After we returned home from our vacation in the Central Massif we still had the car available for a couple of days. So, we tried to figure out what could be an interesting one night destination within a reasonable distance, and driveable on country roads with our limping car (we had a flat the day before coming home from Chapelle en Vercors, and were still having the spare tire). Looking at the map we found Moûtiers in the Tarentaise Valley in Savoie department that looked interesting.

We booked a room at Hotel Inn Design, but the check in was only at 5pm. They informed us that for an earlier check-in we could request a door code to enter, which we did, but we never received the code. So, there we were three hours early in the town with practically no place open and nothing to do.  We hanged around until 4:30pm when the convenience store was supposed to open, but it never did (they had posted their hours, but then said they varied by seasons, but did not bother to post the variations). Then we found out that there was a supermarket in the next town six kilometers away (Brides-les-Bains, which was more touristy but also more idyllic). If we had realized this earlier, we could have driven there right away, instead of strolling boring streets of Moûtiers. So, we drove there in the dark to get something little to eat since the dinner was still a few hours away.

The dinner at the pizza place La Chaumière was perhaps the most positive experience in Moûtiers. The pizza was just good, not superb, but the restaurant was a lovely family owned business, friendly and welcoming. Another surprise came the next morning at our hotel breakfast that was more comprehensive  than most hotel breakfasts in France.