There are so many summer holiday activities on offer in the Chamonix Valley it is impossible to list them all. But they include mountain biking, hiking, fishing, parapenting, ice climbing, rock climbing, golf, canyoning, white-water rafting, hot-air ballooning and horse-riding.

Local experts can instruct or guide you in the activities of your choice. The mountain biking and hiking trails start at the chalet door; the nearest fishing lake is just a couple of minutes stroll, and the top class Chamonix golf course is a stone's throw as well.

Equally, you can spend your precious days off lazing by a mountain rockpool, sparkling swimming pool, rippling lake, or even in your own personal jacuzzi in the chalet grounds.

The town of Chamonix Mont-Blanc, a five minute drive or 20 minute walk through the forest, enjoys a stunning location at the foot of Mont Blanc, and is known as the Paris of the Alps. But you don't have to stay in France. The chalet is just 20 minutes' drive from both Italy and Switzerland.

We can recommend days out to the Italian towns of Aoste, Turin and Milan. Even Venice is only a four-hour drive. Across the border in Switzerland there are outdoor thermal baths, medieval village vineyards, plus Montreux and Lausanne on Lake Geneva. The Italian lakes and the Italian Riviera are a three hour drive.

You can even go summer glacier skiing in Tignes, or in Zermatt in the shadow of the Matterhorn.