Route Blog Stage 15. Les Gets - St Gervais. 180km
Between December and June, we’re going to blog, one stage at a time, about the 2023 Tour de France route. You’ll find stage descriptions for every stage on our Route page.
Les Gets is Morzine’s smaller, calmer neighbour, with a population of 1,000 compared with Morzine’s 3,000 and is popular with Brits as an alternative ski destination; it’s got access to the bright lights of Morzine but enjoys a much more restrained vibe.
This stage sets off down hill from Les Gets into the Giffre valley. It’s the less glamorous neighbour to the Chamonix valley but stunningly beautiful nonetheless. The valley road actually ends at a dead end with a 700m high wall of rocks and waterfalls known as the “fer a cheval” (horseshoe).
We won’t go all the way to the end though… we head south towards St Gervais, passing alongside one of the few rail routes through the Alps, keeping industry and money passing through the area since 1848 (or more accurately 1882 when the Alpine tunnels and tracks were all completed).
In addition to the natural resources providing power and materials for local industry, there’s another natural feature which has brought economic development; the thermal waters.
St Gervais’ full name is St Gervais Les Bains (Bains meaning baths or waters in French) but until 1806, it was a small rural community where shepherds came, smelled the sulphurous spring and left. Then in 1806, a local notary had the water analysed and discovered that the high mineral content was perfect for treating a number of ailments… and the spa town was born.
Using thermal waters as a cure for ailments and illnesses has been popular since the early 1800s but really took off when train travel made access easier (and casinos gave people something else to do besides taking the waters!) and continued until world war one brought a halt to travel and tourism.
The idea of spending a couple of weeks breathing mountain air and soaking daily in thermal mineral waters is still considered by many to have curative and restorative benefits and you’re likely to see health tourists out and about in town (occasionally in dressing gowns!). With a rest or departure day tomorrow, maybe we’ll have time to benefit too!
This stage is part of the following Loops: Second half, Middle Mountains, Mountains Week, Alps & Grand Loop.
Don’t just watch it; Ride it!