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If Ardèche in Southeastern France Isn’t on Your List Yet, It Should Be.
I had been wanting to explore Ardèche for some time, so when a good friend and I finally had two days to do it, we knew we would have to be selective. There is far too much to see in one weekend, and trying to do everything would have defeated the point. We chose a handful of villages, left some room for walking and wandering, and knew that at some point we would head towards Villefort for the activity I was most looking forward to: the Via Ferrata above the lake. What I hadn’t expected was how much I would enjoy everything that happened in between. For anyone unfamiliar with…
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Two Kenyan Women — One, the Mother of a Winter Olympian at 1,926 Mtrs in the French Alps.
“A chance connection, a hike to Le Grand Rocher, and a conversation about motherhood, winter sport, identity and who gets to belong in the mountains.” I knew immediately which one was Josephine. We had never met before, but as I arrived at our meeting point in Crolles that Saturday morning, there she was wearing a bright green T-shirt with KENYA written boldly across the front. I laughed to myself as i drove towards her. She had certainly made identification easy. Although, truthfully, I probably would have recognised her anyway. When you spend enough time hiking in the French Alps as a Black African woman, you become accustomed to being one…
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The Mountain I Had Been Warned About: My Journey to the Dent du Chat
Some mountains remain in your imagination long before your feet finally touch their paths. For me, the Dent du Chat was one of them. I had wanted to climb it for the longest time. Its distinctive tooth-shaped summit is difficult to ignore when travelling around Lac du Bourget. It rises above the lake as though keeping watch over the towns, villages and water below. Yet whenever I mentioned wanting to hike it, the responses were almost always the same, “It is very steep.” You need to be careful.” “The final climb is not easy.” The warnings did not make me want to abandon the idea. If anything, they made the…
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Three Days in the Beaufortain: Mountains, a Campervan and the Joy of Going Back.
There are mountains that demand to be conquered, and there are mountains that invite you to belong. The Beaufortain belongs to the second category. Nestled in Savoie in the northern French Alps, within sight of the Mont Blanc massif and close to the Vanoise, the Beaufortain remains surprisingly discreet beside some of its more famous Alpine neighbours. Perhaps that is part of its charm. It doesn’t rely on fame to leave an impression. It seduces slowly. This is a landscape shaped as much by people as by nature. Generations of farmers, shepherds, cheesemakers and mountain communities have left their mark here. Tarine and Abondance cows graze on high pastures. And…
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A Magical Weekend in the Vercors: Hiking, Bivouacking and a Super Guide
“Mountains became my compass when I no longer knew where home was”- Lemeria. Some trips stay with you because of the destination. Others stay with you because of the journey. My first multi-day hike in the Vercors will always belong to the second category. We left on a Friday and returned on Sunday, carrying our lives on our backs for three days: a tent, sleeping bags, food, water and everything we thought we might need. And I had one considerable advantage. As a Kenyan still learning the language of the French mountains, I had my super guide. Where Is the Vercors? For readers outside France, the Vercors Massif lies in…
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When the Mountains Listen: A Solo Hike to Col de la Bâthie in the French Alps
Some hikes are about reaching the top. Others are about finding enough silence to hear yourself again. There are moments in life when you do not necessarily need answers. You simply need space. Space away from conversations, expectations, decisions and the constant noise of everyday life. Space to walk, breathe and allow your thoughts to arrive in their own time. For me, that space is increasingly found in the mountains. And living in Savoie, in the French Alps, means I am surrounded by an extraordinary number of them. This time, my feet took me into the Beaufortain massif in southeastern France, for a solo hike from Le Planay to the…
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Chasing Cool Air: Following an Ancient Mountain Pass Above France’s Heatwave
Another heatwave.By now, the warnings have become part of everyday life in France. Every radio station reminds us to stay hydrated. Electronic road signs flash messages urging people to avoid the hottest hours of the day. Communes check on elderly residents. Windows remain closed, shutters drawn against the afternoon sun. It is remarkable to think that summer has barely begun. As temperatures climbed once again across much of the country, my children and I found ourselves asking a simple question that many families across France were probably asking too: Where can we find cool air? Living in Savoie has one enormous privilege. The Alps are never far away. So we packed our camping…
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The Long Road to a French Driving Licence: A Guide to Exchanging Your Foreign Licence in France
There are certain parts of moving to France that no one romanticises. Very few people warn you that one day you may find yourself sitting in front of a computer, staring at the France Titres website, trying to upload the same document for the fourth time, wondering whether a driving licence can become a test of patience, identity and endurance. For many, a driving licence is not just a card. It is freedom. It is the ability to take children to school, accept a job outside the city, attend an interview, visit friends, shop without carrying bags across three bus connections, or simply feel like an adult again in a…
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Moving to France Isn’t What You Think: 13 things I Learned the Hard Way
Moving to France is often imagined as something beautiful and effortless. Food, culture, travel, a certain elegance of life. And while parts of that are true, what is less often spoken about are the quiet adjustments, the unexpected costs, and the emotional shifts that come with building a life here.
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