 Poster: A snowHead
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Inspired by tales of relaxing journeys to the Alps by train, we're thinking of giving it a go, maybe next year - probably down in the day on Saturday, ski 7 days then home overnight Saturday. Bourg St M seems a good place to get off, and we were looking at staying in Peisey/Nancroix rather than up in Les Arcs or La Plagne. Is it easy enough to get into either La Plagne or Les Arcs from these villages? And do you therefore get the best (or worst) of both worlds?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Nancroix is a few K's from the nearest lift at Peisey or Vallandry. There are no pubs bars, apart from one upmarket restaurant, the walk to Peisey (Gregs Bar is OK) is bearable on the way, a nightmare on the way back. There are busses (navettes) which are free but don't don't run after 6PM weekends. Apart from February, you can probably get an apartment in Vallandry which will sleep 5 for around €250.
In answer to you question, yes the Navettes run a good service every half hour during the day, till quite late weekdays. Most stop at the Peisey lift which is where the lift to La plagne is. TBH, by all means get a 'discovery pass' (one day in La Plagne) but if you are only there for a week there is loads in Les Arcs.
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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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Thanks - helpful. So if we were to stay up in Vallandry is it feasible to ski both La P ans Les A? Is that where the lift goes across to La Plagne from?
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Yes, Peisey and Vallandry lifts are pretty close, with the Grizzly slightly higher up in between. I've walked up to the (Plan) Peisey (where La Plagne 'Handbag' goes from) lift from Vallandry many a time to go straight over to La Plagne when Vallandry was busy..
As long as you don't want the best of night life, IMV, Vallandry is thee place to stay (Plan Peisey fine too..) NOT Peisey Nancroise, which, believe it or not is a different place slightly below Vallandry and Plan Peisey.
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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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Vallandry was where i was thinking to be honest.
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We have used the train to BSt M and then taxi to Plan Peisey where we stayed in the Hotel Vanoise- when it had 2 *s , now it has 3. Very easy journey there and back although one year the way back almost didn't happen as we forgot to book taxi return until the day before - so do sort it in advance.
As others have said best stay in Plan Peisey or Vallandry for ease of access to skiing whether Les Arcs or La Plagne.
We also found the snow and pistes seemed better around PP . Quite a few tree lined blues and reds for when light is bad , and an excellent on piste restaurant just up and across form teh Vanoise .
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Access to the Vanoise Express lift to get across to La Plagne is pretty straightforward from most parts of Les Arcs. From Arc 1800, Arc 1950 and Arc 2000 it is just one chairlift ride and a very straightforward ski. From Arc 1600 a couple of chairlifts and even from Villaroger it's possible with four chairlift rides, although it is more of a schlep to get all the way across the Les Arcs ski area.
If you are staying in Vallandry don't you have to take the Vallandry Chairlift to be able to ski to the Vanoise Express?
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Brilliant - thanks all.
We've tended to look for chalets, but these small French hotels look really good (we tend to stay in one in Argentiere).
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| rob@rar wrote: |
If you are staying in Vallandry don't you have to take the Vallandry Chairlift to be able to ski to the Vanoise Express? |
To ski to it yes, (or Grizzly chair) but it's only a hundred or so yards to walk, then up the lift from top of lobster pots.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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allanm, thanks.
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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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Hotel Vanoise is ski in/out and very French - they stick a label on your unfinished wine each evening and it is back in front of you the next night ( no personal experience we drank up but we did see thsi for others ) and also with your room numbered napkin in a paper wallet .
Great rooms with balconies facing south , food generally good , cheeseboard always excellent . I have no connection save having stayed there a lot over the years. Still the same people running it too. Half board is a good deal.
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alltnaha - Vanoise looks great, with the pool etc. I've emailed them but of course it's too early for prices/bookings. Half board looks triffic too.
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You know it makes sense.
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Hotel Vanoise is one of our favourite eating places in Plan Peisey, and is a perfect place for skiing too, being right next to the piste, chairlift and Vanoise Express to La Plagne. Other good places to eat are La Vache, (slightly higher up the village) owned by two sisters from Devon, and an excellent pizza/steak place in Vallandry - Le Refuge. Up the mountain, the best resto is Blanche Muree, not far from the halfway stage of the bubble from 1800. It is renowned for giving free glasses of Genepi after your meal!
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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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andy from embsay, If coming out by train, it stops at Landry (the stop after Aime). If you organise the taxi from there, it will save you a bob or two. You have to leave from Bourg if you are taking the direct train, due to passport control, but if you are changing in Paris, you can catch it at Landry too.
The Vanoise is great, & the pool area/spa is fantastic - best steam room I have ever been in, I think. I used it a bit last year while nursing my knee & enjoyed watching everybody skiing past.
fj, Le Refuge has just opened an outlying place just by our apartment (in Neige & Soleil). I have yet to investigate whether they have sit down area, or if it is just take away.
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Poster: A snowHead
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andy from embsay, Yup Valandry, lovely place and good skiing, quiet yet with a fun buzz and close enough to 1800 to amble over to and stagger back from. If I win the lottery I'll move there  Everything else has been said above. Also stayed in Nancroix . . . it's the arѕe-end of nowhere . . . but strangely attractive, if you've your own transport nothing to worry about and if you're into ski touring an ideal base as there are routes from there that will take you to Tignes, Val D' or over to La P' all starting in the national park that the village borders on.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Masque
A**** end of nowhere That's a bit unfair on Nancroix -it has one of the best restaurants in the valley, it is very pretty, delightful even, and also has a brilliant campsite open all year round, called Les Lanchettes. This also does excellent home made food in their own resto (only open certain nights). It also rents out cosy log cabins at very economical rates, ideal for families.
In the daytime, free navettes travel up & down the valley every half hour, from the cross country area, where some excellent off piste from La Plagne ends, down to Vieux Plan Peisey, where you can catch the "lobster pots" lift back up to the Vanoise Express & other lifts.
You do need a car/taxi in the evening though, if you wish to travel around.
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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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andy from embsay, P-V is a brilliant place to stay to access the whole Paradiski area.
Highly recommended
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We've had some remarkably cheap deals on chalets down in the valley (like <£400 a head catered at half term) offered, or the Vanoise (and there's another hotel up there - Emeraude?) that have deals for c£650 a head including lift pass - so I guess we have to decide whether ski-in, ski-out is worth c£100 a head. I think to me it probably is (although as a Chamonix veteran I haven't skied out of anywhere for years - did manage to fumble most of the way back to a chalet in Argentiere once on skis though...), but I'll talk to my mates.
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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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fj, I tend to agree with Masque, exactly 'A**** end of nowhere' is exactly what Nancroix is. Yes there maybe good bits - like the bus back when just done Bellcotte and the Nordic centre, but how many Brits have been to the l' Ancoli or whatever that posh restaurant is?.. approaching zero I would think, unless you're stuck up there and it's the ONLY place to go.....
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What's Peisey itself like? One of the options is "4 minutes from the lobster pots" by skibus.
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andy from embsay, Lobster pots shut just after the main lifts (hour or so after IIRC) , if you can ski down (enough snow and you're up for it) then OK. Peisey-Nancroix is at 1350 (as opposed to Plan-Peisey 1600) , so you need them lobster pots to get up - not normally a problem, just a faff (you need these if your staying in Nancroix up the valley too). TBH though they are a PITA, maybe just me being cynical as I normally have a ski-in/out apartment in Vallandry, as I said, thee place to be....
Masque, I've stayed in Nancroix... before... forgot navettes didn't run at weekends, ended up getting taxi back from Vallandry.. bad news, taxis come up the hill from Landry. You pay dearly.
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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 from embsay, Peisey is quiet too, but not as quiet as Nancroix. Are you looking at catered chalet, or are you self catering? If you're catered, tbh, I'd prefer Nancroix - I know its quiet, but the navettes work during week & once you're reliant on a navette, I'd go for charm (Nancroix) rather than Peisey - although it depends where in Peisey. If the name Moulin comes up, I'd definately go to Nancroix. Several of the off piste runs (Bellecote & Col du Chal) end in Nancroix & at least you wouldn't have the schlep back then. Out of choice, I'd stay in Valandry or Plan Peisey (oops, I always do )
Masque, allanm, I think you're being unfair on Nancroix 
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genepi, almost certainly catered or half board. If I can persuade my mates I like the idea of the Vanoise or the other hotel - avoids me subsidising half of Yorkshire for months whilst they decide whether they're coming and no risk of having to pay for empty rooms - plus it looks like "up there" is the place to be. However as I've skied in Cham or the PdS for the last few years I'm not really that worried about a bus ride and a lift up in the morning.
We've found a lovely looking place in Nancroix that we can fill and the cost of that is about £350 a head catered, so that makes a very cheap half term holiday!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Right, Peisey-experts. I've got an option on a place that's 150m from the bottom of the lobster pots. It looks great from the photos, and is, by the look of the google map, near a hotel called Vallon Fleuri. It's self-catering but they say they can get a chef in for €35 a day. 6 bedrooms, sleeps up to 14. €1750 for half term 2014 with early booking discount. If we get 12 people that's €145 (£120) a head for the chalet - which leaves about €350 per head to pay the chef and buy food before you're at the price of the cheaper catered chalets.
Ideally we'd like to be up in Vallandry but I can't find anything up there for much under £600 a head for the half term week.
So - is 150m from the lobster pots likely to be ok (in terms of the area).? We wouldn't get in-resort transport, but even my kids can walk that far I'd have thought! And whilst we're not looking for a wild time by any means, is there a couple of shops and maybe a bar/restaurant or two nearby?
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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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andy from embsay, Sounds a bargain! There are a few shops in Peisey & a couple of bars/restaurants, and the navettes run quite late in the evening (except weekends) if you choose to have a drink up in Vallandry before coming back down (lobster pots close fairly soon after the ski lifts, I think). Have a good time & enjoy the lobster pots They're a great way to travel!
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andy from embsay, If you guys like your own entertainment and a nice quiet french village that is a true bargain. Wish I could come! 
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You know it makes sense.
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| Masque wrote: |
| andy from embsay, If you guys like your own entertainment and a nice quiet french village that is a true bargain. Wish I could come! |
If I book it and you baggsie a room you can!
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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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andy from embsay, I'm in the USA and only thinking of the EOSB this year and I really want a whole season next, so I may forgo a trip to put more in the pot for the season. If I win the PowerBall . . . I'll be there
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