I’ve been a bit quiet on the blog and social media lately because I’ve been insanely busy with work, and also I had a week off snowboarding in Chamonix, France (a much, much needed break).
It was my first time in Chamonix so I wasn’t sure what to expect food-wise as a vegan. The French are known for their meat and cheese and for not being terribly vegetarian-friendly (at least that’s the perception), so I had my reservations.
We booked a chalet hotel* through Inghams that included half-board, and lucky for me they offered a vegan supplement for just £35 for the week. The extra cost is likely because they have to buy-in special items like tofu and soy milk, so to me it was actually a bargain to get a good vegan meal every night.
The food did not disappoint. In the morning I was given a soy yogurt parfait with fruit which I didn’t eat too much of as I’m not a huge yogurt fan. However, they did make me mushrooms on toast at my request, and that was delicious. They also offered to do porridge with soy milk as well.
In the evenings I was given a range of options to choose from – basically they would make whatever I wanted. Every night I had something different, and every night I was so impressed. I had vegan risottos, stir fries, stuffed veggies, and one of the best tofu dishes I’ve ever eaten. Here is a snapshot of some of the starters and mains I enjoyed at the hotel all week (unfortunately a few of the photos didn’t turn out great as it was a bit dark):
vegan risotto starter
aubergine stacks starter
spinach potato cake starter with tomato sauce
tofu filo parcel starter
spinach and chickpea cake main course
tofu lentil veggie stirfry main
stuffed red pepper main dish with roasted potatoes
vegan risotto main
tofu veggie stirfry main
We also ate out every day on the mountain for lunch, which was a bit trickier as a vegan. I’m not gonna lie – I ate a LOT of chips on this trip! I also found a few restaurants that had fabulous salad bars so I loaded my plate up on those occasions and ate like vegan royalty 😉
There were two nights we ate away from the hotel – the first was the very first day we got in as my Mom and her partner were in Chamonix for the day, so we strolled around the town until we found a spot that looked good. I ordered the “vegetarian” salad hoping for the best, and was not disappointed. It was loaded with veggies, warm falafels and a delicious tomato sauce.
The second night we went out I did a bit more research and found a vegan-friendly restaurant called Munchie that gets great reviews from both meat-eaters and veggies alike. I ordered the tofu massaman curry while Andrew went for the aubergine miso tofu. Both dishes were absolutely divine and I wish we had discovered this place earlier (or maybe not…). They also had some really delicious sounding veggie starters which I wish we had tried as well.
vegan massaman curry with crispy tofu, carrots, sweet potato and coriander
Aubergine and miso baked tofu on braised asian greens and a sweet tamarind sauce
So that’s food. The snowboarding was fun this year. While the snow wasn’t great (icy in the morning, slushy at night), we still managed to have a fun time by hitting the board parks and also finding some decent off-piste snow. We also took Europe’s highest gondola one morning during the eclipse which was an amazing experience.
View from the room
at the top of Europe’s highest gondola above the Vallee Blanche glacier
So that’s that. I have to say, I was really impressed with the vegan food I found on this trip. Perhaps France has more vegans than I realize.
*For those wondering – the hotel we stayed at was La Sapiniere which we booked through Ingham’s.