. 
Musièges, Haute Savoie, France, elevation 385 m
. The locality is called Brameloup (wolf howl), as is the intermittent stream alongside the property. The chalet is all
by itself deep in the forest, along a forest path used by hikers,
bikers
and horseback riders.
Brameloup Chalet
 There is a lovely view of Frangy and Mount Vuache from the chalet, looking north across the Usses River valley toward Geneva on the other side of the mountain.
SEASONAL
PAGES
IMPROVEMENTS TO THE CHALET When I started in 2000, there were only just walls and a roof. I have completely remodeled the chalet, doing all the work myself. One half of the downstairs is a living-dining room with a fireplace containing the wood stove. The kitchen alcove is behind the fireplace, with both gas and wood-burning stoves. The other half has a bedroom and bathroom separated by the entrance hall. Upstairs there are two guest rooms for visitors, and lots of books and files, as well as an additional work space. In 2003 I rebuilt the balcony, and in 2004 completely insolated the exterior walls, which I painted in 2005. In 2006 I built a new woodshed, and in 2007 moved much of my library from my office in Geneva.
 .   Upstairs bedroom   Upstairs second bedroom and work area   
Old truck turned into a woodshed ACTIVITIES
IN THE CHALET
(click for separate page) There is always work to do in and around the chalet, like painting
the outside in 2005.  .  In bad weather, there is work inside, like cutting shelving to make more space for books.  Repairing the road up to the chalet, improving drainage and adding gravel where it is too slippery in the rain, is a common activity in winter.  |
  Usses River valley with forest on south side THE ENVIRONMENT AROUND BRAMELOUP (click for separate page) Entrance to Brameloup 
summer
winter 
While I reside in Geneva in my small apartment, I can get away from the pressures of work and the city at my little chalet in the forest forty minutes away, on the south side of the Usses River in France, across from the town of Frangy, but attached to the village of Musièges. The locality is called Brameloup, which is also the name of the intermittent stream that defines the eastern limit of my property and runs steeply down to the river. Chalet above
Usses River seen from Frangy in winter
 The tiny (5.5 x 7m) chalet sits on 8,717 square meters of sloping forest and meadow, hidden in summer and barely visible between the trees in winter, half way between the high plateau with its farms and hamlets above, and the steep drop to the river below at the bottom of the photo. Usses River Geologically these are ancient glacial moraine deposits through which the river has cut a steep valley. My side of the river valley is now zoned for nature conservation, so no more construction is allowed. The chalet will always be alone in the forest. The forest is mixed hardwoods with some conifers. There are large oaks, maples, false acacias, poplars and many ash. Wildflowers are abundant in the two grassy meadows and forest clearings, including several wild orchids, carpets of small blue lilies in the spring, and the unusual autumn colchicum, a lily that produces leaves and seed pods in the spring, which then disappear, while the large purple flowers emerge all alone in the autumn. I am gradually building paths through my forest, so that it is easier to enjoy. Forest path
 Since Brameloup can
be translated as wolf howl, there must have been wolves there in the
past, but today there are only deer, foxes, hares, martens, wild boar
and
a whole family of badgers in their dens at the end of my property,
where
the digging makes it look like old mines. Badger
dens
in the forest
 The chalet is only about 35 years old, and has no character. When I bought it in January 2000, it was abandoned and had been vandalized, and was only inhabited by a large colony of dormice. We coexisted for several years, but now they live outside and I live inside. Balcony in the winter
sun Forest track
up to the chalet
 NEIGHBORHOOD
(click for separate page) The nearest people live 1.5 kilometers away in Frangy. The farm another kilometer up the track has been uninhabited for several years. The old farmer died in 2005. Vehicle access is difficult, with a kilometer of gravel road along a corn field and the national highway bypass around Frangy, before becoming a dirt track up the slope through the forest for 400 meters to my chalet. Even 4-wheel drive vehicles find it difficult in wet weather. Another forest track comes down from the hamlet of Quincy two kilometers away beyond the farms at the top of the hill. However a footbridge suspended on cables across the river means that I can walk to Frangy in 10 minutes. The forest track is frequently used by hikers, horseback riders and trail bikers (and illegally by the occasional motorbike or quad). Track down from Quincy The upper track coming down from the village of Quincy on the upper plateau is too steep and muddy or eroded for most vehicles. Village
of Musièges
 The village of Musièges to which I belong is actually on the top of a hill on the other side of the valley, so I am its most distant resident. I am actually closer to the town of Frangy which has stores, a bank, post office and other facilities. This is the view northeast from Signy Farm, a kilometre beyond Brameloup, towards the village of Musièges half way up the slope on the hill opposite, with Le Mont in the background. There are lots of things to keep me busy at Brameloup: collecting firewood, gardening, building trails through the forest, fixing the road, and maintaining and improving the chalet. Cleaning a forest path Cutting trees
for firewood
.  I try to live as ecologically as possible. There is a wood-burning heater in the main room, using wood I cut myself in the forest. Supplementary electric heating ensures comfort in the bedroom and bathroom; there is no way that any other fuel could be delivered, and the tall trees make too much shade for solar panels. A wood stove provides most heating  The walls and roof are now completely insulated, with the masonry providing thermal mass. It takes time to heat up the chalet in winter, but once it is heated it is very comfortable. Rain water catchment from the roof provides the water for the toilet, and the low water pressure in the municipal supply, which I have to pump up to a water tank at the top of my property, ensures low water consumption.
View across
the valley in winter
 Lawn
between chalet and
woodshed A large grassy area between the chalet and the woodshed provides space for picnics, bonfires and barbeques, with a lovely view across the valley towards the Jura mountains and through the pass towards Geneva. There are also nice walks in the surrounding countryside. THE CHALET BEFORE
 The chalet as it was in 1999, abandoned and trashed by vandals, overgrown with brambles, with holes in the walls, windows broken, a rotten balcony, and septic tank caved in. Everything had to be redone except the outer walls, shutters and roof. I did all the work myself.  The chalet in the forest
in 2001 a year after I bought it, before I added the porch and
remodeled
everything inside You can see that there is always work to do, and thus why I try to spend as much time as I can at my little chalet in the forest.  |
Firewood 
Collecting
firewood and carrying it up
the hill to my chalet is a year-round activity that gives me needed exercise.
I try never to make a trip up the hill empty-handed. Now that the main
work on the chalet itself is completed, I can spend more time working in
the garden. There are always extra saplings to remove. I have started planting
fruit trees, spring bulbs, and a tiny Japanese garden (see the 
