What a great time we had last week, skiing in Val Thorens. There was more than enough snow, and the runs were excellent all week. I think I only skied over two tiny patches of ice during the whole week.
In the distance, Val Thorens
Lindsey coming off a lift
Mid-week it became very cold – down to minus 27, but we were able to ski every day, and only Tuesday was rather bad, due to poor visibility. So we spent most of that day in the pool and sauna.
We booked through Inghams, and stayed in the Chalet Amelie, which was excellent. The chalet girl was called Vicky, and she did us proud with her fantastic baking and cooking. Every afternoon there was a new cake on the coffee table, followed by aperitifs, canapés, and then a superb three course meal. Chalet girls don’t get paid much, I believe, and sometimes they put in 20 hour days. On the last evening it was agreed that we’d all put in €20 per couple for her tip, which I thought was rather stingy, but I was absolutely knackered from skiing all day, and incapable of further discussion.
View from our chalet balcony
Here’s a video of Lindsey skiing down to Menuires:
I believe chalet girls are Swiss valley girls.
Most of them are from the UK.
Presumably local girls would want higher wages.
It’s a playground for non-French. The French presumably just take the profits.