St Jean de Montclar

For at least 12 years of my kids first 18 years, we have taken a summer vacation in France. We’ve also had a few skiing vacations in winter or spring. We’ve covered most regions of France, including beaches, countryside and Paris. But this is the first time I’ve been in a ‘station de ski’ or even in the ‘hautes montagnes’ in summer.

And it isn’t perfect. St Jean de Montclar isn’t a charming little village with a church, a square, a ‘lavoir’ etc. It’s a ‘nouveau village’ – a village created at the bottom of some chair-lifts, I’d guess in the sixties or seventies. But it isn’t bad either.

It’s hot during the day, but fairly cool at night. You can swim, play tennis or pétanques, hire a mountain bike, go for a walk, take a chair-lift up for a high altitude hike etc. You can even take a tandem paraglider flight (though, after yesterday, I’m not sure I’d recommend that). There’s a big lake just 15 minutes drive away. There’s plenty of cheap accommodation. There was a nice market last Sunday morning. And the scenery is really nice; a combination of open valleys and mountains. Nice villages nearby, with forts and museums. And it’s a nice size; big enough that you have everything you need, but not so big you can’t park your car.

All in all, not a bad place for your summer vacation!