We shopped at the local Carrefour grocery store in Les Houches, which thankfully had two vegan pre-made soy product options, soy nuggets and soy steaks. We ate one of those every day, and at 2-2.50 Euros a box, it was a fairly cheap way to get in an easy protein source. Otherwise we ate lots of lentils, pasta, rice, veggies, salad, bread, and chocolate. The Super U in Les Houches was not only a further walk from us (about 30 minutes vs. 15 to Carrefour), but it didn’t offer the vegan soy products that Carrefour did. While in Chamonix we shopped at both the Casino stores, mainly the one by the Ravanel running store, and the Super U in the center of town, but never found the same soy products we found at the Carrefour in Les Houches.
If traveling to the Chamonix Valley on a vegan diet, I wouldn’t expect to eat out a lot, or at least not much variety if you end up repeating the same restaurants. If you have access to a kitchen, which we always did, the availability of produce, bread, grains, and sources of protein was just fine. We were completely happy to cook most of our time there because it was much cheaper that way. Also, with having Paavo we tend to only order takeaway food since sitting in a restaurant with him is not very fun.
When: July 6-August 29th, 2016
Where we stayed: Mainly Les Houches with a few days in Chamonix
Paavo’s age: 7-9 months
Places tried: 1 in Chamonix
Best meal: Falafel sandwiches and fries at Monkey
Summary:
Options: Very few. None in Les Houches and a few in Chamonix with vegan options; nothing strictly vegan
Proximity: If staying in Chamonix, the few places offering vegan options are within walking distance
Value: Good at Monkey. 11 Euros for a huge falafel wrap and 4 Euros for a good portion of fries, an option of either regular or sweet potato.
Memorable experiences: Only ate out at Monkey because it was open most of the day, to-go food was an option, and it was mainly Brits that worked there, so they spoke English, which made it way easier to order.