Fun in the French Alps
Courchevel, a ski resort in the French Alps, is one of the few places on this trip that we’ve been before. Our special guest stars for the week, Adam and Bethan, have a house in the beautiful ski village of Le Praz and we were so well behaved the first time, they invited us back. We thought we knew what to expect, but Courchevel decided to surpass our expectations.
I get the impression the locals are probably over winter and are more than ready for Spring. This year they've had a record breaking amount of snow and it just keeps on coming. I was expecting more slush than snow given it’s right at the end of the season, but we arrived to a winter wonderland and fresh snow arrived day after day. The locals may be over it but the skiers, snow boarders, and snow shoe folk are absolutely loving it. And for those of us that like to feel the Christmas spirit all year round and will put Christmas tunes on at the drop of a snow hat (don’t judge!), it’s festive heaven.
I don’t ski, I can barely be trusted to walk and chew at the same time to be honest. As many of you can attest, I can (and do) trip almost everywhere, regardless of how secure the footing and how flat the shoes. The thought of strapping planks to my feet and throwing myself down a slippery slope does not appeal in the slightest. Not one to dismiss something out of hand without trying it first, I have tried over the years to both ski and snowboard, and despised both in equal measure. But I love to hike in the snow, I love to play in the snow, I love to watch folks ski by me as I enjoy a vin chaud from the safety of a nice apres ski place. In short, I love to visit ski resorts in an altogether less hazardous way.
As Mr T is an avid skier (he is annoyingly good at most sporting activities, we all try not to hate him for it), he usually heads off for day on the slopes like everyone else who comes here for that sort of thing. So my trusty companion in my winter endeavors is usually the WonderDog. I’ve never seen anyone win a million dollars, or achieve Olympic Gold, or been an audience member on Oprah when they give away a car - but I imagine it looks a lot like the WonderDog when she encounters snow. You’ve never seen anything like it in your life. It’s the sort of free abandon and blissful happiness we all dream of. There’s not a single person who sees her and doesn't laugh, stop to chat, or grin despite themselves - her joy is entirely infectious. Especially because being a labradoodle and not a Bernese Mountain dog (don’t tell her though) the snow sticks to her like glue so after five minutes she looks like a Yeti.
Courchevel is an interesting place because it’s so many different scenes in one place. You have Courchevel 1850, 1650, 1550 and Le Praz. The numbers refer to the elevation up the mountain. 1850 is quite the scene, it’s known as the St Tropez of the Alps. It’s an exclusive village which has designer shops like Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Valentino on every corner. It has many Michelin stared restaurants and is known for it’s celebrity visitors. It’s a place that you can easily pay 60 euro for a hamburger (I’m assuming you get fries with it, but who knows). And it’s absolutely lovely to visit, but it’s fair to say that Mr T, the WonderDog and I are not quite the right clientele up at 1850.
By contrast, Le Praz goes by a “the more you know the less you gotta show” philosophy. People here are just as moneyed as folks at 1850, probably more so I’d say. But there are no flashy cars, no one is dripping diamonds, no one has bodyguards and there are no designer shops. And it’s all the better for it. This place exudes a quiet confidence, it doesn't need any nightclubs where you can dance on the tables til dawn (although La Mangeoire is worth going to for a fun night out). Whereas 1850 is what my mother might call “all fur coat and no knickers,” Le Praz is effortlessly cool and sophisticated but also very friendly. The village has an amazing butcher, a wonderful bakery and a gourmet cheese shop to die for. The restaurants here are outstanding, as are the bars, they even have the most splendid wine cave in the middle of the village. Mr T and I both agree that it's the most perfect ski village you could hope for.
If you do come here, maybe you’d like a few pointers from the local experts, which we now claim to be. The main hotel, Les Peupliers is an absolute treat for a vin chaud after you come down from the slopes, or a delicious meal. Make sure you say hello to the fellow who runs the show, the irrepressible Norbert. His team are the friendliest people in all of Courchevel, the wine list is incredible and the food is to die for, Adam and Bethan have tried just about everything on the menu and it's all out of this world. Then you have Bistro Du Praz, the cosiest restaurant you could hope to find, with the very best food anywhere in Courchevel. The Thai curry and the roast lamb are stand out favourites. The bakery does great bread (try the Pain Traditional Bio) as well as wonderful pastries. The butcher has terrific cuts of high quality meat if you fancy cooking, ask him for a leg of lamb, it’ll be the best lamb you’ve ever had (as long as you cook it correctly, that part is on you!) Go to Cave des Lys and order the meat on a skewer that they set light to right at your table. You'd be hard pressed to pick a bad glass of wine in here, they are all great.
If you want to work off all that good food and wine, you are spoilt for choice. Ski passes can be purchased for 54 euros per day, which is actually quite reasonable considering the last time Mr T bought a ski pass in California it was $169 per day. So that burger at lunch might cost you a kidney, but the skiing itself is rather affordable. No need to schlep all your own ski stuff here if you don’t want to, go and see René at the Olympic Sports ski shop opposite Les Peupliers and get kitted out. You can ski, snowboard, and ski tour (where you ski up the mountain with skins on your skis then take them off and ski down). There are some incredible hikes right from the village, grab a pair of snow shoes and off you go.
If that’s not high octane enough for you, there’s also a three kilometer sledge run with 450 meters of vertical drop. Two pieces of invaluable advice for you. Take gloves, you’ll need to use your hands to steer (or to scrabble at the ice in a manic fashion screaming “OH MY GOD” if you’re like me). And wear ski goggles, when you try and slow down so you don’t careen over a sheer drop and the ice sprays in your face, you will thank me. You're welcome. I did the luge once, and might I say, never again (I did come first out of a group of 12 of us though so high five me). I prefer the gentle slopes of snow shoeing, thank you very much.
Mind you, Bethan and I nearly came to a sticky end snow shoeing through the forest when we took a bit of a wrong turn and ended up having to transverse a rather sleep descent. Bethan went first, lost her footing and slid down the hill on her backside rather faster than anticipated. In my rush to help her, I also lost my footing, managed to get up a fierce speed on my ass, realizing just in time that I was sliding towards her head, sharp snow spikes first. With some inelegant yet successful scrabbling mid slide, we managed to advert a crisis. It took us another 10 minutes to stop crying with laughter. What a pair.
So that’s how we spent a blissful week in Courchevel, skiing and ski touring, walking in the snowy forest, snow shoeing up the side of mountains, marveling at the fat snow flakes that fell every day, and throwing snowballs for the WonderDog to chase. I promise I only listened to Christmas music once (ok twice, but it was only one song so it doesn’t count. And the lovely fairy lights were to blame, I was overcome with Christmas spirit!) And the WonderDog had her first ride in a cable car, or The Bubble as the locals call it. It's fair to say she'd rather be down in the snow than suspended above it, she was very brave but seemed rather happy to get out at the other end!
We had a great many laughs while enjoying tremendous food and lovely wine with our special guest stars, Adam and Bethan. The French Alps is a place that really soothes your soul, we are officially Courchevel converts. As we headed off the mountain, Mr T and I made a promise to try and come back every winter if possible. It’s a place that makes us both feel on top of the world. If you ever come this way, have fun, enjoy the fresh air and send us a picture. We hope you love it as much as we do. And even as much as the WonderDog does!
