Connect with us
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Posts Tagged ‘pierre vacances’
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!
Pierre & Vacances at the France Show 2012
The France Show 2012! An eclectic mix of everything that makes France fantastique – travel, food, wine tasting, cooking demonstrations by talented French chefs, talks on France by well known writers and presenters, and cancan dancers!
The Pierre & Vacances stand at The France Show with the lovely Camilla
We had a very busy show, and met lots of lovely loyal Pierre & Vacances customers and new ones too. And there was of course the Pierre & Vacances petanque pitch, manned by our petanque expert Bruce, ready and waiting for intrepid fans to come and show us what their boules were made of!
Bruce and some budding petanque players
The pitch proved to be hugely popular, with Bruce kept busy playing, demonstrating and guiding the petanque players of the future who stopped by. And for those wanting to take the weight off their feet and have a rest, Jeremy was on hand to whip up a tipple of Marseille aperitif Ricard.
Jeremy shows us how to serve the delicious French tipple of Ricard
On Sunday we held a petanque pairs competition, featuring 18 teams from across the UK who battled it out for the first prize of a holiday to France with Pierre & Vacances and DFDS Ferries. The quality of the competition was fantastic and only a few players were distracted by the Ricard tasting available next to the terrain!
Lots of action on the petanque pitch
And the proud petanque winners were husband and wife team Lee and Angie Jamieson! With runners up Nick Goodheart and Mal Hanley from Harrow winning a limited edition Pierre & Vacances petanque set. All together now: oooh!
Limited edition petanque set!
Below are some more pictures from our The France Show weekend, hopefully tempting those who couldn’t make this year to put it in their diary for 2013!
Mr French Amabassador, with this France Show you are really spoiling us!
Cooking demonstrations
Delicious French food!
More delicious French food
Even more delicious French food!
Wine tasting
And Cancan dancers!
See you next year!
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.
Summer holidays go live with Pierre & Vacances
Book early for savings of up to 35 per cent!
You can book summer holidays at over 45,000 apartments throughout France and Spain from today (December 26, 2011) with the launch of the new Pierre & Vacances 2012 brochure. Early-bird booking discounts, a new waterside residence in Brittany, as well as improved facilities plus new regional activities added to its soon-to-be re-branded Pierre & Vacances Resorts, are among the exciting developments that you will be able to experience in 2012.
Bargain breaks in France and Spain should be snapped up early with 35 per cent savings possible by combining long-stay and early booking discounts.
Early booking and long stay offers
The early bookings offers are available for up to 13 night stays for bookings made before 31 March 2012 for holidays from April to August and until 31 May 2012 for holidays from September to November. Long stay discounts are valid on stays of 14 to 20 consecutive nights. Discounts are as follows:
- Maeva- up to 20 per cent off for early booking/ up to 15 per cent off for long stay
- Pierre & Vacances Residences- up to 20 per cent off for early bookings/ 10 per cent off for long stay
- Pierre & Vacances Resorts- up to15 per cent off for early bookings/ 10 per cent off for long stay
- Pierre & Vacances Premium- up to 15 per cent off for early bookings/ 10 per cent off for long stay
The offers exclude peak holiday dates of 14 July- 24 August 2012.
The Pierre & Vacances summer portfolio offers exciting new additions and discounts for 2012. Full details of the summer portfolio from Pierre & Vacances can be seen here.
New residence
Le Coteau et la Mer in Douarnenez, Brittany is the latest addition to the Pierre & Vacances summer portfolio. The waterfront residence is located 50 metres from Les Sables Blancs Beach and has 64 one to two bedroom apartments, sleeping up to seven people, many of which have panoramic views of Douarnenez Bay. Guests will have access to the residence’s heated swimming pool which faces the sea and a solarium. There is also a Thalassotherapy centre just a few minutes walk from the apartments where treatments can be pre-booked.
Highest waterpark in Europe
A brand new water park, Aquariaz, is to open in the Alpine resort of Avoriaz - the birthplace of Pierre & Vacances – in May 2012. Designed by Center Parcs Europe, it will be the largest water park at high altitude in Europe.
The conservatory style aqua park will cover 2,000 metres squared with large swimming pools, flowing rivers, hot tubs, water slides, a wading pool and a climbing wall. The entire area will be decorated with plants and trees to invoke a tropical atmosphere and floor to ceiling windows will allow panoramic views of the Portes du Soleil area.
New ‘Holiday Village’ branding
From January 2012, Pierre & Vacances 13 Resorts across France and Spain will be re-branded to Holiday Villages with the aim of providing guests with further on site facilities, à la carte services and integrated regional activities.
Key new features include a five free activities pass available per booking ranging from bike hire to discovering circus skills and more free activities for the whole family including fitness sessions, sports tournaments and evening shows. Pre-bookable children’s clubs are offered and improved baby kits will be available including items such as a night light and mosquito net. Further details on the Holiday Villages can be seen at here.
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.
