Where we are
Sautaillet is located in D’en Ly, a hamlet just below Les Prodains in the Ardoisières valley. We’re technically in Morzine but closer to Avoriaz. The road that runs through the valley is called ‘Rte des Ardoisières’ or ‘Slate Road’, owing to the mining of slate along the steep valley sides. (You can still see some of the old mining huts on the valleyside near the base of the hill, near the trout farm). You’ll need snowchains or winter tyres to get up in snowy conditions during the winter months and it’s a good little col to ride up in the summer on a bike. You’ll hear the side of the valley cracking in the winter as temperatures change and you might see the odd basejumper from the garden in the summer.
Morzine is a beautiful town with great shops, restaurants and cafes but we think Les Prodains is the best place to be, combining a short walk to Morzine, the peace of our valley and the easy access to the slopes of Avoriaz. It’s the calm between the relative storms and the perfect place for a getaway, summer or winter. The busloads of people that you’ll see passing the chalet each day, along with those walking up from the car park down the hill from us, are testament to the demand to access Avoriaz and the Swiss side of the Portes Du Soleil.
Legend has it that the original lift to Avoriaz was first installed by the Baron de líEpee at the end of the nineteenth century. The Baron wished to hold hunts on the plateau of Avoriaz but the route up there took too long. He therefore decided that the best way up was to use a hot air balloon. Of course. He lashed the balloon to a steel cable and winch and used that to ascent to the plateau. When we first came to Morzine, we used to take the original 60s Telecabin (named fastest ski lift in the world in 1966!) but that was replaced by the rapid new Gondola in 2013 which can take 2500 people an hour up to Avoriaz. The ‘home run’ down from the top of the Prodains gondola can take you to the house with a short uphill push if it’s snowy, bringing you around Hotel Les Lans and the houses in Chemin d’Ey Ly to arrive in the garden. If you’re visiting in the summer months you can hike up behind the house to the beautiful plateau of Morzinette and pick fresh blueberries.
