Éléonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil Éléonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil Éléonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil (Cherbourg, 6 January 1767 – Octeville, 11 March 1824) was a French Navy officer and captain. Born to the family of a surgeon, Soleil started sailing on a merchantman in 1783. In 1785, he served in the French Royal Navy on a fluyt, before returning to merchant shipping. In August 1789, Soleil joined up as a volunteer aboard on the "Brillant". He returned to commerce again in 1790. On 1 April 1793, Soleil joined the Navy as a midshipman first class, serving on "Brillant" again. In February 1794, he was promoted to ensign, and served on
Portes du Soleil Portes du Soleil Les Portes du Soleil (literally "The Doors of the Sun") is a major skisports destination in the Alps, encompassing thirteen resorts between Mont Blanc in France and Lake Geneva in Switzerland. With more than 650 km of marked pistes (claimed by the lift companies; an independent expert measured about 426 km ) and about 200 lifts in total, spread over 14 valleys and about , Portes du Soleil ranks among the two largest ski areas in the world (the other being Les Trois Vallées). Almost all of the pistes are connected by lifts – a few marginal