Sonloup funicular

14 December 1910, a funicular links Les Avants to Sonloup. It served a bobsleigh run and two toboggan runs. Les Avants triumphed over Caux in a veritable race for modernisation and tourism. More than a hundred years later, the funicular and its famous red cars still sparkle in the landscape.

A COMPETITION FOR TOURISTS

The funicular is 532 metres long, with a difference in height of 180 metres and a maximum gradient of 54.5%. Three structures had to be built, the most impressive of which is a masonry viaduct with eleven arches. The two red cars were pulled by an electric motor powered from Les Avants station, a technical feat and a Swiss first.

The funicular has largely been preserved in its original state. The necessary safety and operational adaptations have been carried out while respecting the existing substance. With its historic carriages, adapted to today's requirements, it is an impressive testimony to the tourist infrastructure of Les Avants in the period before the First World War.

A CHALET HOTEL

Next to the funicular station, the Hôtel de Sonloup was opened in 1913. The architect was Louis Villard, father of the future singer-songwriter Gilles (Les trois cloches, La Venoge). This vast chalet on a masonry base with a belvedere tower housed around fifty beds, an elegant restaurant and a terrace with a magnificent panoramic view.