 Poster: A snowHead
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Work at the new Folie Douce, photo courtesy of Radio Les Arcs
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@rob@rar, Ha! @johnE, his wife and I were there this afternoon. Sadly my picture didn't come out so thanks for that!
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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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| Alastair wrote: |
| @rob@rar, Ha! @johnE, his wife and I were there this afternoon. |
Getting your Party Pants on early? Good for you.
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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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That terrace is going to be huge!
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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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We often have long discussions about what to do if the weather is terrible. The long standing joke is the cheese factory in bourg. Anyway the weather was bad today but as it was Sunday we thought the factory would be closed (when we did try to visit we discovered it was actually only a cheese shop).
So we visited the palais du mines in peisey instead. It was fascinating. It appears that this area was famous for its lead and silver mines in the 18th and 19th century s. The nation school of mines was based in moutiers. I had read somewhere that napoleon studied here.
I would recommend a visit if the weather is bad. The nancroix to bellete navette stop is just by the approach avenue.
As we were driving back along the foret piste it started to sleet. It is snowing now in arc 1600.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We often have long discussions about what to do if the weather is terrible. The long standing joke is the cheese factory in bourg. Anyway the weather was bad today but as it was Sunday we thought the factory would be closed (when we did try to visit we discovered it was actually only a cheese shop).
So we visited the palais du mines in peisey instead. It was fascinating. It appears that this area was famous for its lead and silver mines in the 18th and 19th century s. The nation school of mines was based in moutiers. I had read somewhere that napoleon studied here.
I would recommend a visit if the weather is bad. The nancroix to bellete navette stop is just by the approach avenue.
As we were driving back along the foret piste it started to sleet. It is snowing now in arc 1600.
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@Arctic Roll, yes, it's falling but very soft - varying between rain and slush at 1800m. Lowering temperatures as the week goes on should be good. Raining like fury at 1800 this morning.
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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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We are booked to fly to Geneva 4-Mar to 9-Mar and I have a reservation at the Hotel Mercure 1800. Apparently its being refurbed this summer scheduled to finish mid-Dec (I guess time for the resort opening). Does anyone know if its on track? How it looks? What its like in general? I've been to Les Arcs many times before but we have rarely spent time in and around the 1800 village. Normally stay up in 2000 and 1800 is just a route to other runs and lifts. Is it really ski-in ski-out? Any experience of good ski-hire in 1800? In the absence of anything else was just going to go with the skiset shop in the Hotel.
In terms of transfers, we have been to a number of places around Geneva in recent years (Cham, Morzine, La Clusaz) and have always found Alps2Alps very good value for money. We are 4 adults, 1 with a snowboard in tow and we usually get a private minibus for the 4 of us. The train seems like it takes quite a while! I looked initially, but since we don't land till 9pm local, there aren't trains that will get us to Bourg in time.
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Looking out across the Isere valley from the apartment window yesterday the snow level looked about 1800m. Even though it was raining heavily we decided to go for a walk along towards 1800 and back along the Traverse piste. Though the Cachette piste was white with snow most of the overnight snow below the Traverse level had melted. I imaging that above 2000 there was a fir build up of snow. It was actually a nice walk.
The forecast is for the snow/rain level to move up and down beween 1500 and 2000m.
It is nice to snow coming to the resort but I never get excited about snow in November. It will melt.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
Apparently its being refurbed this summer scheduled to finish mid-Dec (I guess time for the resort opening). Does anyone know if its on track?
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We walked past it on Thursday and yes it is being refurbished. All I can say is that there was a skip outside with disgarded toilet cisterns and bowls. The bathrooms will be refurbished.
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Is it really ski-in ski-out?
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Yes, but you will have to cross the road and the skiing will be close to other buidings. I think you could ski down to the Jardin Alpen lift, but it may be easier to walk across to the Charmettoger lift.
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since we don't land till 9pm local, there aren't trains that will get us to Bourg in time.
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Getting any transfer at that time is going to be a challenge. When we have got to Geneva that late we've hired a car and driven. On a good run we get to Les Arcs sometime after midnight.
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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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| Quote: |
Getting any transfer at that time is going to be a challenge. When we have got to Geneva that late we've hired a car and driven. On a good run we get to Les Arcs sometime after midnight.
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Hmm. Not sure that will work when we have a snowboard in-tow. Unless there's a roof-rack. The luggage is about 8 feet long! My usual transfer company are happy to quote me at that time, but I haven't actually booked it yet.
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@yllen, I’m pretty sure any private transfer company would be happy for a pickup at that time, means they could drop off for evening flights home and not go back with an empty minibus.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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@Arctic Roll, the weather forecast seems to be for a period of cold but fairly dry weather followed by more snowy weather so I don't expect the centre of 1950 to become snow free again this season. Probably jinxed it now having written that
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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 I'm not out in LA 2K for another 107 days and I'm already on hourly webcam watch!
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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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@TheGingerPrince, indeed - well it's actually my screen backdrop, so it encourages finishing documents / emails and being able to close each window down on a regular basis!
For other apartment owners out there: have you seen today's newsletter from ADS ref the NirvanAlp replacement? Has anyone registered and paid their €50 yet?
Anyone ( Snowcrazy?) with the inside track on what 'prizes' come with the 'points'? Looks like codes as before, that get you discounts withn on-line ski-pass ordering... but what value for what rental periods isn't stated. Nor when available
Think it just about pans out that we should go for the "A la Carte" option this year while MiniRoll is still < 18 , and see what happens for next year.
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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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Decided this year to try self-catering whilst skiing for the first time (have skied many resorts and done self catering in beach resorts just never the two together).
Les Arcs looks ideal for apartments.
Having done some research it would seem Arc 1800 might suit us best, as seems to have a wider range of food shops and restaurants, but if I’m wrong or you have other suggestions please let me know.
Finally would love to hear which apartment blocks others would recommend, we are of a certain age so need a proper double bed (not a sofa bed, never yet found one that is really comfortable), probably a bath to soak the muscles after a day’s skiing and wifi as we run our own business and need to keep in touch.
We’re currently looking at 18th Jan.
Will probably drive so can bring some provisions with us, and have noted others comments about parking, so makes sense to have an apartment with parking.
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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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| Arctic Roll wrote: |
| For other apartment owners out there: have you seen today's newsletter from ADS ref the NirvanAlp replacement? Has anyone registered and paid their €50 yet? |
Haven't seen anything from ADS. Do you have a link to the details?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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It did, thanks.
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@rob@rar, a curse on all Folie Douce's houses. Dreadful places that cause havoc and draw complaints wherever they are.
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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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| Dr John wrote: |
| @rob@rar, a curse on all Folie Douce's houses. Dreadful places that cause havoc and draw complaints wherever they are. |
Only ever frequented a Folie Douce on rare occasions, so will be interested to see how this one pans out. It's relatively close to my place, but I think far enough away that we won't hear the music or have any post-revelry traffic (my apartment building is behind the buildings you can see in the background of that photo at the top of this page). It's a shortish walk or skate across the hill to get home should I ever succumb to it's 'charms', which should be fairly straightforward as I doubt I could afford to get riotously drunk on Folie prices...
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@Debbie0312, Do have a look at Arc 1950 - the supermarket there (ok, here!) is very well stocked and the apartment facilities certainly good enough to cope with whatever you fancy cooking. In addition there are 2 specialist Savoyard food shops, one in 1950, one in 2000, and you can rent a raclette / fondue set from them for that extra special evening in.
Restaurants - well there's at least 3 in 1950 and 3 in 2000 that I'd be happy to eat at every night, budget willing... I admit, they ain't cheap.
There's space to cook, read and watch TV without getting in each other's way. Yes, the aptments have baths as well as showers. Double beds, twin beds are all good quality - and even the sofa beds should you be reduced to that are spome of the best ive ever encountered.
(1950 and 2000 are joined by free pedestrian lift, the Cabriolet, which runs until 11:30 pm each night, so for facilities you can consider them one village - unles you're going on a late one...)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@rob@rar, in my experience (limited I'll grant) the FD prices aren't outrageous - well, certainly for the beers & wine. Not sure about the fizzy stuff. Nor I suppose as things get into the evening: I guess they could put the prices up for the party animals... What were you on, that caused your wallet to scream?!
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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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@Debbie0312, the smartest apartments tend to be in Arc 1950 or the Chantel or Charmettoger areas of 1800. (That's not to say all of them, before I upset someone).
Arcs 1600, 1800 and 2000 have a wide variety of apartments, while 1950 is newer.
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| Debbie0312 wrote: |
Decided this year to try self-catering whilst skiing for the first time (have skied many resorts and done self catering in beach resorts just never the two together).
Les Arcs looks ideal for apartments.
Having done some research it would seem Arc 1800 might suit us best, as seems to have a wider range of food shops and restaurants, but if I’m wrong or you have other suggestions please let me know.
Finally would love to hear which apartment blocks others would recommend, we are of a certain age so need a proper double bed (not a sofa bed, never yet found one that is really comfortable), probably a bath to soak the muscles after a day’s skiing and wifi as we run our own business and need to keep in touch.
We’re currently looking at 18th Jan.
Will probably drive so can bring some provisions with us, and have noted others comments about parking, so makes sense to have an apartment with parking. |
I have a two-bedroom apartment in the Chantel area of 1800. Ski in/out, and all the features that you specify such as wifi, bath (or you can soak in the swimming pool if you prefer), proper double bed, out own parking space in our underground garage. It's available that week, and 5% discount for snowHeads. If you are interested follow the link in my signature to see more details, or send me a message via snowHeads.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Arctic Roll wrote: |
| What were you on, that caused your wallet to scream?! |
Champagne. Just one regular bottle shared between three of us. Anything more would have got a bit silly from what I can recall (in the Val d'Isere Folie, a few years ago).
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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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@Debbie0312, You are probably right about 1800 having the largest number of shops and restaurants. Arc 1600 only has one tiny food shop that often runs out of milk in the evening - but I do use it. For my main shopping we get the funicular down to Bourg st Maurice and visit the large Super U there. As for apartments then the resort website has rather a lot to choose from. May I suggest you spend some time browsing. Once you have a short list then post it on this board and we will tell its drawbacks if any (for example I would not reccomend the Cascade apartments in Arc1600). Our apartment would not be suitable for two reasons - one it has two single beds and two bunk beds (one's wife and one push the singles together to make a a king size bed) and most importantly we will be there from the 19th to the 31st. It will be good.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Arctic Roll, Yes, we got the email from ADS and it seemed rather vague. Just what "gifts" are they offering for what? Is it 15% of lift passes (the first deal they came up with when we first bought our apartment) or something less. We get about 6 weeks of bookings a year so if the "gifts" are dependend on occupancy rates then we may not get much. At the moment I cannot be bothered to go for a classification and have this feeling that the take up rate may not be high. It seems we are bing asked to have our accommodation classified yet again but this time we have to pay for it with no defined benefits.
Suspecting something was afoot we drew down our Nivernalp points to almost zero last winter and that amounted to about 5 days of lift pass. Not really much of a deal from 3 or 4 years of collection
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Thu 7-11-19 19:32; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| johnE wrote: |
| @Arctic Roll, Yes, we got the email from ADS and it seemed rather vague. Just what "gifts" are they offering for what? Is it 15% of lift passes (the first deal they came up with when we first bought our apartment) or something less. We get about 6 weeks of bookings a year so if the "gifts" are dependend on occupancy rates then we may not get much. At the moment I cannot be bothered to go for a classification and have this feeling that the take up rate may not be high. It seems we are bing asked to have our accommodation classified yet again but this time we have to pay for it with no defined benefits. |
That was my reaction when reading about the new scheme. Seems like extra hassle for relatively little reward. If they are interested in filling empty beds the one thing I'd be most interested in would be an easier way for private owners to advertise their apartments on try official tourist office website. Th new Nirvana scheme feels unnecessary complex.
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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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We bumped in Eric in the Super U last week. He was telling us that he would be working at the Arpette this winter and didn't think the Folie Deuce would be affecting their trade much. He was keen that we have our usual Wednesday evening meals there this season. So Christmas dinner will be a piarrade in the Arpette on Christmas day.
@rob@rar, I probably asked this before but are you around Christmas week?
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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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| johnE wrote: |
We bumped in Eric in the Super U last week. He was telling us that he would be working at the Arpette this winter and didn't think the Folie Deuce would be affecting their trade much. He was keen that we have our usual Wednesday evening meals there this season. So Christmas dinner will be a piarrade in the Arpette on Christmas day.
@rob@rar, I probably asked this before but are you around Christmas week? |
Out on the 13th or 14th for a couple of weeks, so yes, I'll be around. Will be good to meet up.
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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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@rob@rar, I'll be there 20th to the 2nd, though I haven't booked my crossing yet.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@johnE, yes, the discounted lift passes are going to be a big miss. And for those of us in Leaseback, where we have literally no idea about occupation levels (our income is averaged out across revenue generated in 4 buildings) it's really not easy - and frankly isn't going to help sell more beds for the domain anyway.
And you have to send them a cheque? Sooo last century.
As I say, A la Carte I think.
Looking forward to catching up with everyone over Christmas, we'll be luncheoning in the Chalet Pre St Esprit. And who knows, later might splash on a @rob@rar Folie special, champagne!
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Quite a good snowy day today and the resort is getting a nice wintry feel.
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@johnE, apropos of your post a couple of pages ago, did you get to see if the bridge to Violletes is still in place? Like you, only skied it / skiable once but it'd be a shame to see it go.
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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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I am sharing this post from the Les Arcs Winter facebook page as I think this needs to be shared with owners everywhere in the Paradiski. They said this would never be allowed, they even used the word forbidden! They built the fire road only for emergency use!! Now this!! The Bourg Mayor rejected this plan, but with the changing of zones the Landry Mayor is trying to sneak this through while everyone is away. Act now and help try and save our natural areas around Les Arcs. Thanks Auriel for posting this and to the person with you that made us all aware of what was going on!
Arc 1950 people please share with your owners. MGM please also share this. Eden Arc development as well. Plus anyone else that is in an Owners association or co-proprietary. This plan will not increase the value of our properties and it might even reduce them. Especially for those in the more expensive developments which will have more competition if this plan is approved. Les Arcs and the Paradiski area is already overcrowded and too busy on piste in high season week's to the point of sometimes being dangerous. Another development is not needed.
Auriels post:
Dear everyone
There is another big proposed development between Vallandry and 1800. This may look like it doesn’t impact you, but it will, as the whole zone is up for “urbanisation”. The current plan is for a 200 bed hotel plus staff accommodation etc but that will expand and in a few years the entire area between 1800 and Vallandry will be lost to chalets, apartments etc. I personally feel there is enough development and an over supply of beds, and too many people on the pistes, and more accidents as a result. Nor are there many more places they can create new pistes unless we lose the off piste that draws many skiers in the first place. This is my personal view but I suspect and hope you share it as fellow owners and skiers.
The mayor of Landry of course wants this and rather stealthily (or am I being cynical) organised a short public enquiry for October/November i.e. when none of us are around. I heard of this and went with a friend, to see the “independent” assessor and the proposals on Tuesday. It has been defeated before and we can defeat again but we need everyone to write and express their disapproval. Everyone’s views count, and we need a holistic approach on this hence the three emails
The deadline for comments is 18th Nov 2019, 5pm.
Please write in French (google translate is great!) to the following three email addresses
plu-landry@mail.registre-numerique.fr )Independent assessor)
mairie@ville-landry.com (Landry Mairie)
mairie@bourgsaintmaurice.fr (BSM Mairie)
We need objections along the lines of disturbing the environment, losing peace and tranquility, accidents on crowded pistes. I suspect arguments re losing rental income due to over supply are not a good idea,.
The website https://www.trois-a.org/…/participez-a-lenquete-publique-s…/ gives pictures, plans, info and responses to the planned development.
You can also see some of the objections here https://www.registre-numerique.fr/plu-landry/voir-les-avisin French but please use google translate and copy the concepts on your own emails
Please share!
Thanks
Auriel
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Fri 8-11-19 20:20; edited 2 times in total
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Hey is this turning into a Chrimbo afternoon drink in the Folie - if so can I crash?
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FAQ
