 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi. I know it's all relative and depends on where the supermarket is i.e. resort or valley town and Aldi vs Waitrose but.......next January we are self catering for 12 people in Morzine.
I may drive solo (I have a pals lad who plays pro rugby at Bourg and may watch the game on Friday night and not sure whether to 1. load up in the UK or 2. buy at a big Carrefour en route at Bourg or Cluses and then head up or 3. fly with everybody else and accept that the in resort Carrefour will be more expensive.
I know that driving solo is alot more than flying, its the cost of food that may sway it
What are your thoughts please?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@charliesimpson, Mrs U assures me it's cheaper in the UK than in the Arve valley (Cluses, Sallanches, Chamonix) but the quality is much inferior.
I don't think it would make more than a few tens of £ difference. Depends what you're eating. As a direct comparison, quality beef fillet is around £40/kg in Tesco, and about €80/kg in Super-U. But it's also arguably better quality.
Wine is better value for money.
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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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Well strictly speaking you aren't allowed to export lots of meat and dairy from UK any more.
Self catering for 12 I'd probably rent a car if flying and hit up the Aldi at Cluses for lots of essentials and bulk products. You'd also then have a car for runs to the Carrefour at StJDA.
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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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@charliesimpson, fresh produce seems noticeably more expensive in the Bourg St Maurice SuperU that I shop in regularly compared to my local Sainsbury's, meat in particular. But unless all 12 of you are eating a large fillet steak every night how much money will you be saving by driving solo in order to take food with you? When I drive out I do take some food, but that's more for convenience than the few quid I'll be saving.
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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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@charliesimpson, If you drive, then stock up on dry foods that you might use in the week. We found when going to France (Morzine included) that the supermarkets are pricier for Meat and Fruit/Veg, but you're talking the nearer to Waitrose price than Tesco. It's not a huge difference, especially as you'll be splitting the cost 12 ways.
If you drive, you could also take some others luggage so people save on paying for aeroplane baggage, and that saving could go towards the cost of driving also?
Having the car also means you can stock up out of town before heading up to Morzine, or during the week possibly. Stopping in somewhere like Super U in Taninges.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Take some staples you already have in the cupboard. May as well use them up.
Buy fresh produce - even if it costs a little more. You get to try & anything you like, then you can stop on the way back to stock up for the UK.
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I've done this every which way. I organized self catering for 12 in Les Gets. We all flew and rented cars. There were 6 rooms and each catered one night. We all planned ahead so we could take essential spices, stocks, pasta, rice, etc . We cooked, and ate, simply but well (beef casserole etc) and advised our plans in advance so as not to have same thing every night. We had several non skiers willing to pick up shopping but for skiers the marginal extra cost of resort shops is not a massive problem and eating and ((particularly) drinking at resort supermarket prices is hugely cheaper than bars! I am in the Loire Valley right now (too bloody hot) and the little local Carrefour has a nice looking Fleurie at €8. Compared to the cost of your ski passes the marginal differences of food prices in UK, Cluses or resort is trivial. I have driven to and from the Alps loads of times and drove 469 miles from Provence yesterday, mostly in heavy traffic. I'd drive because I enjoy it, but not to save a few quid. I will say that schlepping around a ski resort shopping in the busy apres ski hours and carrying heavy shopping on icy pavements is a pain. Plan in advance and make division of labour very clear. Whoever cooks evening meal does all the washing up and leaves kitchen spotless. Otherwise the disorganized slob who uses every dish and pan and doesn't clear up as they go along gets an easy ride!
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@Origen, sod doing all the washing up if I have cooked, that's someone else's job and I'll clear up after they cook. I do load up the dishwasher as I go along though.
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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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Thanks all. I’ve self catered for years in Morzine so know the drill. I’ve flown, driven, been a passenger and even tried the train once.
All have merits and this trip is with my nephews and nieces so needs to be on a budget. Know looks like it might only be a 5 night trip so driving becomes less attractive if I don’t go watch the rugby at Bourg en Bresse
Train from GVA and car hire from Cluses maybe an option ……..
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@charliesimpson, carrefour do click and collect and delivery now which helps save time/ stay on budget
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Hells Bells, if everyone is equally adept at cooking without creating chaos in the kitchen, that's fine. But generally I'd prefer to get it all done in one and not be stuck cleaning up after a lazy and/or incompetent cook!
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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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| Origen wrote: |
| Whoever cooks evening meal does all the washing up and leaves kitchen spotless. |
-Hell defined rather succinctly.
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@Origen, that is how it has worked at all of our EoSBs and family trips .
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You know it makes sense.
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Yep, whoever cooks doesn't wash up
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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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| under a new name wrote: |
@charliesimpson,
I don't think it would make more than a few tens of £ difference. Depends what you're eating. As a direct comparison, quality beef fillet is around £40/kg in Tesco, and about €80/kg in Super-U. But it's also arguably better quality.
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Supermarket fillet steak is normally around the eu40 per kilo mark at the moment, true up in Alsace and here (over the border) in the Chatel Intermarche and the Vienzier Super-U, as well as Carrefour and others down in Evian/Thonon. I'd be surprised if it were that much more expensive in the area you mentioned. If you could find real butcher quality of a proper breed like charolaise I would expect it to be more, but that's rare in any supermarket.
As for the rest of it, well I've done a little shopping in the UK on recent trips over to sort out an estate and house refurb/sale and haven't really noticed much difference for staples, although I'm really not up-to-date with UK prices overall, so apart from loading up with Cadbury Dairy Milk, a couple of pork pies and a selection of English Cheeses I wouldn't bother bringing stuff over from the UK. Wine, beer and even spirits are certainly a lot cheaper in France (and CH) than the UK.
Isn't there some post-Brexit restriction on bringing food from the UK though? I recall someone asking about this flying into Geneva recently, but don;t recall the details.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Yes, lots of restrictions on fresh food. And like @Chaletbeauroc I don't think there are differences big enough to warrant organizing a whole holiday around. But worth thinking about things like spices, stocks and dishwasher tablets to avoid having to buy whole boxes.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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One easy way to get a baseline comparison is to just go to carrefour.fr and look at their online prices.
Specifc to Morzine as you'll have a car don't use the small supermarkets in town but pop 5km down the road towards St Jean and the bigger Carrefour. That's where catered chalet staff go for their big weekly shop as it's noticably cheaper than the ones in town.
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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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Best shopping options en route to Morzine would be to go via Thonon and stop at the large commercial area at Anthy, just where you reach the Thonon by-pass road that takes you round to the Morzine turn-off a few km further.
There's a great choice of shops there, but in particular I'd recommend the Lidl that opened three or four years back, which is the largest and best-stocked that I've ever been to in any country, and the massive Carrefour just round the corner for anything that you can't get there - fresh meat or fish, perhaps, or specific brand named stuff if you need it. We only go down there perhaps a couple of times a year for furniture shops and the like but always make sure to stop at one or both of these to replenish our supplies of basic, particularly some Lidl wines, and items we can't get at out local Intermarche in Chatel.
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