 Poster: A snowHead
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In our search for the ultimate mountain hideaway on a small budget, Mr P has come up with property in Bozel. We want a property than can be a home for summer and winter not just a holiday apartment. I know Bozel is a drive to the lifts of the 3v in Courchevel but can anyone who's stayed there give me a sense of what the community is like? It looks like a nice place, with enough going onto have an all year life but without the full on ski resort atmosphere. If any SHs have a property out there, I'd be particularly interested to know how you now feel about your choice. (Am ignoring any Brexit issue re the possibility of actually being able to live there after we finally leave/get booted out of the EU  )
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Perty, not been in the area for a while, but it isn't far to Champagny-en-Vanoise and La Plagne .
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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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@Perty, we have a property there which we use for the winter season and for a few weeks holiday in the spring/summer/autumn too. We really like it there as it is quieter than living up the hill. It has got a nice vibe and we find the locals friendly plus there is quite a lot going on in the summer too. I haven't got much time today but feel free to message me with any other questions.
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@Perty, my only concerns, knowing nothing at all about the place would have been A. a longer than I'd like transfer from GVA for weekend if commuting in by air and B. it looks tiny which would often translate into ghost townery in the summer. @juliad, seems to have put that to rest. Carry on...
Although when you say "all year life" do you mean year round as almost everywhere is very, very quiet in the off seasons.
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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 understand that a fair few 3V instructors find it cost-effective to live there and 'commute' to the lifts in Le Praz/La Tania etc.
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@Perty, Bozel is a normal small town rather than a ski resort. I have only been there in the summer and really like the place. We think nothing of going to Les Arcs for a weekend and I suspect that Bozel is a simliar time from Geneva. Get the last flight from Luton and we can be in the resort before midlanight on a Friday and leave about 16:00 or 17:00 on a SUnday for the last flight back. Though not large it is certainly not a ghost town in the summer. In fct I cannot recall seeing any shop or bar there shut just because it is not in the ski season.
If you can put up with having to drive or get a lift to the ski lifts then go for it. As well as the La Plagne ski area you have Pralognan and Courcheval near as well
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Surprisingly faster than I had in mind (at 2h05 per GMaps). Eminently easy for a cheeky weekend.
My geography is rubbish.
The more I look at it, the nicer it looks. Sandy beach on lake, at least one pizzeria is open all year and has a real live website, - actually, the TO website is both nicely crafted and useful. That's definitely a first.
I'd go for it.
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We know the commute from Geneva as our location of choice, were we to win the lottery is St Martin de Belleville or the hamlets in the immediate vicinity (esp St Marcel and Le Chatelard). Expanding the search a little obviously expands the size of the property. Ideally we just want somewhere with a boulangerie and a restaurants or two (which the Bozel website seems to say it has). We're used to doing shop down in Moutiers.
Anyway...probably just idle tyre kicking on our part. More likely option in the short term is a year long rental, though when you see a whole house for 150k euros (it needs work), it does start to sound appealing! I now realise that it is 5km from Bozel itself, so not exactly walking distance to the village centre. If only I didn't have to work for a living......
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Looks nice. I forget, is there a decent car park at Le Praz? I mean for accessing 3V in winter.
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@Perty, some reasonable comments above. I have lived in Bozel since 2006 (approx).
1h50 from GVA on a clear run (obviously times may vary dramatically...!)
Nothing shuts down out in Spring/Autumn, most businesses (restaurants/shops) will have a shut couple of weeks at some point in the year fo their holidays but it is a 52-week a year working village (though yes it is busier in winter and in summer). This should stay this way unless they decide to build the lift up to Courchevel that has been talked about on and off for the last 20 years and which would almost certainly be the death of it as a normal village.
re prices - decent sized accommodation (ie house for a small family upwards) are like hen's teeth here - I would be surprised if you see anything of decent size going cheap (even compared to St Martin) - beware, many properties advertised as 'Bozel' are actually in the hamlets up on the sunny side (Tincave, the Montagnys, Villemartin etc) which are all very nice but are most definitely small hamlets where you need to hop in the car to do anything.
There is plenty of free parking in Le Praz (as of 2017 still), and moderately regular busses up to Le Praz and beyond from Bozel through the winter and summer seasons (if only they would out on a few more morning & afternoon/evening times instead of wanting to spend millions on a lift...), and in a normal winter you can ski back down to Bozel from January through March (can be much earlier, not often much later...). Quite feasible to ski via public transport if you can make the timings work.
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