Alps all the range

And a must-see is the Cachat spring - where the Evian water phenomenon originated - sited within an ornate Art Nouveau porch.

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Don't forget to bring your own bottle to taste the refreshing water - it's taken around 15 years to filter through Alpine rocks.

Visitors can use the free Edwardian funicular railway which serves the town and resort.

Taking a break from the high life, I headed out to the great outdoors of the Haute-Savoie region.

One of the highlights was a visit to the Mer de Glace (sea of ice) glacier above Chamonix.

It was here the monster pursued Dr Frankenstein "advancing towards him with superhuman speed" and "bounding over crevices in the ice", Now global warming has made today's glacier a modern horror story.

It has been receding at an alarming rate. Since the mid-19th century it has lost more than 1.5 miles in length - and 560ft in depth since the 1990s.

To get there I took the Montenvers mountain railway from Chamonix.

The glacier, the longest in France, lies 985ft below the mountain railway station.

From there a cable car took me downhill before a further descent on foot along metal gangways and steps to the entrance of an ice cave.

Once inside there is a plunge in temperature. Lights guided me around tunnels of thick ice creating an eerie blue light.