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Archive for the ‘alps’ Category
French ski resorts with outdoor ice skating
Who hasn’t been inspired by the recent resurgence on TV of Torvill and Dean to don their ice skates and perfect their figure skating skills? There’s something rather romantic about the idea of cutting a dash on the ice rink, complete with Argyll sweater, mittens and skates. Especially outdoors, of a winter’s afternoon in the warming sunshine, or of an evening with snowdrops on your tongue and twinkling chalet lights brightening the dusk. And the promise of a hot chocolate or vin chaud when you’re done! Perfect entertainment for all the family.
Ice Skating champions Torvil and Dean
Why not take the opportunity of your next skiing holiday in France to venture out onto the ice?
Here is a guide to French Alpine resorts with outdoor patinoire (ice skating rinks!).
Alpe d’Huez
This south facing, sunny resort of Alpe d’Huez has lots of self catering ski accommodation, and is the ideal place to perfect your figure of eight whilst soaking up some rays.
The ice rink is located on the Avenue des Jeux in the heart of the resort and is open daily from 11.30am to 10.45pm. Figure skating tuition is offered by Alpe d’Huez Patinage Club for ages three and upwards.
Entry costs €6 for adults/ €3 children under 13 or is free with a Visalp ski pass. Skate hire costs €4.
A class pratices their triple salcos on Alpe d'Huez's open air ice rink
Les Deux Alpes
It comes as no surprise that this international winter sports resort has an Olympic-size outdoor ice rink, located next to the swimming pool on the Rue des Sagnes, close to the central Place des Deux Alpes. The resort is a huge playground for mountain lovers, with lots of self catering accommodation for those wanting to experience the fantastic restaurants the area has to offer.
Entrance to the ice rink is free for all holders of a six day lift pass. There is a small charge for ski hire. Open daily from 10.30am to 12.30pm, 3pm to 6.30pm and 8.30pm to 11pm.
At certain times of the week you can also try your hand at ‘ice gliding’ – bumper cars on ice!
‘Ice gliding’ – bumper cars on ice!
Megève
The outdoor ice rink is situated in the centre of this picture perfect Alpine village on Place de la Résistance, surrounded by accommodation with views of Mont Blanc.
It’s open daily from 2pm to 8pm (Tuesday from 2pm to 6pm, special children’s session from 6pm to 8pm). It costs €4.80 per adult and €3.80 per child (5 to 14 yrs). Skate hire costs €3.20, free for children under 5.
Megève open air ice rink
Avoriaz
There is a brand new ice rink opening in the 2011/2012 season in the centre of this family-friendly resort – which is also the home of Pierre & Vacances. The rink will be open daily from 3pm to 8pm. Entry costs €5.20 for adults and €4 for children under 12, including skates. Holders of a Family Pass can get in for free.
La Plagne
La Plagne has two natural open-air ice rinks situated in majestically high Aime La Plagne and sporty Plagne Bellecôte.
The rink at Aime La Plagne offers fantastic views of Mount Blanc. Open daily from 3.30pm to 10.30pm. Cost is €7 per adult and €5 per child under 12.
The rink at Plagne Bellecôte is located behind the main gondola and is open daily from 10am to 7pm for the same price.
Les Arcs
Skiers heading to the heart of the Paradiski region can take advantage of Les Arcs’ two outdoor ice rinks, one in Foret du Beauchet 1800 and the other in Place Haute 2000.
Val d’Isere
The natural ice skating rink at this world-renowned ski resort is in the middle of the village of Val d’Isere, which is full of family friendly self catering accommodation. It is open every day from 3pm to 8pm. The cost is €6 per adult and €5 per child, or you can buy a child week pass for €20 which includes entry to the rink and skate hire.
Natural ice skating rink in the middle of the village of Val d'Isere
Les Houches
Skate in front of the Mont Blonc massif at the natural rink in Les Houches, located in the centre of the village. The best news is, it’s free.
Young girl ice skating in Les Houches
During French holidays, the rink is open Tuesday to Sunday from 2pm to 5pm and from 8pm to 11pm. At other times it is open Tuesdays from 8pm to 11pm, Wednesdays from 2pm to 5pm, Fridays from 8pm to 11pm, Saturdays from 2pm to 5pm and from 8pm to 11pm and Sundays from 2pm to 5pm.
And you can also stay in the view of the Mont Blonc massif in one of Pierre & Vacances’ self catering apartments in Les Houches.
Open air ice skating rink in Les Houches
La Clusaz
La Clusaz, renowned for cross country skiing, has a 1000 m2 open air ice rink located in the centre of this typically Savoyard village, and is even covered in the event of rain. And if you fancy a stay in one of the most laid back resorts in the Alps, Pierre & Vacances has self-catering accommodation in the area.
Les Menuires
The outdoor skating rink in Bruyères, in the heart of Savoie Olympique, is open from 4 pm to 8 pm. So if you want to ski in one of the sunniest spots in the French Alps, check out the self catering apartments on offer!
Have we missed your favourite skating spot? Let us know over on our Facebook page!
The winner of our Ski & Snowboard Show petanque competition is…
Our Petanque Piste at the Ski & Snowboard Show 2011
After 227 games over five days, with more than 2,000 boules thrown each day, the winner of the Ski & Snowboard Show Pentanque competition is…. Jason Khan!
Jason beat Bruce, our ski instructor and Petanque expert, by 7-1 – not an easy feat we can promise you! Jason wins a ski holiday to France with Pierre & Vacances and SeaFrance.
A limited edition Petanque set for each of our runners up!
Runner up Joe Stamutol points to his place on the leaderboard
A big thank you to every one who came along and played, we had a really tight competition! And a massive merci to the fantastique Bruce who played all of the 227 games and was very tired by the end of the show!
Our Petanque expert Bruce playing against an eager contestant
If you fancy playing a spot of Petanque yourself, you can play individually or versus your friends with our online Petanque3D game, where there is also a chance to win a holiday!
But if you think you can do as well as Jason, we’ll next be pitching our boules down the Petanque Piste at the France Show – 13 – 15th January.
Boules your way to a free holiday with Pierre & Vacances at the 2011 Ski Show
Play Petanque against ‘Pascal’, Pierre & Vacances’ funky ski instructor with a penchant for 1970s ski ware, and you could win a week at a ski apartment for up to five people. The Petanque Piste will be at the 2011 Ski Show at London’s Earls Court, 19-23 October, with the tournament running throughout the event.
The winner can select accommodation from Pierre & Vacances’ 40 ski resort destinations in the French Alps and Pyrenees, with crossings provided by Seafrance. Two lucky runners up will receive a Pierre & Vacances petanque set for second and third positions on the leader board.
Shortened versions of the game will be played with the first person to get seven points declared the winner of each match. All match results will placed on a leader board and the player with the best score against ‘Pascal’ will win a holiday. Visit the Pierre & Vacances Petanque Piste (stand number G25) to confirm your game time. Matches will run between 12 – 6pm daily during the show.
Images from each of the day’s petanque games will be posted on the Pierre & Vacances UK & Ireland Facebook Page.
If you can’t make it to the show, play petanque3d online at petanque3d.com.
Pierre & Vacances Petanque Piste contest terms and conditions
- The prize is a week in 1 bedroom pierre & vacances apartment sleeping up to 5 people plus a return ferry crossing with Seafrance.
- Subject to availability and not available in school holidays.
- We can’t guarantee Pascal will always be available at the ski show. He is more than likely to be there between 12 and 6pm each day.
- The competition with Pascal will be a short game with the first person to get 7 points winning the game.
- The player with the highest score against Pascal will win a holiday, second and third positions on the leader board will win a Pierre & Vacances Petanque set each.
- Traditional rules of petanque apply.
- In the event of a tie, the competitors will fight it out on a full game on petanque3d.com to see who is the ultimate winner!
- Pierre & Vacances will referee this game if necessary.
A Summer Break in the Village Arc 1950
In this post, Paul Harvey experiences summer in the Alps as a guest of Pierre & Vacances at the Le Village Arc 1950 Premium Residence:
We, stayed at five star Pierre & Vacances Premium Le Village Residence located in the centre of the car-free village of Arc 1950 (metres), under the gaze of Mont Blanc. More about the superb apartment in this Residence and what a five star package offers, a bit later…
The village is delightful – built of stone and timber under stone roofing slabs. We thought it nicer than Arc 2000 above us for sure. Good to get to the mountains for a summer break, which I haven’t done for many years. Very relaxing to be back in vast Alpine meadows with the unmistakable cow bells to be heard over seemingly huge areas. No other nasty sounds to break an otherwise silent scape. The landscape is green wherever you look, broken by the occasional white patch from 2500 metres upwards.
We drove to the resort, crossing the channel with SeaFrance to get into the French mood as soon as we left Dover, then straight down to Troyes on those amazing French roads in four hours (not one set of roadworks). Troyes made a perfect stoping point. A delightful town to explore in more depth time allowing, Champagne country of course…Allow for about £100 in toll fees in total for the trip by the way.
Taking the car is a good move – with the Alpine weather being what it is, with the occasional threat of low cloud and rain, you can drive off to find sunshine somewhere else on the mountain, explore Arcs 1650 and 1850, or go down to Bourg -St – Maurice and browse the shops. The market is a good one on a Saturday.
We didn’t take kids, but clearly this resort appealed to many young families with a healthy outlook! Great walking country, gentle and serious. Our images show how stunning the views can be once the sun shines, making these clearly defined walking routes very enjoyable. Mountain biking being another option of course..very tempting!
The 1950 village had a programme of activities organised with P&V, so if you found yourself back in the village in the afternoon, you could be playing golf, tennis, archery, biking etc . Well organisd, with many prizes to be won!
Going back to the apartment was something we really looked forward to. It had a very comfortable, open plan kitchen, dinning and lounge area, alpine wood decor with the large bedroom in a similar style, views to the mountains with our own balcony also justified the five star stamp. The bathroom was also spacious. We enjoyed self-catering here as you can imagine with all the amazing local produce available. The kitchen was well stocked with all the mod cons, and everything you could need in terms of cutlery, china etc..
We also rated the pool and related facilities, and we were spoilt for choice! In our building we had a small heated outdoor pool, with a great steam room and sauna, and with a quick dash over to the opposite Pierre & Vacances Premier building, we enjoyed the larger indoor /outdoor heated pool, jacuzzi, sauna, gym. Quite an experience swimming outside and peering up to the mountain peaks above you!
You then realise just how relaxing this type of holiday is, and for a moment I imagined being in this superb Pierre & Vacances Premium Residence in the Winter, with the region opening up to 425 kms of slopes, doorstep skiing right up to the apartment building, fires burning in the reception bar areas, with even some apartments having their own fireplaces I believe!
I will be back…
To find out more about the Pierre & Vacances Premium Residence Le Village Arc 1950 and other accommodation in the same area visit – the Pierre & Vacances website: Pierreetvacances.co.uk
Pierre & Vacances gets 5 stars!
We’re excited to announce that the Pierre & Vacances Premium Les Terrasses d’Eos residence in the French Alps ski resort of Flaine Montsoleil has been awarded five stars by France’s new classification for tourist accommodation!
The new standard – five star ‘Tourist Residences’ – is awarded to properties that show exceptional service, facilities and standards of accommodation. And having met all 175 requirements, the Premium residence Les Terrasses d’Eos in Flaine-Montsoleil has become the first self catering accommodation to be listed, and will maintain its five star ranking for the next five years!
Karine Morot-Gaudry, our director of marketing & communication at Pierre & Vacances Premium says: “We are proud to be the first major player to get this ranking, which provides guarantees of a high level of service and comfort to our customers and also rewards the work of our team!”
Flaine Montsoleil is located in the Grand Massif area, 1,700 metres above sea level. Boasting 122 apartments, from one to three bedrooms, the property also features a heated indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a fitness centre, restaurants and individual ski lockers. Prices for winter accommodation start from €670 per week for a one bedroom apartment sleeping up to four people.
But whether you want to stay in our five star accommodation in Flaine, or another of our fantastique self-catering appartments in more than 40 ski resorts in the French Alps – from the glamourous Chamonix, to the car-free Avoriaz – we’re sure to have the resort perfect for you!
