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| Chalet Jacques (to be renamed) une petite visite |
| We took possession of the chalet on September 1. The house is still full of old furnishings from when it was used as a vacation chalet. Rather than take the furniture we didn't want, it was left behind. . . single duvets anyhone? We have about 10 spare. . . at least we did manage to sell 4 of the bunkbeds and 12 of the 14 spare single mattresses at a yard sale a few weeks ago! Down the road in the direction the top photo is looking is an old chapel and a school, as well as some old farms. Up the road (opposite direction of the photo) is the Hotel Aiguilled du Midi, and the side road (chemin Napoleon) which leads to the Clos de Salechet. We are only 2 blocks from the main road and the Les Bossons train station, as well as the Cham Bus stop. |
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| The yard is basically the small strips of land around the property. It's big enough to have some flowers and a small vegetable patch in the back. Our nearest neighbor is pretty close by, but on the other three sides of the house, we are not crowded in at all. Some new shrubs and a bit of gardening will make the whole thing feel more private by the end of next summer. There is a flagstone patio around the side and back of the house, which gets a lot of sun during the summer months. The big double windows in the living room face the Mt Blanc massif and have a nice view. |
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| The living room area is not huge, but the double story windows make it feel light and spacious, and give a nice view of the Mont Blanc range. These photos were all taken from when we viewed the chalet (on a cloudy day, which means you can't see the mountains!!), and it was being run as a vacation home. The furniture has changed a bit since these were taken and we are now moved in, though some of it remains (as we didn't have a whole lot to move!). |
| The downstairs bedroom is what we will be using as the guest bedroom. The bedrooms are all similar size (except the supposed 5th bedroom, which only fits a single bed and will become an office). They all fit a double bed and have decent light. There are 3 bedrooms upstairs, and 1.5 downstairs. We'll have more permanent roommates upstairs. There is a bath, a shower and 2 toilets (all separated) in the house. All need some decoration to make them less sterile looking, but are in good condition otherwise. There are 2 balconies upstairs. One can be accessed from the hallway, and one is accessed from what will become our bedroom.The picture below is the middle upstairs bedroom. |
| The kitchen was redone last year, from what we are told. It's basically OK, except that someone added security gates over the windows (removing the shutters??) and rather than putting nice wood over the top, they have screwed in bits of chip board painted white. Now that's class. These will have to go.....Above is the dining room, which is also now switched around. We've gotten rid of the microwave (hate those things) and moved the drinks fridge into the living room area. |
| Here you can see our neighbors as well as the barn across the street, which seems to be in disuse (except as a part time horse pasture in fall). There is also an apple orchard to the left of the barn. We did see a flock of sheep getting driven down the road this fall, being moved from higher to lower pastures. The chalet lives in a small development called Les Terasses des Glaciers (a few like ours are independent chalets & most others are joined houses). We are the first chalet on the block. It is on a small one-lane road in the Les Bossons hamlet, which is part of Chamonix commune (just outside the proper Cham city borders). |