 Poster: A snowHead
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Heading here for Xmas. 
I’d like to be organised as Xmas away is a bit of a big deal for us (husband / me and x2 kiddos aged 12 and 6)
Last time I was away at Xmas skiing, it was in USA and a bit of a sad affair. And also a very long time ago.
I’d like to be organised and book something nice for Xmas day dinner. Now, what typically happens at Xmas? Is it just another ski day (hopefully - snigger) and not very notable for Xmas? Will there be no chance on earth I can get a booking for a table for dinner? Can anyone give any recommendations for a nice restaurant in les menuires? Ta muchly !
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Xmas Eve tends to be the big day for Euros. I'd imagine restos book as normal for Xmas day evening.
But really we should ask why aren't you attempting the full Turducken with all the trimmings in your tiny appartment micro oven?
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@v1cky24, yes, Christmas Day is just another ski day.
However, I would book the Christmas Day dinner a few days in advance just in case.
No recs unfortunately. Even though we've been to Les Menuires several times we are not restaurant goers. And when we ski at Christmas we don't do anything different. As you may have guessed we are not Christmas people 
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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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@v1cky24, part of the point of going skiing at christmas, for me (and I'm doing it again this year, though I won't be skiing) is to escape Christmas. However, we always had a good party when we had our apartment, usually a joint effort (after the lifts shut) with other friends and relations staying in nearby apartments. As others have said, it is the Christmas Eve dinner which is a big (and often very expensive) deal in French restaurants. You will save yourself a lot of money by having a nice family eat-in on Christmas Eve, but do not expect anything particularly "christmassy" on the 25th. We used to make an effort with some Christmas decs and some unfortunate fir tree dug up from the nearby woods (a much trickier exercise than it sounds, and probably illegal too) but we never tried to reproduce the whole shebang. There's a lot about Christmas in the UK (the over indulgence, overspending, far too much telly) which I really dislike so it never bothered me being without it. My two local grand daughters always say that they don't care if they don't have ANYTHING for Christmas, provided they get to go to Les Saisies and go skiing. And it's such an expensive escapade that, really, they don't get much else!
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Thank you both for the comments.
I’m not looking for anything super super special, was just wondering my chances of actually getting a reservation somewhere on the day more so.
I’d be upset if we ended up eating in the room because we hadn’t been organised enough. I agree with the comments about the excess and escaping. This is going to free my December of a whole load of hassle. Our eldest child we had a discussion with regarding Xmas and gifts and skiing and the skiing option was chosen without even a thought. The smaller one might have some questions about Santa potentially but he’s only 6. I’m sure he’ll forget 
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You shouldn't have a problem with a reservation on 25th, in advance, compared to any other evening a busy week, but perhaps some places might be closed, after their big blow out on Christmas Eve? You'll probably get some more clued up responses from people who actually want to go out on Christmas Day, which we never did. But we always did have others around - if it's just your family, I can well understand that a more sociable outing would be nice (though early evening, presumably, with a six year old). Hope you had a super trip.
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@v1cky24, where in LM are you staying? Are you ok with taking the shuttle bus or a taxi to get to somewhere decent? The majority of good restaurants in LM are in the Reberty area so you'll likely need the shuttle bus. I don't think you'll have any trouble getting a booking if you do it early, and early means now or as soon as they open for winter. Email them - they may be shut for the inter season period but they will likely still answer emails. If they don't then ring in the first week of December.
Two that always get recommended are l'Ours Blanc and La Ferme de Reberty. The l'Ours Blanc is a half board hotel; they do take non-residents for dinner but I'm not sure what the availability would be in Xmas week.
Personally I'd far rather go to La Ferme, it's pretty much my favourite reasonably priced (by 3V standards) restaurant in the whole of the 3Vs and I've been going there since they first opened 20 odd years ago. I see they are still No. 8 on Trip Advisor and at least 4 of the ones ranked above them are mountain restaurants that won't be open in the evening. Off the top of my head they probably have about 60 covers inside compared to 150-200 on the daytime terrasse so you should definitely book early for what is a peak week.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g562743-d2058337-Reviews-Restaurant_Pub_La_Ferme_de_Reberty-Les_Menuires_Saint_Martin_de_Belleville_Les_Be.html
https://lafermedereberty.com/index.php/restaurant.html
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Thank you je suis un skieur - this was exactly sort of thing I was hoping for!
We are staying at MMV le COEUR des loges which is wrong end probably of les Menuires from what I can see 
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I agree you shouldn’t have a problem booking a table for dinner. You are some distance from the restaurants I’d recommend. Another vote for La Ferme which you could get to by shuttle (but not sure how late they run). That might require a booking a couple of days in advance. I can’t speak from experience about many of the restaurants in the Croisette area (worked a season there 18 years ago, but based up in Reberty). The Marmite is nice up in Bruyères. For a really lovely experience (but you’d need transport) Chez Pepe Nicolas would be great, but it’s on the other side of Les Men on the road up to Val Tho. You would definitely need to book Chez P N well in advance.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| v1cky24 wrote: |
| We are staying at MMV le COEUR des loges which is wrong end probably of les Menuires from what I can see |
Indeed, you couldn't be much further away. The positive is that the Red line shuttle bus will take you all the way through and runs until 11pm.
You may have already found this but you can see it on here: https://static.lesmenuires.com/files/plan-Menuires-hiver.pdf
I'm pretty sure the best stop for La Ferme would be the Les Alpages one, it's about 100m flat walk from where (I think) that bus stop is. La Ferme is right next to the Blue 2 circle in the Grand Reberty area on the map above.
I guess you could always go there for lunch or an apres beer one day earlier in the week to double confirm your reservation and which is the best bus stop to use.
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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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La ferme Xmas eve confirmed 
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@v1cky24, Excellent! I think traditionally Xmas eve is the big day in France so it sounds like you'll get a properly authentic experience. Joyeux Noel!
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You know it makes sense.
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Hope you don't mind me jumping in on this, we are in Les Menuires over new years for 6/7 days and being our first trip here is there any suggestions as to get the best out of it. Also if there is anything that tends to happen New Years Eve. We are a party of 8 (4A 4C) so I imagine booking dinners will be a challenge.
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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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@Bram, welcome to SH's.
Which accommodation/district are you staying in. Les Men is quite big and strung out.
Are you getting a 3V ski pass? Will some of the people be able to get across the whole ski area?
Anyone skiing off piste?
La Masse is it's own little area - very nice to go up first thing on a sunny morning.
Mont Vallon another little are which is really nice and great to ski over and over.
Val T - massive wide bowl that you can sweep around one way or another. Good tobaggon track up there too.
There is a good snowpark just over the way into Meribel.
If you can travel loads to explore over in Courch.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| v1cky24 wrote: |
| La ferme Xmas eve confirmed |
Xmas Eve? Or Xmas Day eve? You don't want to turn up on the wrong day!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Layne, Thanks for the welcome.
We will be driving from the UK to Les Men, staying in the SOWELL building. As most of the 8 have not skied before we are planning on just the Les Men pass, (family flex). Not planning on having lesson there as been having them here which means we can go out exploring more and have our own time table.
No intentional of piste skiing lol.
Ski Hire from Ski Rebulic as they look competitive on prices but also its in the hotel building so convenient too.
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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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I was going to suggest to get a Vallée des Belleville pass that includes Val Thorens but it looks like these are only available for one day not six days. I'm almost certain they used to exist. With 8 people I would bet that maybe half are going to want to ski further than the Les Menuires pass during the week and as 1 day upgrade is 48 euro maybe think about those in your group who have skied before or who you know are adventurous to get the 3 Vallees pass.
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