Messages posted by : Dids1
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Cheltenham Town
2-0 up after1st leg of the playoffs. :thumbup: |
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Thanks for both comments!
Ranchero, I can see why someone with time would love it there. When you've only got a week a year getting 5 people in the car and out for 1st lift is a challenge. If you don't have to get in a car then you can leave the stragglers behind to catch up. Where we stayed buses weren't an option. If staying a season were an option then I would certainly feel differently - there are so many places within a reasonable distance. It was obvious thugh that is was the place for off piste and touring. It must be amazng to be able to take advantage off all it has to offer. I have been to Chamonix in summer. Loved i We had been stayng in La Clusaz and visited a couple of times for touristy type days out. Unfortunately Aiguille du Midi closed ( is it me?!) due to high winds, but we went up the Mer de Glace. Ate a meal in the centre and loved the buzz I imagne it's a great place to live. Edit - i will just add. It wasn't a nightmare for us. It was pretty much what I knew it wuld be, but in hindsight too much faffing! |
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Decided at long last to write a resume of our holiday to the above in April this year.
Being on a budget, but going at a school holiday tme we were rather restricted with accomodation so we decided to go to a lower resorts, but to a nice chalet. Our rationale being that we had cars and could drive to the snow if Les Houches was lacking and when the interest ran out there. We chose a a self catered chalet at 1200 m next to Maison Neuve chairlift. Sleeping 9 it was perfect for our requirements, was well equipped, warm and right next to the lift. You ski literally to the door when snow permitted. For us it didn't quite so we had to walk about 50 metres. We used Tesco vouchers and crossed by eurotunnel on 8am crossing. Roads were quiet and we arrived in Les Houches around 5.45 pm. We were able to purchase our lift passes from the kiosk at 1200m so no hassle there. The family pass for Les Houches is excellent value. It is for 2 adults and up to 4 children and the children can be up to 18 years of age. We only purchased 2 days as we could see the skiing was fairly limited. The snow wasn't bad though we arrived a week early for the massive Easter snowfalls that followed. We did however have pretty decent visibily on most days. Les Houches is a lovely ski area. The views are stunning and the runs pretty and sheltered. I would only return there for a short bresk though when snow was at it's best. It's just too limited to ski only there for a week. There was almost no one there however, we had no queues and usually the pistes to ourselves which was lovely. On day 3 we decided to ski at Argentiere. We bought the Le Cham pass which allows you to 2700 m and not on the Grand Montets glacier. Immediately we got on the gondola we could see that this was a different sort of resort altogther! There were few families and it was obvious this was a resort for the serious skier! The pistes were crowded and at times felt quite dangerous. We had 3 less experienced teens with us who were quite nerved by the speed and disregard of some of the hugely experienced snow users - snowboard and ski. The visibility was also poorer this day as it wa snowing lightly so we called it a day at around 3.30 and headed back down on the gondola. We decided that Argentiere was definitely for the thrill seeker so we decided to get out of their way and the next day we went to Le Tour. This was much more family orientated and suited our group much better. The runs into Vallorcine were pretty and the snow was pretty good for the time of year. We skied here for 2 days and had a top up a snow on day 5. All week I had been eyeing the gondola at Le Brevent and wanting to go up, so we wnet on the last day. We started at la Flegere where we loved the skiing, but for some reason a lot of the runs were closed, it didn't appear to be lack of snow, but we headed off to Le Brevent to see what was there. It's a great ski area, there's a fun park with huge air bag, a great mix of abilities, so didn't feel intimidated like at Argentiere and the snow was great. The views there are incredible. The black off the top of Le Brevent is great fun and doable for a decent skier. We saw a couple of younger kids struggling down but there's enough space for everyone to go down at their own pace. I wouldn't go back to this area (Chamonix) because I got tired of the disjointedness of the place. Apart from Le Brevent and La Flegere none of the areas are linked so if you didn't have a car you would have rto rely on buses - which are obviously frequent, but it's still hanging about. I can see why it's the place for hard, fast skers who might be there for a season but for a family on a weeks break it wasn't for us. Having said that we had a great time, but a largeish linked area is what I will book again next time. Staying at 1200m is not a problem though and we definitely didn't regret our choice of resort - we just wouldn't do the same again. As we self catered we didn't eat out (budget!) but a friend paid 10 euros for a beer and 6 for bottled water which she thought was pretty steep. This was in Les Houches. There's a couple of decent supermarkets in Les Houches itself and a doctors which we had to take our daughter to ( chest infection). Son and his girlfriend ate at the Indian restaurant one evening. Prices on a par with UK. Skis were rented from Intersport who could not have been more attentive and friendly. Brother paid 139 euros for skis and boots and 89 for his daughter as a junior. All in all a good break, but a bit like Val Thorens we can say we've been, had a good time, but won't be rushing back. I'd be quite interested to know if anyone else has been and how they felt about the area. I haven't seen many reviews on here, so perhaps others have been put off by the fact that all of the areas are so spread out. I know Bandit knows the area, but is obviously more experienced and an off piste skier. I will add that we.had originally thought we might try Courmayer for the last day. Thank goodness we didn't. The Mont Blanc tunnel was shut almost all day and we could see queues still stretching miles at lunchtime. Dids |
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A dog just won his owner half a million quid last night.
Now there's a reason to get a dog! Regarding my previous message. I do actually have a dog - but I got it because I wanted it, not because the kids did. Snapzzz, it sounds like you might be wanting to commit yourself. You know all the pros and cons. |
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If you don't want a dog don't get one.
The kids won't walk it, feed it, clean up after it, or pay for it. They might love it, but that's the easy bit. |
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Can't you just mute the sound? Then you have the choice of whether you listen or not. Edit - :D just realised - you like the other sounds. |
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Love the pic of the flock of woopy jumpers.
Looks like you had a lot of fun. |
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The one on the left would be a very pretty boy....
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