Welcome to Thollon
This website has the objective of gathering and sharing information for English speaking visitors to Thollon les Memises. To help visitors, apartment and chalet owners, and those renting properties. It aims to give a wider view than other web sites. Information that a visitor for a week or two may require. Not just for Thollon Les Memises but also the area that can by visited in a days drive.
Thollon.org has been updated, new format but same information news and updates.
We now welcome donations for advertising which will help towards the cost of running Thollon.org Donate, Advertise.
Historic winter web cam picture below.
There is a new web cam giving views from the "Top" fantastic views
Historic Webcam view 19th December 2019
We now have the use of a web cam from the the Gondola in Thollon.
Les Lanches web cam Many thanks to Andy .
Check out Facebook Telecabine Thollon for regular updates and lift opening.
Telecabine
See notice boards for special offers of lunch and lift combined. Also offers of discounted lift passes and rates for the new ski season when purchased early at thollonlesmemises.com Resort/Hiver New for winter 2019/20 combined pass with options, Thollon Bernex and Abondance. When the resort can only open limited runs, a reduced rate is sometimes applied. There is now a site showing what runs are open. Plan Thollon Alpin.
Check out the Facebook Telecabine and Facebook UCAT for latest and further information.
The Association of Traders website UCAT Thollon. Good information and links to the traders and on The Evian page a link to Bus Timetables for the Evian / Thollon shuttle.
Cafes restaurants hotels and shops. Start to Open 19th May 2021
If you are in Thollon do support those that can open and when we get back and can visit we all need to use them to ensure that these great people can keep going.
2021
With Thollon first in lockdown and as the Summer 2020 comes and goes...... and Winter 2021 thinks about moving to Spring airs...
........one of our own is writing this excellent blog. Many thanks to LB
This and earlier letters are on the Letter from Thollon page
Lindsay now has her own website where she will be writing a more personal account of tales from the balcony
14th May 2021 May Be or May Be Not
Hey, there you are! It’s been a while, but I’ve been waiting for hot news to tell you. We might not have tackled the virus here in France as well as other countries, but things are definitely improving. The vaccine rollout is continuing, despite 2 out of every 3 vaccine centres downing syringes for the long weekend of Ascension. Numbers of new infections are down to around 19,000 a day and continuing to fall. As you probably know, our café and restaurant terraces will be reopening on 19th May, albeit at only 50% capacity, but it’s a start.
In Thollon the télécabine will be running from 19th May every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday plus public holidays, which means we’ll finally be able to check out the new restaurant, the Balcons du Lac. We did attempt to scale the north face of the Memises on foot earlier in the season, but lack of oxygen meant that we had to retire to basecamp for tea and a biscuit instead.
Other places in Thollon on the starting blocks are the XV where the stoical Arnaud will be offering a restricted menu, the St Nicholas who are opening their terrace and the Ourson who will be welcoming friends and customers back in mid-June. As if that’s not enough good news, work appears to be underway to bring fibre optic to the station, bringing us into the 20th century if not yet the 21st.
All sounds good doesn’t it, but as we all know, there’s always trouble in paradise. This year it’s that old culprit the weather putting a real damper on things. Thollon is cold and wet. The rain/hail is pounding on the windows as I write this.
We’ve had a few days of intermittent sunshine but on the whole it’s ‘dreech’ as my resident Scotsman would say. It’s even too miserable to be down by the lake for any length of time. There are next to no boats out on the lake, it’s just too cold, and the small white gondolas of the big wheel at the port circle empty and forlorn for most of the time.
When the sun does fleetingly appear however, it’s glorious. The fields are carpeted with golden dandelions, the lake shimmers in the distance and the trees respond by growing another foot in front of our apartment overnight.
The weather in the whole of France has been pretty bad for the past few weeks, we’re stuck in a cycle of rain, wind and above 1500 metres, snow. Yesterday it looked as if Noel Fielding had sprinkled the Memises and the zig-zag path with Bake Off icing sugar, pretty yes, but honestly we’ve had enough snow this year.
One solution is to travel. Yeh right I hear you say. But there are no restrictions on travel within France which, as I’m sure you know, is pretty big. However, if you cross the border, even for an afternoon you need to take a PCR test to come back into the country. Unless,you happen to be a permanent resident in France and live within 30 km of the border, which is brilliant news for us here in Thollon as we can cross from St Gingolph into Switzerland with proof of address. As all of the shops, museums, art galleries and café terraces are open in Switzerland it’s a welcome break from the restrictions here.
Will you make it here this summer? With the current requirements for PCR testing and quarantine on return for visitors from the UK, plus the spread of the Indian variant, it’s still looking tricky at the moment. Thollon will no doubt welcome the increasing numbers of French visitors with open arms but there’s no doubt about it, they miss that ‘je ne sais quoi’ that the English speakers contribute.
I’ve got everything crossed.
Thanks to LB.
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November 2020 Kevin et Thibaut are pleased to announce the upcoming opening of the restaurant Les Balcons du Lac.
Located in the heart of Thollon-les-Mémises, France in a unique place with an amazing view of the Geneva lake. The old restaurant named “Le Repaire de l’Aigle” will be completely refurbished will become Les Balcons du Lac.
The restaurant will be open for business this year and will welcome you this winter season. French traditional cuisine pedestrian accessible or by ski.
Les Balcons du Lac it is also: - An outside terrasse - Two type of restauration; self-service and snack - A panoramic bridge - A lounge and chill out place - An outside bar - New guests’ experiences - A unique place with good vibes - And more to come…... Stay tuned Tous ensemble tout schuss !!!! Do follow what is happening on the Les Balcons du Lac Facebook page Thollon.org wishes Kevin and Thibaut every success.
The view from the new balcony.
New Library for the village November 2020
The Le XV Restaurant and Bar is open for takeaways.
Arnaud had stocked up for his reopening and then was hit by lockdown. He will have an extensive new take away menu. Please support him. Details on his facebook page. Le XV
The UCAT Thollon Facebook site has updates for the new traders and what is open and when. UCAT is the organisation of local traders.
Snow on the Mountain 26 October 2020
New: 30 Oct 2020 Video from the company undertaking the restaurant construction. This is a great video which shows the new roof being fixed.
Video Click here. Thanks to Transports Tromberts
New : 9 Nov Another great video shows the new roof.Video Click Here Thanks to Livio
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Our correspondent had a short meeting with the Mayor of Thollon Regis Bened on the 27th July 2020. Full details on the News/Blog page
The building of the new Telecabine Restaurant is well underway.
Photos 27 August 2020. Work is progressing well, weather has been good.
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Thollon is a family resort and many visitors return every year to enjoy the great welcome.
Bit of nostalgia as we look forward:-
Christine (ESF Thollon Secretary) presents a first badge to Cora age 4 and then Gold Award age 12 in February 2020.
Wednesdays February Party 7pm in the Polyvante hosted by ESF, Ski Club, Fondue and music Mickael and accordion.
"Horseing around" Thursday 20th February 2020.
Thollon Snow Park
The Thollon Snowpark association organises events on the theme of freestyle skiing/ snowboarding. The half pipe, landing balloon and water jump add some fun to Thollon.
Reggae Fever
One of our own has a sneaky play.
Below January 2020 BBQ
Carnaval in Evian see Evian page for photos from previous years.
New snow cannon installation There are 65 or is it 74? new snow cannons. They will cover all the slopes which are visible from the restaurant. There does not appear to be any plans at the moment to do the "back run" the Via Casse. So the resort should be well and truly ready for this year's winter season, 2019/2020. Pictures below summer 2019 lots of activity in the car park and on the slopes. Lorries and a helicopter has been moving the materials.
Summer 2019. A review
Music and fun. Bars, fete, BBQ
Bar Ourson is worthy of an extra mention for the many fun evenings some with live music. Corrine has been popular with the British clientele and the annual get together of British musicians with the new band Jerry and his Pacemaker was in fine form. The outside area in front of the bar making for a great area to relax party and listen to music. Also new for 2019 was Arnaud offering excellent Tapas in his bar area in Le XV making for a relaxed drink and food sitting on the sofa's. The bars Saint Nicolas and Choumas continued to be popular and offered good hospitality. Many of us also braved the walk to visit the Hotels Bon Sejour and Bellevue, whose restaurants offered excellent fare.
The annual fete was held in August, two nights of party which was well supported by the Thollon.org crowd. There were also music events held outside the Tourist Office, by the car park.
The site at the aerial Hucel which has a wonderful view over the lake was the venue for an inpromptu byo BBQ. A group of locals and Brits enjoyed food and wine as the sunset. The steep and dark climb down from the site was interesting.
Priory Meillerie
A visit was organised to visit the Priory of the Meillerie www.meillerie-prieure.com. Many of us use the road and pass close by to this Priory. The visit was excellent for a number of reasons, the views are fantastic especially from the graveyard above. The history of the priory and its role in commanding the area and its links to Thollon were fascinating. The talk by Sidonie Bochaton (local archeologist, historian, and writer) was excellent as it gave a wider view and helped many of us understand the local history of the Haute Savoie. The web site is excellent and if you are considering a walk around is to be recommended to set the scene. Thanks to AS for organising
The Lake
Many of the Thollon group have boats on the lake and enjoyed a great summer of boating. The lake provided its usual mirror calm surface ideal for motor boats. The usual venues of Grand Rive “Nathalies” and new this year L’OXXY Beach providing refreshment.
Annual Football Match
On Saturday 8th June 2019 at 3pm the annual football match was played on a lovely sunny day.
Result: England 8, France 7 yes we won!
As usual the band, ceremony and football of a standard only seen once a year. A great celebration.
Pink Pub to Pegasus Bridge
This site celebrates the link between many countries. We have a large British contingent. Several Bognor Regis members supported a great forces charity by cycling from Bognor Regis to Pegasus Bridge to celebrate D-Day leaving on Wednesday 5 May 2019. Have a look at the Facebook page. Pinkpub2PegasusBridge They have raised over £120,000....Great job guys.
They made it! Well done guys!
Bolton Celebration
Thollon friends stretch wide across the world. On the 11 May 2019 a group of around 30 Thollon friends came from various parts of Europe to visit Bolton to help celebrate 30 years in business for a Thollon regular. Much drinking and great hospitality from Dave and Deb’s.
The Paddle steamers salute Evian
Winter 2018/19
The season closed with the UCAT Race and the water slide, and the British enthusiastically joining in the celebrations with this years theme of Peaky Blinders. Around 35 British visitors, and some Ex Pat residents joined in the fun.
Thollon.org entered a team of three generations photo below, 2 skiers and a snowboarder! A superb effort but no medals this year.
Below the race winners Garage des Memises and the British "second place?" Team Meda Sport (Ketts Taira Andy) we understand that we might have translated "Les Perdants" incorrectly..... Great trophy, medals, cheese and chocolates were all appreciated as was the great atmosphere and the paella served for lunch. Thanks to the organisers and the many supporters for such a fun event. The race had a unique compulsory half way stop with a glass of wine or juice being consumed before continuing to the finish.
Results correctly reported in the le dauphine below on the 3rd April 2019 together with a picture of the Peaky Blinder racers.
More pictures and video below
Peaky on the slopes PeakyYouTube video
Romantic Thollon
We all love the view from the top of the mountain, and what better place to propose marriage.
Regular visitor Ross proposed, and Nicola said yes.
The British half term, Monday 18th February 2019 brought many visitors to Thollon. A great sunny week with fun had by all.
The Tourist Office will be running many events during the holiday season. Thollon les Mémises Tourisme Facebook publishes details. The "Agenda of the week" Programme d'animations. Torch light descent, table tennis. Karaoke and much more.
Great news, Thollon and Bernex have signed an agreement making available a ski pass for both resorts for the 2017/18 Season The season pass is for both resorts and 3 visits to the Bernex Ice rink. There is a also a new web site Les Montagnes D’ Evian promoting the joint venture, and the various options. The pass is available to buy on line. We look forward to further initiatives.
A picture reminder of last Winters fun
More on our News and Blog page
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