J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by AllyG

Billip1, yes you're quite right - what I really meant to say was drinks not from the very extensive wine list (there seem to be pages on alcoholic drinks!).

I will correct it :D

But it's nice to know you're reading all this so carefully. I like to slip in these small errors now and then, just to keep everyone awake :wink:

Oh, and so you don't make an idiot of yourself (like I did when it took me about ten go's to get a photo up the first time) you click on 'preview' instead of 'submit' so you can check you really do have the photo.

Adam67 wrote: :oops:

Adam, I've got no idea where that photo was taken, but I do know how to use photobucket. Once you had your photo up on photobucket all you had to do was click that link on the right hand centre, called IMG code, and it automatically copies it, and then you paste it up on here, and you get a picture!

Hi Andy,
Nice to see you back and I'm glad you had a good time :D

Hi Andy,
I am working my way through the lunch-stop list you very kindly sent me, very slowly!

I picked the Edelweiss because the website was easy to find, and use, and they had the menus up. And I thought it looked very nice - especially the view :D

I haven't been able to find out how they're getting on re-building the Bananas Bar, that you recommended, after it was destroyed by fire. Does anyone know? Here is a report of the fire:

http://www.valdinet.com/events/news/bananas-bar-burns-down.html

I found the website and menus for La Folie Douce:
http://www.lafoliedouce.com/

These seem to be about the cheapest options:
Savoyard Pastry with Cream and Beaufort Cheese 14
Simple Quiche Lorraine, Roquette Salad 13
Special Leek Pie Fruitière, Herb Sauce 12
Fresh Vegetables Soup 12

And some of the drinks are priced as follows:
Hot Chocolate 5.50
Hot Wine 20cl 6.00
Capuccino 5.50
Irish Coffee 12.00
Teas
Jasmin Green Tea , Earl Grey, 5.00
English Breakfast

So, it's a pretty expensive place to go for lunch, but it looks as though it has lovely views and is pretty lively!

smartski wrote:

AllyG wrote:
I asked Andyhull how he manages on the group trips he organizes, and he says they can manage on a budget of 20 euros for lunch, including a glass of red wine.

'Tagliatelles a la carbonara' at 16 euros should bring us in on budget, with a drink as well.

....excuse my interruption but

:shock: the other day when I suggested £15 for lunch , you didn't believe me :shock:

Thought I'd just get that off my chest...anyway...as you were! -)

URGENT EDIT :oops: :oops: I'M TAKING THAT BACK, I CONFESS WAS TALKING DINNER BEFORE :oops:

Hi Smartski :D

It's OK - I know the difference between dinner and lunch can be quite confusing :lol:

Obviously the prices all depend on where you eat, what you choose from the menu, and how much you eat (and drink!).

Anyone having a cereal bar from home and a bottle of tap water for lunch, and finding a nice comfy spot somewhere in the snow or in a gondola, could probably do it for about 85 pence!

We seem to be on a new page now, so I'd just like to say that we still have a few rooms left in the chalet. If anyone else would like to come with us would they please send me a pm or post up on here :D

The basic price for a twin or double room in the catered chalet Bonjour Bonjour in Tignes Les Brevieres is £399 pp.

The price for 4 adults in a quad room without a balcony in the chalet = £350

The cost of flights change all the time and depend who you're flying with and from which airport and at what time. The cheapest I could find at the moment at a time to suit the chalet transfers are these ones:

EasyJet Luton to Geneva departing at 10-40 arriving 13-20
Departing Geneva 11-25 arriving Luton 12-05
Return price including luggage but not ski carriage = £91

Return chalet transfer from Geneva to the chalet = £60

'Noir' ski and boot hire with Intersport = 101 euros (about £82)

6 days area lift pass (300 Km piste) = 235 euros (about £190 depending on the exchange rate).

Quad room price including these flights, transfers, lift pass, and 'noir' ski hire = £773
Twin/double room price including the same as above = £822

The total holiday price will vary according to your method of travel etc.

Far Queue reckons it will cost him £500 in total to drive there and back.

The French train tickets haven't been released yet for the dates we want, but going on the prices for the weeks before - indirect train out on the Saturday changing in Paris, coming back a week later on the Sunday also changing in Paris, gives a return price of about £126. And the return bus from Bourg to the chalet will cost about 15 euros. But you will have to find somewhere to stay for the night of Saturday 12th, unless they later release tickets for a sleeper train from Paris to Bourg.

I have had a further thought about the lift pass price and the exchange rate.

If I think the exchange rate is going to get worse I can buy enough euros here, now, to pay for the lift pass because Bonjour will take payment in euros in cash for the lift pass I've ordered.

We have also been thinking about lunch out on the slopes. Tignes and Val d'Isere are notorious for the horrendous prices charged by their mountain restaurants.

This is something I wrote (page 55) about one of these mountain restaurants after my trip to Tignes at the end of April 2012:

AllyG wrote:This is a photo taken from the mountain restaurant Le Trifollet, which is above La Daille (in the Val d'Isere half of the Espace Killy).

We skied here from Les Boisses on the first morning (Monday 23rd April 2012) of my research trip, after going down into Les Brevieres first to have a look at it, and by the time we got here I was ready for a hot chocolate!

This restaurant is in a very good position because it's connected by green, blue, and red runs and you don't have to ski down into La Daille to reach it (although we did because we wanted to). There's the blue Criterium, the green Verte, and the red Triffolet as well as the red Coupe de Monde 'OK' pistes down into La Daille.

It is, however, very expensive. Our hot chocolate was 4-20 euros and the tea was 4-50. But the view is great and I really did need a rest and a hot drink by the time we got there :D

We have been trying to think of ways to keep to a reasonable budget for lunch. I asked Andyhull how he manages on the group trips he organizes, and he says they can manage on a budget of 20 euros for lunch, including a glass of red wine.

The problem is that all the cheap lunch places are down in the villages, and I think really we all want to be up high somewhere with a fantastic view. So I think we will probably manage by bringing snack food, like cereal bars and water, with us and then going into some of these lovely restaurants and choosing the less expensive items on the menu.

In the Edelweiss restaurant, for example, on the blue piste Mangard above le Fornet, 'Tagliatelles a la carbonara' at 16 euros should bring us in on budget, with a drink as well. And if anyone has plenty of money and is really hungry their 3 course 'formule du chalet' costs 26-50 euros.

http://www.restaurant-edelweiss-valdisere.com/mountain_restaurant_valdisere.php

I have also spoken to Bonjour about this, because there is ski hosting for 5 days, and they say we can discuss restaurants with them when we get there and decide how much we want to pay for lunch and where we want to go, and then the ski host will take us there.

Bonjour don't do packed lunches so anyone that wants to bring their own lunch up the mountain will have to either bring something from the U.K. or go shopping in the supermarket in Les Brevieres, which fortunately is pretty much next door to the chalet, and buy something for their lunch. I suspect that most of the restaurants won't allow you to bring your own food and eat it on their terraces, so we will have to think about that problem next!