Villards
Before a trail race in the Alps in 2022 I stayed by myself in a chalet in Les Villards-sur-Thônes - a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. I'd been looking forward to staying by myself for ages. The chalet was in a beautiful location halfway up one hill overlooking the mountains. I was there for a week and spent a lot of time sitting by the open door watching the light change - my favourite and underused pastime. Birds of prey circled all around, and the owner's cat Milflou became a friend and hung out a lot with me, drinking water directly from the running tap. It sounds and should have been idyllic but I just didn't like it. There were very few people around and I realised I was of a more social animal than previously thought. I felt very anxious and couldn't sleep. Kind of felt like I was losing the plot - I lay in bed for hours at night listening to animals scampering around the chalet. However, the runs and walks around the area were beautiful though and I was struck by how much wood there was everywhere. I wondered what it would be like to live in one of the many crazy looking wooded outhouses/ storage places/chalets. I found an old mill at the bottom of my field and saw an otter. The sunlight made interesting reflections on the water. I drove to Annecy, ran in 30 degree heat through the town and sat in the shallow waters of the stunningly beautiful lake. A lot of the local small towns around were out of season ski resorts. At La Clusaz in the rain I took a cable car up the mountain, had a coffee at a partially closed posh hotel at the top before running back down through misty alpine pastures.