allowing plenty of light during the day. Our conclusion is that La-Norma-Chalet is a lovely place to be in autumn, with peace and quiet and also plenty to do for the more active among us.