French speaking ski village for a year.

A snowHead

Hi,
We are a family of 5 (3 boys 8,9,10) who live in Oregon and have dual us/EU citizenship.
Boys go to French school in Oregon.
Would love to move to a family ski town for a year or two that is French speaking so kids could go to local schools, ski team, easy access to mountain, bakery, supermarket, bike or walk to things. We all love to ski (backcountry as well as resort), hard terrain (not all groomed), trail run, camp, be outside. Would love a fun learning adventure for growth and ski while kids are still small.

I would like a smaller village but open to bigger, friendly to expat kids, my husband does not speak French but the rest of us do (somewhat). We skied last year Feb in Samoens and Nendaz (terrible snow year) and did xcountry/biathlon in le Grand Bornand. Loved the beauty and size of Le Grand Bornand surprisingly, but it’s not very high altitude.
Within about 3 hrs from big airport
Elementary school (local) in village
Village feel
French speaking
Access to harder skiing and backcountry
Year round village for running and camping
Snow
Walkable/bikeable

Any suggestions? Rather not too expensive if we can manage but open to any ideas!
Where is a good place to find long term rentals?

Thx!
Julie

A snowHead

Briancon covers quite a few of those attributes. Maybe more town like than villagey but very much small town friendly vibe. Stayed there for a season about 20 odd years ago and got friendly with a franco-american couple though their children were younger than yours.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thx!! I’ll look into that:)

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St Gervais is worth a look. It's not high altitude but loads within reach, and it's a proper town.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I'd say Briancon and Chamonix are the 2 towns that are fully year-round. Next best might be La Clusaz.

if Switzerland works with your citizenship, then you could make use of the Magic Pass for access to many resorts. If you want to stay in resort, I'd consider the Val d'Anniviers, or you could stay in one of the towns in the valley - e.g. Sion or Martigny.

For long-term rental I'd start by contacting the local Agences Immobiliers.

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Thx for the info! We don’t need a proper town. I rather be closer to slopes than big town like Sion. I really want to have quick access to slopes and outdoors easily. Even for a quick ski after school.

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Even for a quick ski after school.

Schools in France don’t generally finish their day until 4.30 which would make after school skiing a bit more tricky, some schools do have a half day on a Wednesday so you may want to investigate this in your preferred areas.

Good luck.

After all it is free

What about Chatel? Hour and a half or so from Geneva.

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Another post-school option could be evening ski touring. Several resorts in Austria open up a slope or two once or twice a week, and it's worth checking if your preferred locations in France or Switzerland do similar

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

One of my daughters in law went to school in France. She describes having had lots of homework! But if the boys go to a French school, they are probably familiar with that.

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everything on your list in Guillestre , even three ex yank teachers

I have been in almost all larger and many smaller resorts in all the Alps (from east (Schladming AU to southwest Briancon).

Your best bet, based on the requirements you mention: Briancon.
- Excellent ski area on your doorstep (Serre Chevalier).
- Very nice medieval town with lots of history, forts, restaurants, and lively 12 months per year.
- Excellent climate with lots of snow AND much more (40% ?) more sun than northern resorts. Still very snowsure.
- Attractive cost-quality ratio.
- And lots of choice to find a longer stay accommodation.
- Plus the nirvana in summer for any outdoors and adrenaline sports enthusiast.

You know it makes sense.

Serre Chevalier is what immediately came to mind when reading your question. So I will go along with all the Briancon suggestions. Has the downhill, back country, xc and biathlon all covered for you. And retains a more french feel than some of the other ski resorts, but enough english that your husband won't be totally lost.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Thank you all! I’m going to do some research on Briancon! Thank you for all the info.

I appreciate the great info and experiences.

A snowHead

If there is a local ski team, the kids will be able to get on hill while it is still open. I would not worry about that.

No argument about Briancon. Serre Che is a great station.

A snowHead

@jujujuju, there is a local ski club in Briancon, and Wednesday is a day off in winter, so there will be plenty of ski time, along with two weeks at Christmas, 2 weeks in February and 2 weeks in April as holidays.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@jujujuju, if ski "team" is important, you might want to check eligibility. The clubs that friends and family have been n have been extremely competitive, so no guarantee of just arriving and joining.

On the other hand, the niece and nephew do something called, iirc, Freeski in Chamonix. Which is pretty what it says on the tin, lots of off piste, etc.

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@jujujuju,
Try asking Steve Angus here https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=82612&start=9920
He has school age kids in Val d'Isere - he only posts once a month out of the ski season.
I don't know if it is what you are thinking of, but Apex 2100, in Tignes?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@jujujuju, A few points to consider: We are also American, moved to Paris with our 4- and 6-year-olds 12 years ago...and never left. My wife was bilingual. We threw them in the local public schools and they were speaking French within a few months, my son faster than my daughter, who didn't say anything, really, in either language for 6 months.

However, the French public schools can be an uncompromising environment. Just be careful that you are not expecting too much, or expecting touchy-feely hand holding. You may get it, you may not...same with a sympathetic proviseur/directeur/ice (principal). The one in our kids' primary school was a real prick.

I don't know what level French they are at, but French kids learn to read a year later than Americans, typically it happens at age 6. But if they don't learn reading in French as well as the very structured handwriting and pronounciation, it could be a little rough for them. Our daughter had a particularly harsh teacher in grand section (end of maternelle), while our son had a very patient (and bilingual) teacher in CP (the first "real" school grade). On the plus side, our son could read English when we moved here so that gave him a leg up on his classmates.

If you can swing two years I would highly recommend it. If you can stick it out for 5 you can get citizenship. Worst case, if your kids are miserable and the local public school sucks, maybe find a bilingual private school. It probably won't get better...

I see you have dual EU citizenship, which will be a huge help.

One more edit: We have an old farmhouse in Nancy sur Cluses across the A40 from the Grand Massif (the ski station above Samoens) that we are renovating, so we know the Giffre Valley quite well. Don't discount Samoens, although it is not cheap. The Giffre is amazing in summer, and Grand Massif is a pretty complete domaine, especially having Flaine at high altitude. You could also consider Les Carroz on the other side; it's a nice village and smaller than Samoens and Briancon. Samoens itself as you know is flat, and very walkable, and has everything you need, including a big grocery story. Cluses is just over the col de Chatillon and it also has everything you could ever need.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

^^Devoir (homework) really varies from school to school and teacher to teacher, in our experience. What is different than the U.S. is the length of the school day -- that's a plus for parents, at least...

After all it is free

@Pasigal, personally I'd say putting non-French kids in a French public school could be considered as child abuse by parents.

Peter Gumbel covered the subject quite well: https://www.amazon.fr/ach%C3%A8ve-bien-%C3%A9coliers-Peter-Gumbel/dp/2246759315?tag=amz07b-21

and things have got worse since Gumbel's book

@davidof, guilty as charged! I'd say it worked out for us, but we are in Paris. It could be really rough in a different setting, or not...

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@Pasigal, your kids are out of school, or nearly, now so have probably escaped the current Marxist madness of bussing kids across town in the name of social mixing. It is telling that a lot of the civil servants in the education ministry have their kids in the private sector.

We used to have a lot of Americans who came to our town for a couple of years as IBM had a chip plant here. The kids survived school but we're talking about small town schools with no serious bullying issues. I'm not sure it was a useful experience for the kids and I don't remember any of the kids being able to communicate well, or at all, in French at the end of it. One of them went on to be a US national champion skier though, so that's something.

http://youtube.com/v/HOnZRnJndW8?si=PxAElz6YoP1Q_GjV
learnt his ski craft on the slopes of the Grand Plan/Barioz

I know English kids born here who were still not fluent in French at 16... in fact one kid I'm thinking off only started speaking good French when he went back into the UK education system to do O level then A level French !

The OPs kids are in a French school, so may do better.

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@Pasigal, “ Cluses … has everything you could ever need”

Drugs, hookers, … etc.

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@under a new name, worse than Thonon les Bains?

@davidof, I think so, yes.

You know it makes sense.

Just to say you don't have to live in Briançon but one of the villages up the Lauteret road. I had a friend who lived in le Casset and it was really pleasant but a bit isolated.

Personally it is not an area I like - Briançon is surrounded by some fugly French retail parks, always seems to be windy and dusty with winds blowing up or down one valley or another and the roads are very busy, especially in the summer. The sunshine thing is a bit over egged too. It is also quite isolated from France but Turin is not far.

Bourg St Maurice is a similar kind of town, has decent rail connections and you can also live in one of the smaller satellite villages but as mentioned above some kids are being bussed long ways to school due to capacity issues. Don't imagine you'll just waltz into town and have the red carpet laid out. Some places they are keen to have new blood, say to save the village school, others, not so much. Bourg d'Oisans is smaller, more rootsy, may be ok for schools - they have a big lycée.

The OP clearly wants to be at altitude with doorstep skiing. Bear in mind you go to college at 11, which may some way away from the village.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

@Pasigal, I'm probably being a bit (a lot?) harsh and it does seem to be endeavouring to bootstrap itself a bit like Sallanches.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Pasigal, you can take TGV train to Bardonecchia and transfer to Briancon from there. That's what a lot of our Paris visitors do if they don't take an overnight train via Gap. The current suspension of the service due to the landslide in the Maurienne won't last forever.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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@jujujuju, I remembered an old thread about a family spending a period of time in St Gervais (mentioned above) and their son going to a local school - it was one of the ones I read when we were considering buying an apartment somewhere and settled on St G. After a search, it seems to be this one, fifteen years old now! https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=47053&highlight=gervais+boy

Obviously the detail is outdated, but it might give you some things to think about. For what it is worth St G meets most but not all of your criteria; the ski access isn't quite direct, you need to up load and usually download on a gondola* (the village is at 850m with the piste down only open part of the season), and there is limited off-piste/back country skiing in the immediate area though some options up the road in Les Contamines (same pass) or in the Chamonix valley about a half hour drive away (and needing the wider area pass).

[*Or, if you have the wider pass, on a rack-and-pinion train to the separate Les Houches aki area].

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@j b, there are also a couple of families that came to Annecy / Methon de St Bernard. Paulio was in Annecy working for a games company but, from what he told me and memory, he didn't like the French work culture and thought the bosses were crooks.

After all it is free

Verbier and put them in the International School there. I am not a fan of French school system and its old school approach. Would be a hell of a culture shock for many kids unless they’re really into handwriting Shocked

Isn’t the whole point to get a local experience? So local school it should be, it won’t kill them.

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@davidof, happily the OP doesn't seem to need to work for a French business - at least it isn't one of the requirements looked for. That would make the search much tougher.

Annecy ought to be a good place to spend a year (and I recall a positive story from there too) but lacks direct access to skiing.

Help!!

French speaking ski village for a year.

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