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Les Houches to stay closed this winter?

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Poster: A snowHead
Seems like a bizarre situation! Info at Piste Hors.
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rob@rar, ha ha, well that might smack a few mountain minds together. Would be disappointing for me but catastrophic for local businesses. Expect a resolution PDQ...
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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?
Well we'll certainly be watching this with interest as the flying bogee is supposed to be spending a couple of days a week with the British Ski Academy based there, so we will be more than disappointed if the situation isn't resolved - though I accept not as disappointed as those for whom the ski area provides their livelehood.
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how ridiculous - talk about shooting yourself in the foot. god sake somebody buy them out
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Not the best translation, but SEPP http://www.ski-leshouches.com/ clearly will not accept it is at fault, it seems and is heaping ordure on CMB.

"Commissioner of the Government gives her conclusions on the matter between the town of Saint-Gervais (defendant) to society LHSG (complainant, a subsidiary of Compagnie du Mont-Blanc) about the attribution to SEPP, In June 2007, of the concession Prarion (see below).
And here thunderclap: Commissioner of the Government seeks the cancellation of the concession contract signed between the municipality of Saint-Gervais and SEPP!
Finally, the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc will achieve its goals, achieving cancellation of the fameuse concession agreement, with immediate consequences:
- A weakening of the Mayors of St. Gervais and Les Houches, undermining the interests of their commune
- Stopping construction of new facilities on the Prarion (see below: 2 lifts, 1 telecord, 1 pulse gondola and a system of automatic snow)
- Endangering the economy of the resort of Les Houches which will not have this winter its new sector "Ecole" in Prarion ...
It is not known vengeful Compagnie du Mont-Blanc, challenging the decisions of our mayors, will meet one day or another its financial interests.
But in the short term, the bad behaviour of the loser (presumably LHSG after losing the concession to run the Prairion lift) will have destructive consequences for the immediate Houchards and Saint Gervolains."

I was planning to send the young Beequins to BSA for some time too, so can only hope for a quick resolution.
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I am sure that the BSA will already be working on options to use other facilities in the valley, it may mean a few more minutes in the minibus each day but there is plenty of skiing in the Chamonix valley and just round the corner in Megeve. Malcolm is a very resourceful chap. beequin, in reality though I think those that rely on Les Houches for their living will make sure something is sorted pretty quickly.
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fred, I'm hoping that as the Mayor of St Gervais already has his cap out (quite rightly) the machinery of state will ensure that they don't have to pay out...
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David Murdoch, fred, I am sure you are right and given the multiple levels of appeal within the French courts and the grinding bureaucracy I will not be making alternative plans in a hurry.
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beequin, Yes, the SEPP statement doesn't seem to coincide terribly well with the Dauphine Lib story...

"It's all their fault, the nasty man stole my ball, a big boy done it and ran away," etc., etc. ad naus.

My understanding was that CMB (or, at least, their subsidiary) had asked for an increased share of Les Houches revenues as the inclusion of LHs on last years MBU pass had apparently driven much traffic there. I can attest that the new (CMB/LHSG) Prarion lift was always busy whereas the Bellevue cable never seemed quite so. We certainly used Prarion whenever we went up.

SEPP refused. And, here we are. Toys all out of the pram and about to be locked in the cupboard by Nanny.
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There may be a genuine two-sided argument here.
The Prairion lift is certainly much preferred (after all who likes cable cars when there is a nice fast new gondola which serves a wider range of runs), but it is the only lift LHSG own and run in the system and they were getting 23.56% of the total revenue whilst new lifts higher up were being built by SEPP.
Also, whether Les Houches was busier just due to the inclusion on the MBU I could not say - it was a good year for snow low down. LH has been on the MBU before and St Gervais was not on this time when it has been previously.
Add in the traditional antagonism over whether Chamonix or SG is THE Mont Blanc town and SEPPs bullish attitude.
Money and Valley politics - a lethal combination. Killing Les Houches anyway until it is sorted out.
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beequin, you could well have a point and if so, SEPP is hardly expressing it very well. (BTW, I thought it was 17%? - Whatever)

Money, valley politics and valley mentalities...same old, same old. You can take the sheep out the shepherd but not the... whoops, hold on, best not go there, might be impressionable minds listening.
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Could somebody who speaks French better than I do tell me how to pronounce "Les Houches". Is it like "Les Halles" or like "Les Heroines"?
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"Lay-zoosh"?
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
paulio, nope, lay oosh.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Hurtle, you sure?
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Both correct, no? You'd say "lay oosh" if there was a sufficent pause in the middle.

I'd ask Michel Thomas, but he's dead.
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Fr0sty the Sn0wman wrote:
Hurtle, you sure?
Yes.

paulio,
Quote:

Both correct

No.
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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?
Bah!
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Hurtle, thanks. That's what I thought. Apparently Parisians have a snide laugh at the English tourists who say "Lézall" but I didn't want to fall into the trap of omitting the "z" if it ought to be there, as in (so I am told) les héroines. Are there other words starting with "h" where the enchainement is retained?
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One of my mates ,not the best linguist in the world, called it Les Hughes. It is still called Les Hughes amongst us and my friend is known to all and sundry as - Les Hughes.

An amusing little anecdote to liven up everyones morning that.
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pam w, TBH, this is all a bit random to me, I mostly go just by what sounds right, having spoken French from when I started to speak at all. There are lots of examples of the liaison being retained, 'les hommes' for instance. I've just Googled a bit and it seems from this source as though the Latin derivation of the noun, or otherwise, is relevant. 'twas news to me!
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I've heard both, but more often with the Z....

What a mess. But there is still a Les Houches area pass with both the Prarion and the Bellevue on it, it's the MBU pass that's affected? It just seems like they're shooting themselves in the foot :/
As long as I can still get up there and have lunch at Les Vieilles Luges once or twice this season, I'm not personally that bothered, but it's a lousy situation for the people who have their livelihoods there. Fingers crossed they sort it out before the bad publicity gets worse.
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Les Ezies (or I'm saying it wrong).
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firebug,
Quote:

I've heard both

Me too, but not from locals. I guess that, irrespective of the rules - which are bloody confusing! - local pronunciation of place names should probably prevail. Thus, for example, locals always pronounce the final 's' in Gigondas and Vacqueyras, but lots of people (including French people) don't.
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Hurtle, Interesting link!

I agree, local pronunciation should prevail. I will, therefore, be in the square with a clipboard next week, recording pronunciation, checking passports, and marking the results on a little graph Laughing
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however it's pronounced...is it still shut for this winter??
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My French teacher (who should know, as she is French and a professional teacher) says there's no rule, but people who grow up speaking French (like Hurtle), just "know". It was she who told me about Lay 'Alles, but I didn't think to ask her about Lay Ooosh. But now I know and I won't make that mistake that marks you down as une vache espagnole....

Incidentally, just listening to a French story on the car CD player. Noticed "pray a cuire". Does that mean the sandwich bar chain is "pray a manger"?
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
pam w wrote:
M

Incidentally, just listening to a French story on the car CD player. Noticed "pray a cuire".


Is the person English? Prehyta-cuir
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
pam w,
Quote:

Does that mean the sandwich bar chain is "pray a manger"?

Definitely not. Wot davidof says - pray a cuire ain't French.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Quote:

Me too, but not from locals. I guess that, irrespective of the rules - which are bloody confusing! - local pronunciation of place names should probably prevail.


I visit Ychoux, in Les landes quite regularly. I pronounce it ee-shoo as do the locals most of the time but quite often they say it ee-shooks, which you would imagine was an uneducated way to pronounce it. I guess it's a bit like Southwell vs Suthall or Shrowsbury vs Shrewsbury. Locals and visitors to both these places use both versions, only right or wrong seems based on personal preference.

Same as grass and grarse but let's not start that one....!! wink
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davidof, no, it was a French CD, read by a French actor - kids story, Roald Dahl. That's why I pricked up my ears. Interesting. I've heard it lots of times but not noticed it before (it was because I had Les Houches in my mind!).

But the pronunciation of places like "Les Halles" and "Les Houches" is not a matter of local pronunciation, my understanding is that it's proper grown up middle of the road French pronunciation. For example people round here often say "Chidester", not Chichester. That's local pronunciation. But to say "Chick Hester" would be just plain wrong. Nothing to do with local. Wrong. Like Lay Zall is wrong. In other words, I don't think any French people, no matter where they come from, say "Lay Zall" and presumably they don't say Lay Zoosh either. We hear it said a lot, but not by good speakers of French.
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e.g. me Smile
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Also I found this which explained it to me a bit.

http://french.about.com/library/pronunciation/bl-haspire.htm
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I think for les Houches I would les LezOuche, I'm sure someone above has already suggested this. But I defer to the locals.

Sometimes it is interesting to look at the original phonetic spelling... like Chamouni. I got caught out with Theys which I pronounced Thay only to be immediately corrected by an autochtone who said Taiys. I checked on an 18th century map and it is written Theis. I are frequently replaced by Y in modern french and in this case pronouncing the final consonant is correct.

It is all designed to trip up Parisians and foreigners.
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One of my French friends always sounds the x on the end of Chamonix. How are all those ex places near Geneva pronounced - eg Gex, Bettex?
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I've sure I've heard Gex pronouced as 'gay' by a local.
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Sounds like a typically French (and, to be fair, a British one these days) situation! A triumph of bureaucracy over common sense! I'm sure it will be sorted.
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Quote:

I've sure I've heard Gex pronouced as 'gay' by a local.

My guess, if I had to guess, would be that the g is soft, as in the French name "gerard", and that the x is pronounced, making it "zhecks".
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paulio wrote:
I've sure I've heard Gex pronouced as 'gay' by a local.


Gex should be jchex, but bettex is bettai, copponex is copponai, bardonex is bardonai etc.

Confusing eh?
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Any news on this? Not the pronunciation thing the lift agreement Laughing


Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads on Sat 4-10-08 17:02; edited 1 time in total
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