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Posts Tagged ‘France destination guides’
A video guide to skiing at Arc 1950
At the heart of the French Alps, Arc 1950 is a car-free resort with a Savoyard flavour which blends itself into the shape of the surrounding mountains…
Ski-out accommodation, views of the magnificent Mont Blanc, relaxing spa, buzzing bars, cosy pubs and restaurants serving the best French cuisine for hungry skiers, and of course – fantastique snow! But don’t just take our word for it, check out what guests at Arc 1950 this season have to say – and recommend!
If this whets your appetite, check out our Pierre & Vacances Premium Residence Le Village complete with a Deep Nature Spa to get those weary post-piste limbs ready for the après-ski!
French ski resorts to fall in love with
The snow arrived in the nick of time for 2012, but with the dozens of options available, how do you choose which French ski resort to spend your hard earned pennies on this season?
In an attempt to match you up to a resort that you will love, channelling Cilla Black from her Blind Date heydays, we’ve put together three compelling reasons to pick our selection of cool contenders…
Alpe d’Huez – There’s no chance of getting bored in this traditional, historic and lively resort…
- Airboarding – A new(ish) snow sport has arrived en piste. This time on an inflatable grooved sled-like cushion. Airboarding allows you to hurtle down the mountainside head first while lying stomach-down on the board. This, of course, poses a slight hazard to fellow skiers so Alpe d’Huez hosts Airboarding and ‘snow toys’ sessions at the Poutran lift every Friday between 10am and 4.45pm.
- Alpe d’Huez Ice cave – Whimsical ice sculptures are carved annually in this cave gallery at 2,700 m. The Alpe d’Huez ice cave was dug into the snow by two high mountain guides, Bruno Gardent and Bernard Lambolez. It is accessible via the Grandes Rousses DMC lift. This year’s themes are ‘The Garden’ and ‘Biodiversity’.
- The world’s longest ski run – At 16 kms and with a vertical drop of 1,820, Sarenne is the world’s longest ski run. Once a month during the ski season you can even ski Sarenne by moonlight after a meal atop the Sarenne Glacier.
Where to stay in Alpe d’Huez:
Pierre & Vacances Residence L’Ours Blanc – The recently refurbished Pierre & Vacances L’Ours Blanc residence is located in the centre of the resort. The pretty wood-decorated building has superb views over the valley of the Massif de l’Oisans providing direct access to ski lifts and the Olympic skating rink.
Pierre & Vacances Residence Les Bergers - Less than 100 m from the ski lifts each apartment features a balcony with views over the resort on one side and the Ecrins mountain range on the other. Facilities include a swimming pool and heated relaxation room, sauna and a restaurant.
Val d’Isère – One of the original ski resorts and still one of the best. Challenging skiing with superb nightlife.
- It’s high up! It’s a no-brainer really, if you’re after lovely fresh white powder, choose a resort that’s at high altitude – it’s colder up there and there’s more chance of snow. Val d’Isère’s position offers skiing from 1550m-3470m, that’s the height of more than ten Eiffel towers stacked on top of one another.
- Olympics standard slopes – The location of the 1993 Olympics men’s downhill race, Val d’Isère provides immediate access to 300 kms of groomed slopes in the Espace Killy ski area, with further opportunities to ski in first class off piste powder AND in neighbouring Paradiski and Three Valleys systems. There’s enough here to challenge even the most experienced skier.
- Dick’s Tea Bar – It’s legendary for après ski partying attracting big name DJs, and its Val d’Isère premises have just re-opened for the season with a makeover.
Residence Les Chalets de Solaise, Val d'Isere
Where to stay in Val d’Isère:
Pierre & Vacances Residence Les Chalets de Solaise – Self catered apartments with access to the outdoor heated swimming pool and wellness area and located at the heart of Val d’Isère.
Pierre & Vacances Residence Les Balcons de Bellevarde – Typical of the Val d’Isere region with its pretty wooden and stone-clad front, ski apartments facing the slopes and balconies for all-day sunshine.
Belle Plagne – another action packed resort, in fact, if skiing is not your thing you can pack in a week’s worth of snowy fun without ever strapping on a pair of skis!
- Adrenaline activities – The bob experience: an exhilarating 19 bends worth of Olympic bobsleigh run, a giant zip slide high wire, an outdoor ice climbing tower, access to four free-style snow parks and snow quad biking. Yo name but a few…
- Child friendly – With snow kindergartens, a sledging track and crèche facilities – there’s plenty to occupy the little ones in Belle Plagne while you get on with some serious adrenaline sports.
- Keep on trekking – Glacial snow shoe treks, husky teams along with some superb cross country skiing opportunities will help you to explore the region and take in its beauty at a slower pace.
Where to stay in Belle Plagne:
Pierre & Vacances Residence Les Nereides - Located in the heart of the ‘Paradiski’ domain, with easy access to the slopes from the residence. These self catered ski apartments have recently been fully refurbished.
Pierre & Vacances Residence Residence Les Constellations – Situated directly on the slope, the wooden and stone chalets blend into the snowy backdrop in this peaceful setting.
Flaine – A stylised modernist French mountain resort and the perfect choice for those with young families and ski beginners.
- Paradise for beginners and kids – Flaine’s wide snowy boulevards are perfect for beginners and those with less skiing experience and there’s plenty of free activities and family focused fun on offer too. Excellent ski schools are also available for anyone who is slightly less confident on two skis, and there’s even a week dedicated to children from 4-13 April 2012.
- Free lifts – No need for lift passes so you can ski for free!
- Modernist architecture and art – It’s not to everyone’s taste but if you have a penchant for Bauhaus, architect Marcel Breuer’s buildings won’t disappoint. And there’s plenty of art to see too including a sculpture park containing works by Jean Dubuffet, Pablo Picasso and Victor Vasarely. The cultural centre, Art de Flaine, also hosts exhibitions of contemporary art.
Where to stay in Flaine:
Pierre & Vacances Residence La Foret - A residence with easy access to slopes and in the heart of the resort.
Pierre & Vacances Premium Residence Les Terrasses d’Eos – Stone and timber chalets, lit by large bay windows with a warm and elegant interior finish and nestled in a spruce forest.
A weekend in Le Crotoy at the Résidence de la Plage
Last month Pierre & Vacances customer Andy Parker visited Picardy for a weekend get-away. Check out his review of our Premium Résidence de la Plage, and the things to do in Le Crotoy and the surrounding area:
We recently took to the shores of North France for a stay at the Pierre & Vacances Premium Résidence de la Plage in Le Crotoy, in the Bay of Somme (just an hour’s easy drive from Calais).
Le Crotoy is a pretty special place. A small town on the bay of the Somme, where Jules Verne wrote the majority of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea whilst staying in the town, just a short drive from Abbeville. Being a fishing town there are several restaurants all serving fresh catches and we managed to visit the morning market to see what was available straight off the boat that morning.
Le Crotoy, Picardy
Only visiting for a weekend trip we decided to eat out both evenings, but had we stayed longer we would have been more than accommodated to cook my own local foods with the fish markets setting up when the trawlers come back in, an amazing butchers, grocers and patisserie all within walking distance of the apartment.
We stayed in a two bedroom apartment which could quite comfortably have slept up to six people because the sofas were also beds. The living space was ideal, the kitchen was fully kitted and exceptionally clean with the espresso machine and complimentary capsules a nice touch.
There were two bathrooms, one with a bath/shower and the downstairs a spacious shower, both were perfect after a long day walking along the coast line watching the wind and kite surfers.
The view from both the master bedroom and the living room/sun terrace were stunning, spanning all the way across the bay and up the coast line.
The view from Residence de la Plage
Being a cold November, we didn’t get an opportunity to dip into the outdoor pool but its location, facing over the waterfront, seemed ideal.
We took a trip to Abbeville which was no more than 20 minutes by car. The town has a wonderful high street with a strong mixture of high street brands and independent retailers (particularly the chocolatiers). The church in the centre of town has been restored several times throughout its history and information was available in English which helped with our lack of reading French!
There are several landmarks dotted around the town which we uncovered from exploring side streets which reflect how much devastation the town saw throughout 1914-1945.
Great War cemetary in Lebucquiere
Our final trip was to a discrete cemetery for those who served in the Great War in the village of Lebucquiere. Although we’ve never been to some of the larger memorials and cemeteries which are considerably closer to Crotoy, this one held personal interest to me.
It was a drive of several hours and we decided to utilise the toll roads. They really do put UK road services to shame! Yes you do have to pay (maximum journey was from Lebucquiere to Calais at 9 Euros) but they’re fast, direct and pretty empty at peak times.
My top tip - I had no problems with driving on the other side of the road, but remember to check your headlights before leaving to see if you should purchase headlight reverse stickers which make sure you’re not blinding on-coming traffic!
Visit Le Crotoy for yourself! Andy stayed at the self catering Pierre & Vacances Premium Résidence de la Plage in Le Crotoy, Picardy. Pierre & Vacances also has a wide range of self catering apartments around North Picardy, perfect for mountain-biking, hiking and horse-riding, as well as visiting the the Somme Bay and Compiègne forest for sports and bird watching.
A family holiday to Cap Esterel
Cap Esterel, the flagship Pierre & Vacances Holiday Resort, has recently celebrated its 20th birthday. So Marketing Manager Nick thought it was about time for a visit, here’s the diary of his family holiday in the French Riveria:
The Pierre & Vacances Cap Esterel Holiday Resort is located in the beautiful Massif de L’Esterel National Park between Saint Raphael and Cannes.
Though the resort is under an hour from Nice airport, as our two kids are now both at paying age for flights, we elected to save money and drive and the low diesel costs in France also make this cheaper. But we didn’t need the car much as there’s loads to do on the resort, and the supermarket is more than adequate, the beaches are walkable and there is a train station nearby – what more do you need?!
So driving it was, and we had a great journey across the Channel with Seafrance – friendly staff, great kids play area and loads of room on the ferry! We took an overnight stop in Formule 1 in Chalons en Champagne, then 10 hours later we were at Cap Esterel!
Happy family in our holiday apartment
We were delighted with our apartment: newly refurbished with a bedroom for Granny, bunk beds for the kids (sharing for the first time!) and a sofa bed in the lounge for Mum and Dad. It was nicely decorated with pictures of the L’Esterel National Park and all the usual mod cons including dishwasher, kettle and even a teapot…….Granny was happy!
Cap Esterel teapot
We had amazing views of the med, and the supermarket, shops and bars were only a minute away. Plus we were so close to the swimming pool that when we heard the hourly announcement for the wave machine we could get our trunks on and get down there in time!
View from Cap Esterel apartment
The kids loved the main swimming pool’s wave machine and water slide, and when we wanted a longer swim we went to the upper infinity pool which was slightly warmer and with amazing sea views. We also took the train to the quieter Hameau area which has its own swimming pools and supermarket. There is a main pool (good for lengths) and a children’s pool on a large roof terrace area, also with, you guessed it, amazing views.
The Cap Esterel Train
Apart from the swimming pools the main attractions for the family were the train and local beaches. The train handily stops near the main children’s playground and is so popular that every time it arrives there is a mass-exodus from the playground! If you’re like our family you take the train just for the fun of it [up to 3 times a day!], but it’s also quite handy for getting around the Resort and travelling to the local beach at Dramonts. On Wednesdays the train also takes you to the lovely market at Agay.
Beautiful Agay Beach
We alternated between the beaches at Dramonts and Agay, both with their own advantages. Dramonts is a small and quiet pebble beach with beautiful clear water, while Agay is a larger sandier beach with a choice of restaurants, bars and shops nearby. There is a short cut from the train bridge at the bottom of Cap Esterel over the hills to join the Agay road. It’s probably a 30 minute walk and a bit difficult with buggies but worth the time saving if you like a bit of exercise. There is also a little beach on the main road opposite the entrance to Cap Esterel.
Fred playing on Agay beach
In the Resort itself there is more than enough to keep the kids occupied all holiday. The 9 hole golf course is well looked after, the lake is stunning and there are loads of water sports available. There is also tennis, football, and crazy golf – basically you name it they have it! My wife made good use of the fitness classes and the children’s clubs looked like lots of fun!
Live music at Cap Esterel
On Friday night there was live music in the main resort village area. This is an area above the main pool with the feel of a little tourist town and of course amazing views! There are about 10 restaurants, a lovely cafe with shop, bar and ice creams, plus take way pizza and rotisserie. All were good value with family offers and menu du jours. The ice creams became a favourite with the kids who worked their way through all the different flavours! And at the far side of this area is the L’Esterel hotel with its own swish restaurant.
As for ‘eating-in’, the on-site supermarket was fantastic with its own bakery, a selection of toys, a wide range of food at reasonable prices and even a special section for English customers missing their favourite ale or sauce! We didn’t bother going anywhere else.
All in all we had fantastic family holiday in Cap Esterel and can’t wait to return!
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!
