This is one of my favourite mountain bike routes in the valley. Start just behind the apartment and find sentier balcon; its well waymarked. There is a short climb and therefter (as the name suggests) the path traverses for about 7km. Superb views and a handful of technical bits (easily bypassed) for the more adventurous. The route comes out at the top of the St Martin 1 gondola. A neat way back is to take the St Martin 2 chair lift and then blast all the way down piste la violette back to the apartment.

In case you didn’t know Via Ferrata is a kind of rock climbing with the protection in place (see the metal cable). You need a special harness (for rent) and probably a guide (unless you have climbed before). This route is graded AD (that means “quite difficult”) and is just above St Martin de Belleville, a few kilometeres below les menuiures. For its grade its a good qualtiy route – and you end up on the summit of le cochet with lovely views across the valley.

It sounds mad – who would go 2000m up a mountain to go fishing – but actually its not at all bad. Once you have purchased a reasonably priced permit there are a whole bunch of lakes and rivers up for grabs. Its trout fishing on lure, spinner and bait. We  spent some time at lac du lou, an exceptionally beautiful spot with a little refuge where you can spend the night or order a hot meal.

This is great fun, especially for the kids. There are several types of obstacle, including zip wires, nets, rope bridges etc.

We were lucky enough to stay at Chalet Broski in St Martin de Belleville last week. A great time was had by all – the weather was superb and the BBQ was used nearly every night. When we were not out doing some sport we were pampering ourselves in the sauna and spa bath.