beginner skiing in La Plagne

Hi all,
I'm new here so hi.

I need a little bit of advice, I have been skiing twice before in Italy and Austria both in March/April time, but in january my fiancee and myself will be going to La Plagne (first time for her), questions are:
1) How much colder will it be to when I went in march, will we need thermal stuff under our ski gear or will fleeces etc do (by the way she did find the snow dome in Leeds very cold!)?
2) How diffecult are the slopes will she need a full week of 9-5 ski lessons (she got these free with the package but wondering if she will need them all for the slopes here?)
3) It is about 4 years ago that I went so any particular things we should take with us?
4) In Sauze there were restaurants on the slopes for lunch, are there here?
5) We are driving there, is it easy to find?

Thanks for any help and advice

I was in La Plagne last January(and will be on the 10th Jan this winter) so will answer what I can!

Temperature - stating the obvious but it is entirely dependent on the weather (sun in or out). It was sunny every day but one for me in Jan 2008 and I was always too warm due to the exertion. I was wearing something under my pants and just a long sleeve top (running top to take away the sweat) under my jacket which was zip down most of the time. It's not until late afternoon skiing in the shade that it ever felt cool ( but I'm from Gateshead .....some lads in my ski lessons were from Sunderland and kept being told off for skiing in T-shirts). But you always need to be prepared for bad weather....I was in Serre Chevalier once when it kept blizzarding - sitting on a chair lift that's not moving due to the wind is no fun when your coat is icing up......so either keep an eye on the forecast (posted at the gondola stations etc.) or take warmer clothing with you on the slopes.

Plenty of choice of slopes - from easy to challenging so will only depend on progress. If she's going to stick at skiing she's best off going to most to be at her best - she can always ski during lunch break etc. or skip one or two at the end if she wants. She should aim to go down L'Arpette by the mid to end of the week - really fun blue run but is quick in places.

Can't think of anything in particular - pants, jacket, gloves, sunglasses, (goggles if snowing) hat, baselayers, socks...then basically anything you want in your room that a small supermarket might not have - we took tea bags, hot chocolate etc. Something sweet to give you energy in the afternoon perhaps, if you don't like French chocolate or whatever.

Plenty of restaurants on the slopes, on the glacier etc. But they are expensive - with the Euro it's going to be costly this year so you might want to visit the supermarket instead. But if passing through Belle Plagne both Le Matafan and Le Face Nord are good.

We were in a taxi last time but it seemed well-signposted. But I suggest you get directions from the RAC website if you don't have Sat-Nav.

Anything else?

i would deffinately go with the ski lessons iannikkei as la plagne is quite a large area, and you,ll get more out of it.
i drove down there myself 2yrs ago using a sat nav.
the route was simple enough although my sat nav did,nt have belle plagne in it,so i had to use a bit of common sence..NOT.
i ended up driving past the turn off for aime la plagne(which is the village i should have gone through to get to la plagne)and went up the wrong mountain, bellecote i think it was.
well 15 airpin bends to the top only for the sat nav to tell me i have reached my destination.lucky for me some other brits were there and pointed out that i was on the wrong mountain.so back down i went and up 21 airpin bends to belle plagne, in a fully loaded people carrier.
just make sure you take snow chains in case you need them to climb up the 21 airpin bends.

As far as the clothing/temperature issue,as pointed out, rather dependant on the weather. However, on the basis that your fiance will be in lessons pretty much all day, which by default, means she'll spend a lot of time standing still watching the rest of her class ski, she'd better wrap up. Always better to have too much on than not enough.

Meet her for lunch, take a back pack and divest her of any clothes she doesn't need.

Loving those 'airpins.

Hi,
thanks for the replies,thinking the drive there might be a bit scary (for the passangers anyway! hehe)
Whats the skiing there like, its only my second time, and last time I went was about 4 years ago, so thinking of may be having a few lessons myself either here or over there.

Skiing is excellent. Lots of skiing over 2000m metres, so pretty snow sure. Whole variety of slopes facing in all directions. Plenty of blues/reds, and lots for learners.
Virtually whole resort can be accessed on chairs/gondolas/cable cars. Very rarely would you need a button lift.
You'll have a great time.

hi aggree with all above on the subject of sat navs dove down to chamonix from scotland in the summer great help esp speed camera warnings ,went thro the mont blanc tunnel to courmayeur and guess what the sat nav got us lost on the exact same piece of road that ewan and charleys got them lost on the long way down !!! ps they do seem to loose the plot on hairpin mountain roads cant keep up

I had my first skiing holiday 2 years ago, in La Plagne, as a 60th birthday 'bucket list' present to myself, and I am hooked.
We went in March and I had morning lessons only.
There is an easy 'green' run in La Plagne centre 400 metres from the nursery slopes, to practice alone for the first couple of days and by the second day our instructor had taken us further up the mountain on steady blue runs which are easily accessible.
We went in March 2007, it was sunny on 5 days, and I wore just salopettes on the legs (no long thermals) and only a thermal top under my ski jacket.