Chalet OVO La Vieille Ferme

There is a barbecue that gets a lot of use at the height of summer. This terrace is also a major play area in the winter - perfect for children to run around and play in the snow.

There is also a lower, grassy terrace, now used for badminton or football by our boys and their friends in the summer. Around the back of the chalet, the master bedroom opens up onto a further terrace where we escape for quiet reading if the children are playing in the front.

There is one more terrace just below, which we use for hanging out the washing and table tennis! I think one of the great things about the chalet is that there are these different spaces outside to either play or sit and relax if you feel like hanging around and not going out anywhere. Very restorative for both adults and children.

But, energy levels restored, we love getting out and about and making the most of what the Alps has to offer. We all ski in the winter of course and fell the chalet gives us the best of both worlds - easy access to the slopes, but an escape from the hustle and bustle of a busy ski station.

We are a 10-minute drive from the nearest ski area, Croix Fry. This is the base for Ecole de Ski Francais and most lessons start here if you choose that particular ski school (although there are others which operate from La Clusaz)

Croix Fry is a great place for children to learn, with nursery slopes and an extensive area of blues and gentle reds. Perfect for family skiing and close enough to the chalet to be able to have more flexible days if you have children of different ages.

For example, if you have older children who are taking lessons and a toddler or baby, you can join them for lunch or a play on the sledges, and easily nip back to the chalet with the toddler/baby when they've had enough.You also have access from here to the wonderful Etale and Merdassier mountains for more adventurous skiing.

When you have exhausted these areas, you have the option of driving on to La Clusaz or Grand Bornand where you can enjoy exploring more of the Col des Aravis. We tend to do a mixture of self-catering and eating out when we are at the chalet.

You can get all your shopping done in Thônes, as there is an easily accessible supermarket. There are also some restaurants where you will get a good local meal.

For more choice, go to La Clusaz! One of our favourite restaurants is Le Bercail, which is half way down L'Aiguille, the mountain central to La Clusaz. You can ski down to it for lunch during the day or drive up to a plateau above it in the winter evenings and someone will come and bring you down by snowmobile if you don't fancy the walk.

In summer, it's easy enough to park and walk down to it. The owners, Veronique and Boris are delightful - you always get a warm welcome, great service and delicious food.

In the summer, we usually head down to Talloires, a village by the edge of Lake Annecy , where there is a special 'beach' area.

This is a fantastic place for all ages.

It's basically a huge grassy area at the edge of the lake with trees to shelter under from the heat and a café or restaurant and toilet/shower facilities. Life guards supervise the lake area, which is fabulous for swimming/diving/pedalos/water skiing or dinghy sailing.

There is a shallow but large paddling pool built into the grass area for the younger ones, which is big enough for inflatable toys and safe enough for the smallest of toddlers. We take picnics and meet friends and spend the entire day there.

Older children can play volley ball and table tennis and even learn to scuba dive. For the more adventurous, there is paragliding too.

We may also visit the two very good swimming pools nearby: one in La Clusaz which has both an indoor and an outdoor pool. The outdoor pool is heated all year round so even during the ski season, if you can brave the cold on your shoulders, you can enjoy a soak outside while looking up at snow-covered mountains.

Before children we used to do a lot of walking of course in the area but even with children if you are keen walkers you can still find something to suit. Ours love taking the telecabine from La Clusaz up to the top of Beau Regard, having an ice cream or a pasta lunch in one of the restaurants up there, watching the crazy mountain bikers hurtling down past us and then walking slowly back down again.

There is a small fromagerie en route where you can stop and buy some local cheese for a quick casse-croute.

In La Clusaz itself there is a great little outdoor sports area for children, with a pool for bumper boats, a little quad bike track, 2 bouncy castles and a track for young mountain bikers. This is excellent for children under 8 and the best way to enjoy it is to buy a card from the office which you top up with credit and gives you a better deal for all the rides.There are other stations nearby which offer similar activities, including more serious quad biking for older children and adults.

The local tourist offices in La Clusaz, Thônes and Manigod provide full details of everything there is to do in the area, but apart from the main sporting activities, other favourites of ours are visits to nearby caves, the beautiful Gorge du Fier, driving to Annecy for the day (about 30-40 minutes' drive), visits to one of the milking farms and a local museum of taxidermy where they have an extensive collection of wildlife (stuffed) and presented in a scene representing the mountains as opposed to glass boxes. It's not everyone's cup of tea but our children love it!

Rachel and Nick Speed