Summer in Chatel

IN SUMMER Lifts can be used by mountain-bikers or hikers in the summer. Chatel is close to a GR (grand route) for summer walking. Other summer sports include swimming (open air pools in the centre of the village), tennis, canoeing, rafting, fishing, paragliding, climbing, pony trekking, pony club for children as well as mini-golf and pedaloes on the lake. Adventure seekers can try the 'fantasticable' which suspends you from a wire to zoom across the void between two peaks at the Plaine Dranse end of the valley. For golf enthusiasts the championship course 'The Royal Evian' is 40mins away, as is the less demanding course at Aigle.
The water sports of Lac Leman such as water-skiing and sailing are also only 40mins away. The shores of the lake on both the French and Swiss sides are full of beautiful little villages which can be discovered by taking one of the regular ferries that serve all the small ports around the lake. Larger centres like Evian, Thonon, Montreux, and Lausanne also make interesting days out- or nights if you want to chance your luck in one of the casinos.
Outings from Chatel can be made to the Abbey in Abondance, the Chateau de Chillon near Montreux (where Byron holidayed and wrote some of his works), the Olympic museum and headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, the salt mines at Bex, the exhibition centre (fine art and sculpture with permanent display of old motorcars) at the Fondation Pierre Giannada in Martigny, the thermal baths at Val D'Illiez or Lavey and the fascinating Templar centre of Sion, as featured in books like the Da Vinci Code, an hour away just beyond Martigny in the Swiss Valais.
In Chatel itself trips are organised to see traditional cheese-making of the Abondance cheese which gets a mention in the book of the world's finest cheeses; there are also organised walks to view the flora and fauna of the area and many other interesting activities to try.
For committed shoppers there is an outlet centre beside the Ikea store in Aubonne on the Swiss side of the lake. Or closer to home both Thonon and Monthey have plenty of shops from Boutiques to commercial centres.