 Poster: A snowHead
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I am off for New Year to Flaine (starting to get excited now)
The question is what should we take or what do other people take with them when they go self catering.
We are flying so can't take anything too heavy.
We will eat out a couple of nights, but want to keep costs down as much as possible.
I was thinking some porrige, cling film (for sandwiches), cooking poweder mixes (coleman types)
Should we just buy everything when we get there from the supermarket in the resort.
Any thoughts or suggestions
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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How do you travel from the airport to Flaine. If you do by car, go to a supermarket in the valley. Otherwise: alcohol is more expensive then food in resort supermarkets  .
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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k1orange, I take my pepper grinder 'cause I like it fresh and the all-in-one grinders cost a few euros in the supermarkets and you can't always discern the source of the corns in them.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Usually take a pepper grinder to avoid the sneezing powder that is the alternative, often take tea and coffee and cooking spices that we commonly use.
If there is a dishwasher dishwasher tablets are expensive in resort.
Picnics at NY is fairly hardcore for us, in a resort like Flaine I would go back to the appartment for warmth and a hot drink if temperatures are seasonal
Duty free can keep the booze prices down.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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A decent kitchen knife. The ones provided will be infuriatingly cr@p.
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| Lizzard wrote: |
| A decent kitchen knife. The ones provided will be infuriatingly cr@p. |
Hmm I really wouldn't suggest taking that to any UK airport even if it's in the hold luggage, otherwise the boys in blue might be called...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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bertie bassett, I've never had any problem in hold luggage, have taken a kitchen knife countless times.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Yep - no probs taking a diving knife through.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Hurtle, Strange to say you can't buy Bisto in France 
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Take a big 4x4.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Proper tea bags and a corkscrew. Lugging a prize haul of plonk back from the local supermarket only to discover that you have to smash the necks of the bottles off to get at it, due to the apartment not having a corkscrew: nightmare.
If any fussies are going with you, take their soya milk and gluten-free fairtrade cabbage loaves and all that kind of stuff. The French, quite rightly, have little time for all that stuff and it's occasionally hard to come by.
Everything else just buy it when you arrive.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Second the take a decent knife
Would also take a veg peeler
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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bertie bassett, how do you think chefs do it? You can take enormous meat cleavers in hold baggage if you like.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I've never had a cup of tea so wont need any tea bags, but will take some for my girlfriend.
Will take a knife and corkscrew
Any food?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'm going to take salt and pepper in little plastic bags, stock cubes, dried herbs...still thinking on the rest
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I've twice been to self-catering apartments in France and once to Andorra and found the kitchens to be very poorly equipped, usually just a sink, two cooking rings, a small fridge (no freezer), basic crockery and cutlery and if you're very lucky, a microwave. Bear in mind what sort of food you will be able to prepare using such limited facilities and pack accordingly. Stuff like soup, bread, cheese, etc. is cheaper (and nicer) over there, stuff like Marmite, Cornflakes, baked beans and anything essentially 'British' is way more expensive.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Bacon - everything else you will be able to get there, and will probably be better quality stuff than the UK anyway!
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You need to find better equipped apartments I think. I've stocked my apartment with all the basic stuff , salt pepper, English tea, spices, stock cubes , herbs (a big box of Herbes de Provence does for most things). Sharp knives (and a whetstone) , and even two corkscrews (you're stuffed if one gets thrown away or breaks). There's often sugar, flour, rice and pasta in the cupboard too, and maybe even some Creme de Cassis for a kir, and ground coffee for the coffee machine. Lucky so and so going there next week will probably eat the Confit de Canard that I forgot to bring home with me. I rely on guests honesty to replace something if it is emptied during their stay, but I usually just replace things myself when I visit. I throw away part used packets though, as I don't know how long they have been open. If a guest leaves something unopened, it is left in the cupboard for others to use. We seem to be collecting huge quantities of instant mashed potato for some reason.
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golden syrup for the porridge, everything else i just get in resort. though this week i've also brought some tabasco.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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k1orange, worth checking just what is provided. Our apartments are, naturally, equipped to the standard that we'd want - (there are actually minimum kit lists provided by the Mairie that you have to comply with - i.e. a pressure cooker (!!???) is necessary for a 3* rating). That means a proper 4 ring hob, oven, micro, kettle, toaster, espresso kettle, cafetiere, tea pot, set of knifes, bottle openers, etc. and enough dishes, serving dishes, cutlery and glasses for 12.
But I have stayed in places where there was no option, really, to going out to eat beyond warming some soup on the ring as the hot water for tea/coffee warmed on the other (!).
Also check whether bed linen and towels are provided as that's not always the case in France.
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Unless you've got any special dietary requirements or 'must have' food or brands then I would buy everything locally. Supermarkets (well, mini markets really) in Flaine have limited chioce and are expensive. If you are travelling independently from the airport (I assume GVA) take exit 18 off the A40 (the exit before the one for Flaine) and follow the signs for Cluses. After a short distance you will see signs for Carrefour. Stock up for the week. Then all you need is fresh bread/croissants and milk. Job done.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
We seem to be collecting huge quantities of instant mashed potato for some reason.
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I would have thought the reason was obvious - it's disgusting! Dishwasher tabs a very good idea - one for each day, and one or two spares, save you buying an entire expensive box. Take tea towels. Yes, a good knife (and yes, chefs take their knives everywhere, as Lizzard says, of course they can go in the hold). 
little bag of sugar, tea bags, J-cloth. Scourer. (other things you won't want to buy whole packets of).
depends what you like to eat. I have got through 62 years of my life without ever buying, or using, Bisto so personally I don't miss that!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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pam w, but why do they buy it in the first place? Teatowels and dishwasher tablets are also there, as are dishcloths . And what's Bisto?
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You know it makes sense.
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| Hurtle wrote: |
| bertie bassett, I've never had any problem in hold luggage, have taken a kitchen knife countless times. |
| Lizzard wrote: |
| bertie bassett, how do you think chefs do it? You can take enormous meat cleavers in hold baggage if you like. |
| martinm wrote: |
| Yep - no probs taking a diving knife through. |
Let me tell you a story..
A guy I know is one of the very best sailing referees in the world, he's done many European, World Championships and funnily enough was in Beijing last year for the Olympics. 50 something years old really doesn't look like a terrorist or some pimply asbo'd youth at all. He (and apparently many other refs) generally carry a knife when they're out in a boat refereeing, as whilst there are safety boats around the nature of his role means that's he's closer to the action and therefore in the event of a critical emergency (like a competitor getting trapped in ropes or under a boat that has turned over) he could assist more quickly than the safety crew.
He was travelling through St. Pancras to get a train to France to go to an event, and his knife together with his waterproofs and other kit were safely stored in his 'hold luggage' - well the railway equivalent thereof. When the bags were scanned, he was pulled to oneside, and the boys in blue were called for the offence of carrying a knife in a public place - he was locked up and held for 5 hours and apparently was only released on the basis that he managed to prove the item was being used in connection with his work i.e. that of being a sailing referee.
So the chefs would probably get away with it as it could be used for work, as long as they could prove they were chefs, but if you/me or the gatepost wanted to take a knife with a blade of 3 inches or more or with a lockable blade (of any length) we run the risk of being arrested (and charged) for the same offence.
I stand by what I said originally.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Let me tell you a story..
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Let me Tell you a story......We were travelling back from Tignes a couple of weekends ago, flying out of Geneva airport....We checked our bags in and then went through security....One of my mates bags bleeped as it went through the x-ray machine, The chap monitoring the screen put the bag back through and couldn't see anything. He then asked my mate if he had a knife in there....he said no, he then asked to search his bag and he pulled out a leatherman multi-tool. the look on my mates face was priceless, he'd totally forgot that it was in there, it wasn't picked up on the way out from the UK and it must have been in there since his last skiing holiday....anyway....the security chapped shrugged his shoulders and advised that next time he should put it in the hold luggage and gave it him back to carry in his hand-luggage
I guess trains and planes are different in that on a train you can usually access your main luggage as it goes in the luggage racks, but on the plane its actually stowed in the hold.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I had the same at Bristol about 6 weeks after 9/11... Opened my hand luggage after security and found a leatherman in the bottom 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Our apartment has excellent Knives x 5 + 2 steels. wine in the wine rack, 3 pepper grinders, enough pasta to keep a family of 4 going for a week, so many DVD,s I could open a branch of Blockbuster!
Why would anyone want Bisto? or Instant Mash?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You don't need to need the knife for your work for it to be OK - you just need a reasonable reason for having it. And you can 100% definitely take knives in the hold luggage on a plane.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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some owners clearly have well equipped apartments - but many don't, particularly the kind you rent through tourist offices. Very poor equipment, no washing up liquid or other cleaning materials, no food basics at all - this is quite common. When I rented quite a smart chalet in Les Gets, with 6 bedrooms, all en-suite, a super big washing machine and lots of excellent pots and pans, "Madam" came in to check we'd cleaned up properly (before she gave us back the deposit) and went round with a huge black plastic bag - every single consumable went in there. We'd left some kitchen roll, washing up liquid, loo roll, salt, pepper, half bag of flour - all that sort of thing. The old witch scooped up the lot. My mother, seeing what was happening, dashed back and shoved a bottle with about an inch of gin in the bottom into her handbag - before the old bat found it.
And having tea towels is really quite unusual. I've once or twice found one or two - but in a week of cooking for a family I'll use 8 or 9. And what do people do with dirty ones, at the end?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Salt, pepper, small bottle washing up liquid (decant or bring half finished one and abandon), dishwasher tablets (if appropriate), maybe a jar of stir in pasta sauce, herbs, stock cubes, fajita kit. Tea bags if you like tea (I don't). Could be worth bringing out other stuff (pasta, rice, cereal) if you are planning on making any interesting purchases in resort, as you would need the spare weight on the way back - though we just managed to get OH's new ski boots back last year, it took some "enterprising" packing of hand luggage to get within the weight limit, and the sacrifice of a couple of books - he hadn't intended to buy boots otherwise we would have left the fudge in the outwards limit.
They seem to be the major things I have sworn about not having when self catering by plane (Rhodes being my most recent attack of incompetence - or overpacking of useless stuff (warm clothes) while forgetting very useful light things).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The only thing that matters, people, is a corkscrew.
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paulio, I agree, and we have two, just in case someone breaks one, or leaves it attached to the cork in the rubbish. Fogliettaz, it appears to be the French guests that leave the instant mash. Rarley opened though.
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Does anybody take sausages and bacon, whitepudding and blackpudding? Is it practical when flying etc.?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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pam w, we provide two dish towels. With a dishwasher why would you need more? There's a washing machine in each apartment anyway. Am I pampering my guests too much?
We are going to stop providing kitchen paper this year. Many guests use it as loo roll once the 2 rolls per WC we provide is finished and before they buy their own. Haven't worked out how to stop them using handwash as soap & shampoo...
BoardStiffRed, just be careful with customs limits and "health" limits on pork particularly. While I have very illegally brought food products in, you can be fined severely (the Swiss have issues with Pork for example). Also, we brought bacon, sausages, etc over one year for Xmas and our bags took 4 days to reach us, not all of which was at a recommended food storage temperature (IIRC, they routed them Heathrow-Geneva via Delhi (!)). Messy and smelly.
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bertie bassett, you lot live in a police state. You just haven't properly woken up to the fact yet.
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