TR - Val D'Isere 26/3 to 2/04

A snowHead

Outbound
We travelled on Thursday because most south coast ferries were full on Friday and Saturday (probably because of mothering Sunday). We used DFDS Newhaven to Dieppe which left at 1145. Lunch on the ferry was good and a reasonable price. At Newhaven we had to complete an honour declaration supplied by DFDS (not the French one), show passports and Covid Vaccination certificates. At Dieppe we had to show passports which were stamped.

On arrival we drove to Troyes, using the A29 to avoid Paris, and stayed 2 nights at the Ibis Styles. On the Friday evening we ate at the Au Libanais. Good Lebanese food all made in house and a meal for 2 with dessert and drinks can be had for under 50€. Caters for veggies and vegans too.

On Saturday we had an easy drive to Val D'Isere with no holdups and were in our Chalet by 1515.

The Chalet
We booked Chalet Foxtrot through Peak Feeling (https://peakfeeling-ski.com/) along with a private chef (Bronte). The meals were fantastic and Bronte was very flexible with people's dislikes, allergies etc. and provided a vegetarian option at every meal. Bronte had 2 days off but provided buffet breakfast and cakes on her days off.

The chalet is at Chatelard near the Manchet parking on the yellow bus route. You can ski down to the main lifts on the bottom of Santons which is a bit flat and boarders need to walk about 100m. It is possible to ski back from both Solaise and Bellevarde but not really for beginners.

On the 1st day off we had Kate from the Cocktail Masterclass. A great couple of hours entertainment and thoroughly recommended for an evening in. (See www.cocktailmasterclass.fr). Followed by Pizza from Pizz'n'love delivered in about 30 mins.
On the 2nd night off we ate at Hotel Avancher. Very good food, lovely mushroom fondue for vegetarians.

The Skiing
I had a superb afternoon on the first day with Kieran from TDC to work on a few shortcomings in my technique. Pistes were not optimum but we worked around it. Finished with a run down La Face which was in pretty good shape. Monday on Fornet and the Glacier was good but slushy down low. Tuesday I skied over to Tignes and down the Sache before a quick trip up the Motte and back to Val via Fresse. Overall the pistes were still pretty good but the final run down the bottom of Santons was not for the faint hearted. I passed a family group with one child crying Sad

Visibility slowly got worse over the rest of the week but the pistes were improving with the new snow.

Return journey
The drive down from Val to Bourg was better than expected with some snow on the road and winter tyres recommended. The rest of the way to Troyes was through a mix of rain, sleet, snow and near blizzard but uneventful.
We again stayed at the Ibis Styles and the stay was only spoilt by the group of Brits whose children ran around the hotel and up and down the lifts until quite late and then partied in their room until the early hours. No respect shown for others staying in the hotel Sad

We had another good meal at Au Libanais.
On Sunday we had an easy drive to Dieppe, again avoiding Paris, for the 1800 ferry. Passports were stamped. At Newhaven disembarkation was slow but we had an uneventful drive home.

Overall
A great holiday. Thoroughly recommend Peak Feeling and chef Bronte. For an evening in, the Cocktail Masterclass was entertaining, instructive and great fun.

A snowHead

This is great to hear and very Iformative. Yea the cocktail thing is new this year.... It's pretty cool eh. Glad it was a good trip. Will pass on ur congrats to Kieran.

Help!!

TR - Val D'Isere 26/3 to 2/04

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