24 Hours: Les Arcs 1800 (Terri and Finn’s European Adventure Day 15)

We had a leisurely morning (after addressing the fuel crisis) and made it down to the Hotel Mercure Les Arcs 1800 spa to get the most mediocre massages we’ve ever had. We don’t think the two gals had any actual massage training. But after a 14 days of traveling with multiple cities and countries, we were in dire need of a rest day.

The view from the hot tub was spectacular. The blue sky and puffy clouds provided a dramatic backdrop to the mountains across the valley.

You might remember from the Day 14 post that the fuel light came on as we drove up into Les Arcs 1800. So, before we could enjoy our rest day, we coasted 29 kilometers down the hill as I totally stressed about running out of gas. I didn’t think AAA would work in France (ha ha) and we were driving down a two lane (one lane each way), steep and windy road to the closest petrol station in Bourge Saint-Maurice.

I didn’t think our French was good enough to communicate with complete strangers and I didn’t want to bother my friend Terry and her boyfriend Michele if we ran out of gas.

I was also stressed about whether my credit card would work. I’d had issues with this and in Valance when we had to use Finn’s debit card, but Finn didn’t bring their wallet.

But we made it, my credit card worked, and then I was able to relax.

After Finn filled up the tank, we zipped back up the mountain to Les Arcs 1800 with me once again driving like we were in a under powered race car. (Do you know the difference between a rental car and a 4WD? You can take a rental car anywhere! I think the same thing applies to how one can drive a rental car.)

Back down in the spa area, we enjoyed the sunshine and light breeze by the hot tub, and watched the birds and butterflies flit from plant to plant. We tried really hard to ignore the guy in his robe and lounge chair smoking nearby. He left before we did so we had a little bit of non-toxic mountain air.

After our crappy massages, we decided to walk around and explore the area. We also needed food. This building and water tower-looking structure were on the hotel property. We weren’t quite sure what the building was for but it looked like it might have been for some apres-ski type of event.

We walked to the main resort area and once again, we had planned poorly with our food consumption, and we were in between lunch and dinner. We stopped in one of the only open places where I ordered a beer and Finn ordered a citron presse. We also ordered something to eat but the order was lost somewhere between our server and the kitchen.

While we were waiting, Finn went to get more info on the climbing wall that was set up just beyond the restaurant. Unfortunately, climbing wasn’t an option during part of our trip.

We finally got and ate our snack, and walked back to our hotel to enjoy the sunset. I think we were there long enough that I had two beers. We stopped in at the Sherpa market in the main area to get some snacks for the room and the road the next day.

There were so many dogs that I can’t believe I didn’t get any pictures of them. We were both surprised by how many French (and German and Italian and Swiss) families had their dogs with them.

We were also surprised by what folks had on their balconies, as if they were there for the summer and not just a weekend like we typically see at the Lake Tahoe resorts. They had barbeques, clothes drying racks, and their own seating. I can’t imagine how they brought all of the stuff given the size of the vehicle typically driven in Europe.

This picture does not begin to portray the colors in the sky and the dramatic effect on the mountain range.

We had a quiet night with dinner at the hotel and we both felt recharged and ready for the last four days of our trip.

The next morning, after breakfast at the hotel, we walked over to Terry and Michele’s place to do a load of laundry. Their place was great with three bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen, living/dining area, and full balcony with a fantastic view. It was in the main resort area near the shops and restaurants about 10 minutes (by foot) walks from our hotel. They love to come here in the winter and the summer.

With Terry handling our laundry, we drove around Les Arcs 1600 looking for the meeting spot for the paragliding. We made a few wrong turns but had allowed plenty of time to get there. The GPS didn’t work great for us either.

We parked and walked up to where we saw some other people waiting and confirmed we were in the right spot at the bottom of this ski lift and run. I really need to be less nervous about being in the right place at the right time.

It was pretty hot outside so we found a little bit of shade as we waited for our paragliding guides.

When the guys (for us) and gals for some of the other people found us, we went directly to the chair lift to the top of the run. It was a quick transition.

Air Tarentaise was a fantastic company to work with and we were so grateful to Matthieu for arranging our parapente experiences in Les Arcs.

After getting off the chair lift (which is really strange without snow and skis or a snowboard), we were geared up and flying wtihin seven minutes. This was much different from the waiting, waiting, waiting that we did in Chamonix.

We’d decided not to get the video so we could focus on the ride and that was 100% the right decision. We’ll have to rely on our memories from the experience.

While we were disappointed that we weren’t able to do this in Chamonix, I think this was an even better spot with even more dramatic views.

Both of us opted for the daredevil option (acrobat level 2). This meant that our descent was a series of tight corkscrews which was so much fun. Admittedly, I felt a little queasy for a few hours after our flight but I also think I was hungry and dehydrated.

We started at 3500 meters and we were able to see Mont Blanc from the Italian side, the entire valley, and mountains and glaciers in the distance. Fabian, my guide, gave me a aerial tour of the area.

The landing at the valley floor was incredibly smoothe and once the guides packed up the chutes, we all piled into a few air conditioned vans and we were driven back to the starting point to retrieve our cars.

We were exhausted but we’d committed to driving to Italy for dinner with Terry and Michele so we went back to the hotel for a 10 minute lie down, ate some yogurt and fruit we’d taken from the breakfast buffet along with a few other things we’d picked up at the Sherpa market.

And then it was time to meet Terry and Michele in the lobby to get our clean (and folded) laundry, pack up the car with hats, sweatshirts, and water bottles, and drive to Italy through the Col du Petit Saint-Bernard) (little Saint-Bernard Pass). For dinner. And lots of pictures. More in Day 16. It was a wild ride!

Terri Hanson Mead is the multi-award winning author of Piloting Your Life, Managing Partner of Solutions2Projects, LLC, and an advocate for women through all of her platforms including YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and this blog. Terri is the mother of two college aged kids, is based in Redwood City, CA and in her spare time, loves to travel, cook, play tennis, and fly helicopters around the San Francisco Bay Area, especially under the Golden Gate Bridge.