 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
I'm looking for the names of a few smaller French resorts.
The sort of resort I'm interested in would be
o child friendly - good nursery slopes
o be towards the north of France
o have self-catering apartments/chalets
o have a reasonable selection of runs, with choices of greens, blues and reds
o be a bit cheaper than the big resorts
Cheers,
Rich
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Jumpin Jack, easy one St Foy
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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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Grand Bornand ticks all your boxes but then I'm biased.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Jumpin Jack wrote: |
| towards the north of France |
Is this what you really mean? Or do you mean 'South of Geneva, but not too far'?
Taken at face value, look at the Vosges resorts.
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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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St Gervais. Don't expect ski-in ski-out though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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paulio,
What I really mean is 'South of Geneva, but not too far'?
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Jumpin Jack, Les Saisies - and can definitely be ski-in ski-out
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try Chamrousse, just on the outskirts of grenoble, really quiet through the week, plenty of big (for france) appartments, car free, good lifts.
Crystal do free lift passes for all guests which makes it a rel bargin
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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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| andy'n'netty wrote: |
try Chamrousse, just on the outskirts of grenoble, really quiet through the week, plenty of big (for france) appartments, car free, good lifts.
Crystal do free lift passes for all guests which makes it a rel bargin |
Or Snowtrex, which perfectly fits the 'self catering' angle (with a free lift pass). They do quite a few 'off the beaten track' stations, often for peanuts. Well worth a look for the self caterer on a budget.
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Jumpin Jack,
Many of the Maurienne valley resorts fit your criteria pretty well, except the North bit they are kind of in the middle of the French alps though technically Northern French alps still.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| T Bar wrote: |
Jumpin Jack,
Many of the Maurienne valley resorts fit your criteria pretty well, except the North bit they are kind of in the middle of the French alps though technically Northern French alps still. |
Ah yes - St Sorlin D'Arves would fit the bill. Access to a pretty respectable ski area, too (4th largest in France?).
In fact, JJ, France has tons of smaller resorts which a lot of people in the UK have hardly (or never) heard of. I'm guessing you'll have a shed load of suggestions by the time this thread's done.
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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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Le Grand Bornand is definately the place for you: 1 hr drive from Geneva, one of the closest French Ski resorts to the Channel Tunnel; great familly skiing (both my kids, nephew and two nieces learnt to ski there) with excellent nursery slopes (+ much more challenging stuff for the experts). Good slopeside accomodation up in the higher village of Le Chinaillon. Check out www.aravisholidays.com - very good english run local accomodation agency
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You know it makes sense.
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Praz de Lys is a small family resort with mostly easy slopes and an easy drive east of Geneva. Head towards Cluses and then north a bit as though you're going to Morzine. Most of the accom is SC appartments.
http://www.prazdelys-sommand.com/
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Jumpin Jack, Bernex, but avoid the French holiday weeks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Jumpin Jack, I wouldn't bother with the info about Les Saisies on the "ifyouski" site. It's bollox. Have a look at the resort's own website, which will give you accurate figures.
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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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Valmorel?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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vallandry ticks most of those boxes, some lovely blues and reds down to resort and a beginner slope up top
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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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pam w, 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Aussois would do the trick - has the advantage of being 15 mins off the motorway. Might be a bit too far South for you.
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Les Contamines, or another vote for Saint Gervais. Les Houches in the Chamionix Valley is also a possibility.
Cheers.
Andrew
www.chamexpress.com
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Jumpin Jack, are you looking for ski in/out? If so, that rules out a fair few otherwise good choices.
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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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Les Carroz has some nice sunny high up greens at the top of the gondola and plenty of blues back down through the trees. The grand Massif area has plenty of reds accessed of the same lift pass.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks for all the tips everyone.
I've had a look at the resorts via http://en.france-montagnes.com/ (which seems to have all the small resorts, and piste maps for them as well.
The question was really for my firend and his family. I've passed on the info.
The one I thought that best matched his requirements was Les Saisies in the Espace Diamant.
It has lots of blues and greens from the village, and other villages nearby.
Thanks
Rich
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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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Montchavin?
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Another vote for St Sorlin d'Arves, way ahead of St Gervais on account of cheap, family friendly, off the beaten track atmosphere.
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You know it makes sense.
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Keep on coming with any suggestions - our ski trips for the year seem to have swapped over so rather than visiting friends for half term we have just started looking for somewhere. Original list pretty much same as ours (other than replace North of France with - we will be drving from tunnel so not tooo far)
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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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| Quote: |
way ahead of St Gervais on account of cheap, family friendly, off the beaten track atmosphere.
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The strong points of St Gervais are really connected with its being NOT off the beaten track, and not just a small ski resort. It's an interesting and attractive town - lots of choice for eating, drinking, or just walking round. I don't know it very well, and have never skied from there (we can access the domain much more quickly from the Megeve side) but I've visited at various times of year and am always struck by how interesting it is - it's not as "smart" as Megeve, with which it shares the ski area, but it's a more interesting town. There are some very attractive old buildings, reflecting its history as a spa, I suppose. I imagine that some parts of St Gervais are not super-convenient for the lifts - you'd need to be a bit careful about the geography.
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Poster: A snowHead
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look at La Clusas/ Grand Bornand, lovely place and pretty good value.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Apologies for the plug but this is what we specialise in mostly so list of resorts on home page will give you a good idea on places to research. Aussois is my recommendation based on what you explained.
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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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Val Cenis in the Haute Maurienne. Of the 2 Villages Lanslevillard is best (my friend goes every year with his family and I have found the off-piste good). The area is good Value. You can use the bus to ski other small resorts in the Valley. Aussoise is one of them but it is very small.
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FAQ
I can vouch for this because not only have I been there, I ski there regularly. There are a number of good restauarants and a handful that are as reasonable as anywhere (as at end of August during my last visit) It's a magical place, especially for young children up to say 10/12 )
)
22 posts and no-one's mentioned it.....yet..... 