 Poster: A snowHead
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Planning a pre Christmas week in a chalet somewhere in France. Meribel is looking like a strong option, but always associate it with horror stories of astronomically expensive drinks.
Had weeks in L2A and Morzine last year. Is Meribel significantly more expensive than those places?
What would you pay for a pint/50cl beer on average?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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And would you enjoy your 8 euro pint of fizzy gnats wee wee (aka Kronenbourg) one you got it?
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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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if I insisted on drinking only the finest ale I'd never leave these shores. Cold fizzy drinks are an accepted compromise.
Handing 8 European sheets over to let me quaff it back might sour the pill slightly though
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Meribel is more expensive than L2A. Don't know about Morzine. Don't forget Meribel often has the worst snow in the 3 Valleys. 
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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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Buy several crates of beer in Super U on the way up, drink on balcony, avoid horrific crowds of 'gap yah' tossers in Meribel pubs, enjoy best strategic position in 3Vs*
*Ok, Ok, that's Mottaret, but whatever.
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7 euros. 9 for magners.
4 to seasonnaires 
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| pam w wrote: |
| Don't forget Meribel often has the worst snow in the 3 Valleys. |
yeah, I read that somewhere. How significantly different is it to VT and Courchevel early season?
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I've skied in Meribel for the past 8 seasons (excluding the season just gone) and its always had good snow conditions, the only exception to this was in 2010/11.. you've just got to time your trip right 
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| Adam123 wrote: |
| pam w wrote: |
| Don't forget Meribel often has the worst snow in the 3 Valleys. |
yeah, I read that somewhere. How significantly different is it to VT and Courchevel early season? |
It's not. It may even be better than both. Courchevel suffers from being in shadow for most of the afternoon in early season and VT can often be wind scoured and very cold due to it's exposed position. In Meribel you can follow the sun by skiing on opposite sides of the valley in the morning and afternoon. This sun exposure gives it its crap snow reputation but it's only relevant in spring.
With regards to beer, it depends where you go. Most bars run apres happy 2 hours around 4-6pm when beer is €4-5/pint and again between 10-11pm. There are also evening deals - go on merinet or meribel unplugged to see what bars are running promotions and go to those places.
If you go to the uber trendy places - Barometer, Dicks, La Poste, Folie Douce, Rond Point after 5pm, you're gonna pay.
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what he says above
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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All depends when and where you go, as mentioned above there's happy hours but more on the location side of things.
There are several places where really you just shouldn't go if money is an issue, 50-50 (just up from the Chaudanne), the Den (above Dicks) and La Poste would be the most expensive in general.
After that prices are much of a muchness, 5ish euro for a pint of Amstell, 4 if you are a seasonaire or it's happy hour, Jacks (just opposite the olympic centre) has the best offers on in the evenings, with Toss the Boss on Sundays where you can end up getting free drinks all night if your luck is in. The Ronny is an overrated pile of crap full of the ronny cool brigade, who go on a season paid by their parents and sit outside the ronny all day (what will they do with the Adret being removed though?) it used to be good but then the crowd surfing was banned, it will still be busy and tbf the music is alright inside for apres but I'd rather be elsewhere. Right in the centre you have Barometer, The Tav and the very originally named Le Pub, they're all of a similar standard, Pub opens later and is often more like a nightclub between the other bars closing and Dicks opening, Baro is the best of those ones imo.
After that you have LDV, which is amazing but is in Village so it's a bus ride away but for Tuesday Apres and Wednesday nights (or any night for that matter) it's great, pizzas are good too.
You also have some on the way up to the Altiport but they're generally a bit pricier, Chez Kiki especially, though Petit Oignons does have one good lagte night music a week that is worth a go, think it was Mondays last year.
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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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Chez Kiki, since it's been mentioned, is a really nice little place I think (we lived right next door to it for a week a couple of years back). Lovely grub as I remember too.
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Does the marginal expense of a pint really make a difference?
E.g. 12 pints that are 1eur more expensive makes 12 eur difference, on a total holiday cost that is probably >£700??
Struggling to understand the issue....
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You know it makes sense.
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adamj11, Agreed re Rond Point and Barometer is my favourite bar in town.Mr Piehole, Chez Kiki is a really, really nice place but it's expensive.
Avoid Dicks at all costs. It's the equivalent of Soho House. Full of fools flashing their cash, talking ridiculously loudly and behaving like idiots and most of the staff love themselves so much!
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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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Dicks by name...
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Poster: A snowHead
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under a new name, you assume Adam123, is not a thirsty drinker. 12 pints would not be enough for a lot of people in one week. Depending on size of your group, that could be one round...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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They're not even proper pints! Stupid 'round numbers with zeroes at the end'!
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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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patricksh, €100 a round, woah!
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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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We're all big men with loadsa cash when it comes to buying pints
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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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Ah Dicks is alright if you know what you are getting yourself in for.
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In Meribel make a point of either going on about the cost of the beer, marks you as a tight poor tourist.
Or order vast amounts of champagne in the knowledge everyone will think you are a swaps trader and therefore a knob.
Go to Motteret, speak French, less people will hate you.
If you must drink in meribizia, happy hours with free shots are cheaper than not having the shots.
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patricksh, OP specifies catered chalet holiday, in my experience of running chalets most guests do most drinking of the supplied chalet wine and cheap honesty bar...
So 2 pints before sups is not a terrible guess, is it?
No matter, marginal cost is what we're discussing and it ain't so huge, although I must clarify that by saying that I most recently lived in central London and now live in Geneva, so YMMV.
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Cheap honesty bars?
Paying 1 euro for something that a pack of 20 costs 8 down in Moutiers is not cheap.
And 2 pints? 1 at lunch and 1 at apres (which would make you fairly boring) isn't much, nevermind at night.
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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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adamj11, Well, I don't want to suggest anything about the OP's drinking habits 
My point remains, marginal cost not such a big issue compared to everything else...
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under a new name, I would never consume less than 6 pints before leaving the 'straight from skiing' bar. Likely to have had 1 pint with my lunch too. Probably 2 more after dinner. So 9 a day. If you're careful with your bar choices around there you could save 2 euros on each and every pint. 18 euros per day - makes a big difference to the number of Genepies that can be had to bolster the beer 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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 Glad I'm nowhere near 3V!
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beeryletcher,
I nearly posted similar last night, but as I had been drinking I refrained
So I have a pint with lunch, then 3 or 4 after skiing and finally head back to the chalet/hotel/whatever for my cheap/free booze. Mrs. M will have done the same in her uphilly skiing fashion, so we are looking at about 70 beers in the week. At about 8 euro a beer in 3Vs, as opposed to 3 euro in Austria this adds up very quickly.
Not exactly what the OP seemed to be getting at, but the 3Vs is a bloody expensive place to go for a quiet drink, let alone going out on the lash.
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You know it makes sense.
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beeryletcher, musher, amateurs.
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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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Bode Swiller,
That's 4 or 5 pints before I start drinking for the evening. Now I'm married I can't afford the 3Vs any more 
Anyway, the hooch is much more interesting in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy ... have I forgotten any?
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Poster: A snowHead
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musher, ok, thanks for clarifying. Yep, Austria 3.60 ish Euros for half litre of Zillertal, Kaiser, Gosser etc. All properly brewed and served with a smile and quite often a cleavage... and in a glass. Last time I was in the 3V the Eurofizz (although very variable amounts of fizz) was about 8 Euro and arrived in a plastic cup because I was outside. It's shockingly poor VFM.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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But if you know where to drink (whichever mountain You ski) then you can always find the good or cheap places (or even sometimes both). 5 euros for a half a litre of Stella in Courchevel, whilst not cheap is certainly within the bounds most. It's mostly a case of avoiding the expensive places if you don't want to pay expensive prices.
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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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Bode Swiller, agree, what's passed off as beer in French ski areas is often Amstell which, to me, often tastes as though it's been filtered through someone's unwashed skiing socks that have been used multiple times - it's vile. Then on the first day there you wander into the first bar you see after skiing, forget to check the prices and end up having to pay 8 euros for a glass of it.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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loving the discussion here. Thanks all.
Was just using price of beer as a barameter of general expense, but TBH, after the lift pass, that's probably where most of my Euros will end up being spent when catered for the week.
Sounds like, in a nut shell
1. Yes, its more expensive than most
2. You can always find a more reasonable price if you avoid the most obvious places
3. Meribel's got more than its fair share of Brits
4. Probably best not to think about exactly how many beers you drink on a ski holiday
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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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under a new name, not sure I'd want to go on a ski trip with you with a 2 pint ration
beeryletcher, not sure I'd go with you either- if I want to get any skiing done after day 1
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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patricksh, Oh, I assure you, I do not have any sort of ration...
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kkev,
For £4.60 I'd want a whole  case of that wee wee - waits for the profanity filter to kick in!
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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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We've talked about French beer before and there are some very good micro breweries producing beer as good most of the beer you find in the UK, Belgium, Germany etc. but beer drinking is not really in French culture, people here drink wine. So if you come here expecting to find nice beer in bars you are going to be dissapointed. It is like going to Saudi Arabia and expecting to see babes in miniskirts.
That, coupled with the fact the average French ski bar owner holds British skiers in total contempt, they only exist to be ripped off and emptied of all their cash as quickly and efficiently as possible with as little service rendered and you have a recipe for having a bad time.
I shouldn't knock Dicks, I've never been to the Meribel branch, but the one in Val d'Isere I would have to be paid to drink in, it is an awful souless dive.
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Peroni is £4 in my local here in West Wales, good middle strength lager but doesnt reach the spots that 9% Leffe does. I was paying 6 euros for above mentioned fine ale recently on a French trip. Bit much but 4-5 pints of that is a session. Quality not quantity!
Any one for a brew dog?
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