The “French Mountains Effect”

Eating well including vegetables and plants is essential for good health for your digestive system as well as your skin. Making use of plants in your daily diet and being conscious of how to cook them is the essence of a healthy lifestyle.

PLANT

Here are some of the best places to discover the mountain flora’s many benefits.

The “Yurt Végétale” at Saint Francois Longchamp is more than somewhere to stay – it’s a state of mind, with an emphasis on health at this family-run project. In addition to typical farm products, medicinal plants are also grown on site and Aurélie offers naturopathic consultations. In the same ethos, you’ll enjoy delicious herbal teas and liqueurs when you stay in a yurt on the herb farm at Dévoluy.

The wellness farm in Gérardmer in the Vosges is unusual in that it specialises in essential oils, including fir (which has great toning and anti-inflammatory properties).

Many hikes are offered by mountain guides to enable you to combine gentle walking with the discovery of plants, for instance at Notre Dame de Bellecombe. The Combloux Botanical Day begins with a morning walk on the theme of naturopathy, followed by a delicious picnic and a practical workshop.

For an immersive break on this theme, head to the alpine chalet of La Champagne Métabief in the Jura where you can join in a training course on well-being and plants at, in the heart of this area of outstanding natural beauty. On this programme, plants are picked and meals prepared by the participants themselves; massage and dance therapy are on the agenda…

Two last tips:

– To increase your vitamin C, don’t leave the Southern Alps without a visit to David Viveau, a sea buckthorn producer (which has many health benefits) near Sauze, in the Ubaye valley.

– The blooms of the Larch are known as the flowers of selfconfidence. The beautiful blossoms should be picked in the spring. Stéphane Bertrand-Pellisson, head of the restaurant Les Gardettes in Orcières, uses larch flowers to make sorbets and jams – talk about tempt your taste buds! He holds a free workshop on the “Flavours of mountain plants” in which you’ll explore the many benefits of wild plants.

COSMETICS WITH WELLNESS

At several resorts you can create your own bespoke mountain herbal cream. With Plant’essences, go out on the slopes of Alpe du Grand Serre to discover plants with incredible health benefits just steps from the road – and learn how to turn them into a cosmetic product. At Montchavin La Plagne, join in a DIY workshop and create your own 100% natural ointments (from lip balm to face cream, hand cream etc).

Of course, if you don’t want to get your hands dirty, there are many mountain brands of cosmetics readily available, with new products being released every year.

Raphaëlle Monod, former world champion freestyle skier and Olympic medallist from La Clusaz, became interested in discovering the various methods of skincare from around the world as her participation in this high energy sport exposed her skin to extreme weather conditions. She recently launched the “SNÖ éternell” brand. Formulated by experts, high-level athletes and enthusiasts, the small kit contains three essential products (body oil, day cream and sunscreen), it’s definitely one of the “must-have” products this summer.

Very recently, L’Occitane produced a new range using spring water from its source at Réotier (near Saint Véran en Queyras).

The mountain waters can be found in many products, like the Saint Thomas bathing cream (near Font Romeu in the Pyrénées) and the Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc thermal baths range (which combines thermal water with alpine plants).

In Vercors, Laurent and Mélanie Baras created the Perle de Jument company in 2010 with the aim of making the most of the Haflinger horses they breed on their farm. Though now used in a wide range of creams, food supplements and care products, mares milk, a rare ingredient, is still little known but it has wide ranging health benefits.

Wormwood, juniper, fir, the thermal waters of the mountains… these superb ingredients are also potted to create ointments with hidden virtues.