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 'Route 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 valley side near the base of the hill, by the trout farm.

You'll need snow chains or winter tyres to get up in snowy conditions during the winter months, and it's a good little col to ride up on a bike in the summer. You'll hear the side of the valley cracking in the winter as temperatures change, and you might see the odd base jumper from the garden in the summer.

Legend has it that the original lift to Avoriaz was installed by the Baron de l'Épée at the end of the nineteenth century. The Baron wished to hold hunts on the plateau of Avoriaz, but the route up took too long, so he decided the best way up was a hot air balloon. Of course. He lashed the balloon to a steel cable and winch and used that to ascend to the plateau.

When we first came to Morzine we used to take the original 1960s télécabine (named the fastest ski lift in the world in 1966!), but it was replaced in 2013 by the rapid new gondola, which can take 2,500 people an hour up to Avoriaz.

The 'home run' down from the top of the Prodains gondola can bring you to the house with a short uphill push if it's snowy, taking you around Hotel Les Lans and the houses in Chemin d'En Ly to arrive in the garden. In the summer months you can hike up behind the house to the beautiful plateau of Morzinette and pick fresh blueberries.