France à la carte

Last-minute ski promotions French Alps

2009-12-17T17:35:00.001+01:00

FRANCE A LA CARTE LAST MINUTE SKI SPECIALS

For 7 days week beginning Saturday 2nd January 2010

ORCIERES - 4 and 6 person apartments - 30% OFF (from 52.25 euros per person)
LES ORRES - 4 and 5 person apartments - 30% OFF (from 44.60 euros per person)
SUPERDEVOLUY - 4, 6 and 8 person apartments - 40% OFF (from 26.13 euros per person)

booking on-line only before the 23rd December.

And for those who can get away this weekend we have 50% reductions on apartments in La Plagne and St Gervais and on chalets in Les Menuires ... but you'll have to book that by phone immediately!

And for our non-skiing customers ... sorry for the inconvenience of yet another email newsletter.

From the cold and snowy south

Simon

38 euros a week ski deal!

2009-12-03T09:16:00.001+01:00

It's snowing heavily in the Pyrenees and most of the resorts are opening this weekend, 5th December.

FRANCE A LA CARTE are celebrating the start of the season with a one-off special offer in top resort ST LARY. Over the period 9th - 23rd January 2010 they are renting out 4-berth self-catering apartments on the slopes at Espiaube for a miserable 38 euros per person! Each apartment (with free access to sauna, gym and jacuzzi) costs just 145 euros per week.

This offer is only good until 6th December midnight, so hurry, hurry hurry!

BOOK ON LINE

ON-LINE BOOKING

2009-05-20T11:28:00.000+02:00

We have re-vamped our on-line booking engine and put it into service for the summer season.

This year we are concentrating on do-it-yourself holiday reservations (in response to popular demand) instead of all-in packages. This means that the booking engine gives you the possibility of reserving just the accommodation - a week in a 4-berth holiday apartment in Mimizan, for example - and you arrange the rest of the holiday yourself. We have included optional extras such as '7 days car hire' which you are free to take or not.

The interest of this policy of 'accommodation plus optional extras' will become more apparent when we put our winter programme on-line (soon) where you will be able to choose accommodation and a whole range of extras - ski pass, hire car, ski and boot hire, airport transfers and so on.

How does it work? Go to the main summer holiday page and choose your resort. Once on the resort page you will see little rectangles on the left with ON-LINE BOOKING in red. These give the available dates and prices for different sizes of accommodation. Click on the BOOK NOW link and you'll be taken to a page where the accommodation is described in detail, the prices of the optional extras are displayed, and an interactive google map gives the precise location of the residence. If you're happy with the details just select a date and click on the BOOK NOW button. Here you're asked for a few details (name, email, telephone and that's it) before receiving an email with a confirmation link which you must click to get to the payment page (security!). Then you go to the bank and finish the process. Compared to the majority of on-line booking engines we feel we have reduced the form-filling and administrative jungle to an absolute minimum.

A quicker way is to go directly to the SEARCH page where you choose your resort and dates straight off... but you have to know a bit about the resorts (like, just where is Gaujac?).

If you have any technical difficulties with the booking engine (bugs, lost emails etc) then contact me at simon@francealacarte.com
If you can't find the date or apartment you want then contact my colleague Sylvie at sylvie@francealacarte.com

Bonnes vacances!

Simon

Half-term ski packages for GROUPS - Feb 2010

2009-04-03T17:51:00.002+02:00

Special School Groups /SKI PYRENEES/ or family groups

In response to a growing interest for group programmes in the Pyrenees for the week 14 to 21 February 2010
France à la carte has created a package comprising:

Hotel** with full board + skipass + ski hire + ski lessons + all transfers
Example of price from 495 euros (5 nights from Sunday to Friday) - for groups of 40 guests

France à la carte has uncovered for you this 'hidden gem' with access from the French airports at Tarbes/Pau, Carcassonne and Toulouse.

* the highest resort in the Pyrenees (2020m – 2751m)

* with exceptional snow cover

* a purpose-built ski resort in the upper Garonne valley of the Pyrenees, on the Spanish side
including 1 hotel **, 2 Residence**, 2 hotels***, 1 Aparthotel**** with SPA

* Free of traffic and entirely self-sufficient,

* a high-altitude resort with slopes for all the family.

Ski area & equipment: • 762 m of vertical descent • 44 Km of signed pistes
• 49 pistes: 9 green, 5 blue, 27 red and 8 black
• 2 snowparks • 205 snow-cannons • 20,2 Km of slopes under artificial snow
• 15 lifts • 7 chair-lifts (4 quadriplaces, 2 double, 1 triple)
• 6 tow-lifts • 3 magic carpets • 5 snow-rollers for piste maintenance.
• 2 ski schools: more than 125 qualified instructors
• Hire and repair service for skis and boards
• 1 Snow garden (infants from 1 year old, with supplement)

• Shuttle service throughout the resort
• Cafeteria and restaurants on the slopes

* Good après-ski with a large selection of restaurants, pubs, nightclubs and so on.
* Possibility of 2 hours of French or Spanish lessons 2 or 3 times in the week

For more details, please contact us at : info@francealacarte.com specifying 'group ski package'

Cooking courses in France - the Quercy

2009-02-06T09:46:00.001+01:00

COOKING COURSES

Many of our UK and Irish customers find our cooking courses too long: they want something shorter. Well, we've done just that and created a new WEEKEND COOKING COURSE in our chateau in the Quercy. Arrival on the Thursday evening (Bergerac, Bordeaux or Toulouse airport), 2 hands-on courses on the Friday and Saturday mornings with the chateau's chef, and the rest of the time spent exploring the culinary delights of the region (vineyards, goose breeders, foie gras producers etc). Departure Sunday.

This upmarket course in a beautifully appointed chateau includes half-board (great gourmet food) and a hire car from any airport. Price: €480 per person.

2009-01-21T09:48:00.000+01:00

SKI HOLIDAYS in FEBRUARY
This year is an exceptional year for snowfall in both Pyrenees and Alps. This means that most resorts are now already fully booked for the very high season - French School Holidays - 14th - 28th February. The two weeks on either side of these periods are also much in demand.

What this means in practical terms is that if you really want to book in that period you must conform to what is on offer: Saturday to Saturday booking, 7 nights minimum. You are wasting your time looking for 4 nights Tuesday to Friday.

However, we do have space in most resorts for the whole of the month of March and even into April. Although this week will be mild there will be a lot of snow at high altitude and the medium-range forecast is for cold snowy weather to persist in February. This means that skiing conditions will remain good for the rest of the season. The financial crisis (and the drop in value of Sterling) means that suppliers and agents like ourselves are keen to keep prices to an absolute minimum: our BEST DEALS page gives you an idea of what sort of packages are on offer outside of the school holiday period.

Fed up hearing about winter sports? Then take a look at our SELF-DRIVE TOURS which work on the same principle as most of our other breaks: you fly (or TGV) into France, pick up a hire car at airport or station and have a carefree few days exploring parts of France you don't know. We provide the itinerary and book all accommodation in advance.

Prefer a more sedentary approach? Then have a look at our SEASIDE pages and choose a spot on the coast for the summer. We're in the process of updating the details and prices but you can be sure that prices won't change much given the present economic situation.

That's the news

à bientôt

WEBSITE OVERHAUL

2008-09-09T15:15:00.000+02:00

FRANCE A LA CARTE NEWS

NEW WEBSITE: The FRANCE A LA CARTE website has been completely over-hauled during the summer resulting in a clearer, faster-loading site with a simple navigation system at the top of the screen.

We have repatriated all our cooking courses and wine tours from alacartecuisine and all our ski breaks from alacarteski so that every FRANCE A LA CARTE product is now present in the one site.

SKI - BEST DEALS: A page to keep an eye on for ski enthusiasts. All our best deals are now to be found on one page - BEST DEALS - which is constantly updated and amended to bring you our latest offers.

Not to be confused with our CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR page dedicated to relaxing ski breaks at the end of the year.

à bientôt

Simon

Tour de France passes through Toulouse

2008-07-13T18:54:00.002+02:00

Two days of Tour de France action this weekend in Toulouse. Saturday saw the sprint victory of Isle of Man lad Mark Cavendish in lashing rain just a few metres from FRANCE A LA CARTE's offices in Place St Sernin. Sunshine on Sunday morning as the riders left the Tour Village planted on the Place du Capitole for a 200 kilometre ride into the Pyrenees.

NEW LOOK ... NEW PRODUCTS at FRANCE A LA CARTE

2008-05-30T09:29:00.000+02:00

Not only are we updating our website at the moment but we're also branching out into new fields: GOLF, SPA and THASSOTHERAPY.

You can see the 'new look' of the site - a sort of 'web 2.0' look - on the seaside, golf/spa and thalassotherapy pages. The entire site should take on this new look by the end of June: next up will be Cuisine & Wine followed by ski, other sports and finally the home page. Your comments on these changes are, as always, very welcome.

We have bracketed GOLF and SPA together as it's often the case that one person in a couple will want to play golf while the other prefers relaxing in a luxury spa. For example, in the Bordeaux area, we have unearthed a 4 star hotel in the Margaux vineyards with beautiful spa facilities and surrounded by a testing 18-hole golf course. Also in the Bordeaux area is a 4*L hotel offering not just spa, luxury surroundings and cuisine but also a unique wine-based treatment "vinotherapy". It's located on the Smith-Lafitte wine estate.

Thalassotherapy is really just spa treatment using the natural properties of seawater. The best place for this is the Basque country and we have three top hotels at Biarritz and St Jean-de-Luz. Daily flights from Stansted and Dublin to Biarritz airport (20 minutes from the venues) make these short packages especially attractive.

As usual, all our short breaks include a hire car (unlimited mileage, CDW) waiting at the regional airport of your choice, green fees/a selection of spa treatments, and half-board or at least a dinner on the arrival evening. All you have to do is find your own flight. We have located each spa, golf or thalasso product in relation to an airport with daily links to the UK & Ireland: you should never have more than 90 minutes driving time, often much less.

The last of the bisons - Prehistoric Cave Art in France

2008-03-18T10:29:00.001+01:00

Within 10 years - if not less - all the major sites where cave paintings can be seen in Europe will be closed to the public. The Lascaux caves are already closed: visitors can see a mock-up of the real thing, but only research workers can visit the original. The same will happen to the other major sites very quickly: already, many are limiting access to small groups a few times a day, to preserve the fragile environment (temperature, humidity) in which these extraordinary artworks survive.

The cave complex at Niaux, in the Ariège département in the Pyrenees, is a series of long winding caverns deep in the mountain which is explored in total darkness. Except, that is, for a low-power torch with which each visitor (maximum 20 at a time) is equipped so that he can pick his way over the rubble-strewn floor and glimpse the magnificence of the odd stalactite suspended in the gloom. The cave finally opens out into a central 'room', high as a cathedral with walls as sheer as the Titanic. Suddenly the guide, who is equipped with a high-power torch, turns his light on to one of the walls and a spectacular bison leaps off the limestone followed by another and another. The wall is teeming with game: bison, horse and mountain goat stand out like trophies in a game hunter's library. But ten minutes later it's time to go: we've already been there too long, breathing out CO² and exuding tiny particles of humidity, all poison to these artworks of 12,000 years ago.

Across the valley, in the Cave de la Vache, the guide shows us a cavern where hundreds of Magdalenian families spent the winter feasting on small animals and fish that came up or down the valley: salmon, hare, wild goat, birds. No bison or woolly mammoth: these were unknown in these mountainous regions 12 - 14,000 years ago except as, perhaps, totemic animals invested with a sacred spirit. While the hunter-gatherers ate, unknown artists left their images in the sacred cave of Niaux across the valley.

And so it was in most of southern

France

at that time. We know very little about who these artists were or why they drew this or that animal in inaccessible caves. But we do know one thing: exposure of these works of art to unregulated crowds of human beings causes terminal damage. Already the most famous cave complex - that of Lascaux in the Dordogne - has been closed to the public and a 'replica' opened in its stead. The other caves have all taken preventive measures to ward off the inevitable consequence: their closure to the public. Niaux lets in only four groups a day; Font de Gaume allows only 8 people at time but experts are already noting the rapid degeneration of certain caves. The writing is on the wall: if you want to see these exceptional artworks then you'd better get over there fast.

FRANCE A LA CARTE, the leading incoming agency in southern

France

, has a range of escorted and self-drive tours which are partially or totally devoted to the exploration of these caves. They can also devise custom-made tours to include the well-known sites such as Lascaux II and Pech Merle as well as lesser-known sites such as Niaux, Mas d'Azil and Tautavel.

If you prefer combining other pleasures and sights with your cave paintings then consider their 'Dordogne Discovery' package - an escorted tour of high quality which combines visits to a couple of caves with an exploration of the mediaeval villages, castles and monasteries which pepper this beautiful region of France. Or - as we are in

France

- their 'Live like a Prince' escorted tour which concentrates on French cuisine (there's a cooking lesson included) vineyard visits and tastings as well as cave paintings.

And as this is the South-West of France - a land of traditional cuisine and fine wines - one cannot miss the classic tours of the Bordeaux vineyards which introduce visitors to the City of Bordeaux (recently promoted a UNESCO heritage site) as well as to the great names of Bordelais wines: Margaux, Saint Julien, Sauternes, St Emilion and so on. Here the 'escorted tour' approach comes into its own as guides are expert in both wine and getting in to the best chateaux ahead of the crowd.

If these tours interest you then contact Sylvie on +33 561 120 794 or sylvie@francealacarte.com for details and prices

APRIL SKIING

2008-03-11T10:33:00.002+01:00

Heavy snowfalls over the past two weeks mean that the ski season will now continue well into the month of April this year.

Already with Easter falling relatively early this year - weekend of 22/23/24th March - there has been a revival of interest in long weekend ski packages in both Pyrenees and Alps.

As this period is more or less 'low season' prices are extremely attractive:

ST LARY
3 nights 2* hotel + breakfast + 2-day ski pass + hire car from airport = €215 per person (base 4 people sharing car)

The thought of taking a long weekend skiing holiday in France would have seemed ridiculous only 10 years ago but with the arrival of low-cost carriers at every 'ski' airport in France has changed things dramatically. One is no more than 90 minutes from a Pyrenean resort if landing at Pau, Toulouse, Carcassonne or Perpignan.

Life for alpine skiers is a bit more difficult but for those willing to settle for a good family resort like Chamrousse or Superdevoluy then its possible to fly to Grenoble and be on the slopes 90 minutes later. Same for those who can fly into Chambéry where the choice is even wider.

Don't delay - book today!

FEBRUARY SNOW in ANDORRA

2008-02-06T09:56:00.000+01:00

Heavy snowfalls in Andorra and the central Pyrenees in early February mean that the peak season of February-March will see all resorts open and 100% of the pistes and lifts in Grandvalira functioning.
Photographs taken 4th February 2008

Book your ski holiday in Andorra now!

SNOW BULLETIN French Alps and Pyrenees

2008-01-10T14:20:00.000+01:00

SNOW REPORT

After heavy snowfalls before Christmas the weather turned mild at the New Year with a lot of sun and some showers. But over the past 24 hours snow is again falling in the Alps and is forecast from Sunday onwards (14th January) in the Pyrenees.

All the resorts are in full swing with plenty of snow on the upper slopes and fresh (sometimes artificial) snow on the lower.

FRANCE A LA CARTE has plenty of self-catering accommodation available in the Pyrenees: rates for January and early February are very attractive!

Don't forget our three night breaks (hotel + ski pass + hire car) in Les Angles and St Lary. Just give Sylvie a ring on +33 561 120 794 if you fancy a long weekend on the slopes.

à vos skiis!

SNOW in the Pyrenees

2007-12-11T09:36:00.000+01:00

10 December - first major snow fall of the season in the Pyrenees. A blanket of snow has fallen over the Pyrenees range in the last 48 hours swept in from the Atlantic by high winds and a deep depression. Snow is reported as low as 800 metres in some places with a 35 - 55 cm cover on the main 'skiing altitudes' - 1300 - 2600 metres.
The ski resorts of the E Pyrenees and Andorra which are already open are now progressively opening all their pistes and lifts. The western resorts are moving toward a grand opening on the 15/16th December.
The forecast for the next few days is for colder, calmer weather with snow falls giving way to very cold, sunny anticyclonic conditions.

How to book a holiday with FRANCE A LA CARTE

2007-11-15T13:33:00.000+01:00

How to book a holiday with FRANCE A LA CARTE

1. look at the website and choose the sort of package you'd like
2. look at the map on the page (or our googlemap) to find the nearest airport
3. check the airlinks page to find which airline flies to that airport
4. check the airline site to see what dates they fly ... and the cost!
5. contact FRANCE A LA CARTE by clicking on the 'enquire' link on the page your package is on and check with us that the package is available for the numbers, dates and facilities that you want. If the 'package' is for 4 people don't be afraid to ask if you can bring 5, for example. Or to ask for a bigger car. Or ski lessons ... or whatever! (If we can't do it we'll say so).
6. If everything is OK at our end then you should go ahead and book your flight (check our 'low-cost tips' page)
7. Then you can finalize your booking with us: we shall send you a 'secure link' for credit card payment directly into the bank (30% deposit - the balance 30 days before arrival)
8. Once payment is received we shall send you your hotel/car hire/ski pass vouchers ... and you're ready to go.

Alternatively you can look at our on-line booking packages where you can reserve instantaneously the package you want ... and get 5% off the regular price.

If in doubt, just e-mail Sylvie.

What is an "Incoming agent"

2007-10-25T12:09:00.000+02:00

France à la carte is officially an 'incoming' or 'inbound' travel agent. A lot of people are confused about this and ask exactly what it is that we do ... and what we are allowed to do.

Most travel agents are 'outbound'; that is, they send their customers out of the country on holidays abroad.
An 'inbound' or 'incoming' agent, on the other hand, welcomes customers from abroad, providing them with services in the country where they're based. Traditionally, incoming agents have worked in the background, providing services to 'outbound' agents on a purely wholesale basis. When your local High street travel agent sells you a package in the Maldives or Bermudas, he's usually relying on an incoming agent over there on the islands. The outbound agent arranges flights and payment; the incoming agent provides accommodation, activities and transfers on site.

As far as long-haul destinations are concerned, this schema still works. But the arrival of low-cost short-haul airlines means that the old order has imploded: the customer can now find, book and pay for his own flight. She can now organise her own holiday without the outbound agent ... even to the point of hiring cars, booking hotels and arranging activities abroad. Does this mean that the incoming agent is as obsolete as the out-going one? We don't think so for a number of reasons: firstly we live and work here, therefore we know more about what to see, what hotels to avoid, which ski resorts are good etc. Secondly, we have built a relationship with our suppliers (car hire, transfers, hotels, activities) which means getting a better price than you would get. The result is that we can create and market packages as cheap as (or cheaper) than you could create ... sparing you the time and guaranteeing you quality accommodation and service.

Officially, France à la carte is an 'agence réceptive', with a State travel agent licence and compulsory insurance and bonding. France has about the toughest licencing requirements of any country in Europe, guaranteeing customers of the financial soundness and seriousness of licence-holders. As an 'agence réceptive' we may not sell airline tickets but may book, sell or organise any tourism-related product once the customer is in France.

Now you know. Beware, however, of fly-by-night operators - especially on the Internet - who offer cheap packages in France but have no physical address in France ... and no travel agent licence number. You may get burned.

SNOW in ANDORRA

2007-10-08T17:41:00.000+02:00

FRANCE A LA CARTE is now selling ski packages in Andorra - in Pas de la Casa, Soldeu and Vall d'Incles - all in the GRANDVALIRA ski area.

And it's already snowing up there!

This picture was taken on 27th September 2007 in the Grandvalira domain

Get your skiis on!

RUGBY in Toulouse

2007-09-26T15:24:00.000+02:00

RUGBY

We're awash with rugby in France at the moment ... but no one can say that it's going particularly well for Northern Hemisphere sides just now, except perhaps for France. But - especially for our Irish compatriots - there's a chance of revenge (on a smaller scale) when Leinster take on Stade Toulouse in Toulouse in November.

The match is at 9pm on Sunday 18th November so we've created little two and three star programmes starting at just 135 euros per person for the weekend:

arrive Saturday 17th (Dublin - Carcassonne with Ryanair or Gatwick-Toulouse with easyJet)
time to visit Carcassonne and Toulouse and a good night in one of the Irish Pubs in the city
overnight in centrally located two or three star hotel
Sunday: great day for street markets in Toulouse: whether it's flea markets or wild mushrooms or foie gras that you're after, you'll find it.
The match is at the Stade's HQ in Ernest-Wallon: easy walking distance from town centre.
What better place to celebrate a fine win but at Leinsterman Trevor Brennan's bar De Danu?
Overnight in hotel
Monday: return flight.

Package includes: two overnights in double/twin room in 2 or 3* hotel with breakfast plus a central-stand match ticket. France à la carte's guide to pubs and restaurants in Toulouse.

Transfers (or hire car from airport) not included. The shuttle service from Toulouse airport costs 5 euros and runs every 20 minutes. We can hire you a car from Carcassonne airport (90 kms - 1 hour drive).

Enquire about these packages

SKI PROGRAMME 2007/2008

2007-09-12T15:49:00.000+02:00

FRANCE A LA CARTE SKI NEWS

SKI SEASON 2007-2008

ALPS: new resorts:
- Tignes - high altitude resort in the Val d'Isère. 3* hotel from 575 eur per person for 7 nights
- Les Houches - in the Chamonix valley up against Mont Blanc. from 330 eur pp for 7 nights, self-catering
- La Tania - another "3 valleys" resort (to add to Val Thorens and Les Menuires) from 300 eur, 7 nights s/c
- les Orcieres - a family resort in the Ecrins massif ... with family-sized apartments: 8 person duplex, 7 nights from 285 eur pp
- Serre Chevalier - 4th largest ski area in France. Beautiful family-sized chalets (up to 9 berths) starting at 260 eur pp for 7 nights
- Isola 2000 - although we've programmed this lovely resort for years we are now offering large wooden chalets which many of you have asked for. The advantage of Isola is easy access from Nice airport which has many easyjet/aerlingus/jet2/ba connections with UK and Ireland (North and South).

All of these packages (except Tignes) include hire car waiting for you at the airport of your choice (unlimited mileage inc), ski pass for 6 days as well as the accommodation.
With Jet2.com flying into Chambéry this winter (from North of England and N Ireland) a whole new range of resorts (the 3 valleys, Valfréjus, Tignes,) opens up. Otherwise the Ryanair and easyJet flights into Grenoble will satisfy most people (easy access to Chamrousse, 2 Alpes, Superdevoluy and Les Orcières).

PYRENEES: new resorts:
- Cauterets - old spa town in the central Pyrenees: a Ski'n'Spa centre - long weekend in 3* hotel from 395 eur pp or 7 nights self-catering from 465 eur pp
- Peyragudes - high-tech resort where they filmed a James Bond movie (resembles Afghani mountains apparently): ski-to-your-door residence accommodation for 7 nights from 335 eur pp.
- Les Angles - new hotel package from 350 eur pp for 3 nights including dinner on arrival evening

As well as increased self-catering capacity in St Lary and Font Romeu and a new hotel in Ax-les-Thermes.

Access to the Pyrenean resorts is really quick and easy with flights arriving in Biarritz, Pau, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Perpignan and Gerona from London, Dublin, Shannon, Liverpool, Manchester, Belfast and Leeds. As in the Alps we have a hire car waiting for you at the airport of your choice, pre-equipped with snow-chains and a ski pass for every member of your group.

Finally, a number of our packages are already available for instant on-line booking ... which gives you 5% OFF the regular price.

All our ski packages are visible here - including our New Year Eve Specials.

For booking or enquiries please contact Sylvie on +33 561 120 794 or sylvie@francealacarte.com

à vos skiis!

Simon

SNEAK SKI PREVIEW

2007-08-27T18:29:00.000+02:00

Before we officially launch our ski programme for winter 2007/8 we thought we'd give our faithful customers a peek at the new offers and a chance for some early booking.

NEW! ISOLA 2000 - Big luxury chalets for families and groups of 8 to 12 people.
The resort in the Southern Alps only 90 minutes from Nice (easyJet, BA, Aer Lingus). These chalets are very well placed near the lifts and the village.

NEW! SERRE CHEVALIER - More chalets in one of the 12 villages that make up this the 4th largest ski area in France. Smaller and more suitable for a family (5 places). Access from Grenoble airport (easyJet, Ryanair, BA).

THE THREE VALLEYS - we now have packages in 3 of the resorts in the "3 Valleys" area: Val Thorens, Les Menuires and, new this season, LA TANIA. 600 kms of pistes! Access from Grenoble or - even better - Chambéry (Flybe and Jet2.com - from Belfast! and M'Chester, Leeds etc))

ON-LINE BOOKING is available for a few of our products... and you get 5% off if you do so!

Of course there's lots more - new products in the Pyrenees (nice hotel in Les Angles, new (better) hotel in Ax-les-Thermes and ski'n'spa in Cauterets.

Finally, after one of the wettest and coldest summers for some years, the experts are beginning to talk of a very snowy winter! Whatever happened to global warming?

à bientôt

Simon

FRANCE A LA CARTE

New ski resorts for 2008

2007-07-04T18:39:00.000+02:00

Just a word to say that we are feverishly working on next winter's ski production and although it's not quite in place yet I can reveal that there will be some new destinations and new accommodation.

The destinations: in the Alps we move into the '3 Valleys' with hotel accommodation in Les Menuires and Val Thorens. Another high-altitude resort (like Val Thorens) is Tignes where we will be offering superior hotel accommodation.

In the Pyrenees we add the resorts of Cauterets and Peyragudes to our list. We looked into adding an Andorran resort to our offer but, frankly, we feel that none of our customers really wants to ski in a car-park overlooking a shopping centre (Pas de la Casa).

Accommodation wise the big news is our move into chalets. We've secured some very nice wooden chalets in Isola 2000 (the sunny resort just north of Nice) which accommodate from 8 to 10 people in style. There will be others but I can't reveal just where, yet.

Also a friendly family hotel in Les Angles, which was sorely needed.

That's it for the moment: watch this space for news and don't forget that on-line booking is already possible for a number of our packages - at 5% off - and the rest of the packages will all be on the site by mid August.

Simon

NORMAN FOSTER'S VIADUCT

2007-05-03T11:20:00.000+02:00

Before the weather broke last weekend I had the chance to accompany a group of Engineers from Nottingham on a pilgrimage to Lord Norman Foster's viaduct in Millau. The group were on one of our 'High-Tech' weekends which combine a tour of the Airbus plant in Toulouse with a day out in the Tarn and Aveyron wondering at the viaduct and marvelling at the largest brick-built building in the world, Albi Cathedral.As you can see from the souvenir photograph it was a sparkling Spring day which allowed us to admire Lord Foster's work from every angle before enjoying an excellent lunch in Millau (infamous, incidentally, in France as the site of the trashing of a McDonald's by one of this year's presidential candidates, José Bové). For the record, Mr Bové was not elected and we didn't eat in McDonald's!
Although Albi cathedral - Saint Cécile - is an imposing edifice of pink-red brick from the outside, it is its extraordinary painted interior which impresses the most; every inch of the walls and ceiling are covered with rich colours, stars and cherubs culminating in the frightful mural on the altar gable of Man's descent into hell. Grinning devils with forked tongues and gorgons with razor claws pull the poor sinners down into the flames as angels float helplessly above; must have been pretty scary for the poor folk back in the Middle Ages as they gazed up at this mayhem in the guttering candlelight - knowing that the Plague, the Inquisition or the Hundred Years War would probably claim them before they even got to the Heaven/Hell conundrum.

We didn't have time to visit the adjacent Bishop's Palace and the permanent Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition that it houses ... but that's for another time.

What's nice about this 'high-tech' tour is that it combines pointy-end technology (the new A380 and the 343 metre-high viaduct) with a lot of which is decidedly non hi-tech and yet still very French: gloomy cathedrals, miles of unspoilt countryside and two-hour lunch breaks!

SOLAR-POWERED BARGE

2007-05-01T16:12:00.000+02:00

I recently spent a few hours in Carcassonne talking to Dominique Renouf of Naviratous. She is the remarkable woman behind the first solar-powered barge in the world - the "Soleil d'Oc" - which is scheduled to ply the waters of the Canal du Midi from next July. The only problem is that her company has run into severe financial difficulties ... which is not unusual for innovative concerns at the pointy end of technology. But instead of being due to purely technical problems hers are of a human nature: the solar technology works perfectly and the barge moves through the water as silent as a swan leaving just a swirl in the water and zero pollution, zero carbon emissions and zero noise.

No, her problem stems from the fact that her barge is open to all: handicapped people included (as stipulated by a French law passed in February 2005). Hold on to your seat and continue reading: a number of original investors (some of them French Public bodies) have since desisted from the project and withdrawn their subsidies because Dominique made too much of the fact that the craft was open to - and welcomed - handicapped customers! One of them actually said that with all these invalids around 'normal people' would be scared off! As a result of this gross discrimination a critical number of investors pulled out of the project and the company has gone into liquidation.

The barge has been built and is now in Carcassonne after an epic voyage from Belgium in mid-winter - on solar power. But it still needs to be fitted out and made shipshape for up to 12 guests to cruise the canal in comfort. A financial 'white knight' has been found who will take over much of the company's debt IF Dominique and her association 'CROISIERES POUR TOUS' (charitable society called 'CRUISES FOR ALL') can raise the remaining 130,000 euros. She has until May 31st.
If you are interested in helping out then you should contact her immediately: ordinary membership of the association costs 30 euro per year, 'honour' membership is priced at 200 euros and she'll even sell shares of the company to people willing to invest even more. « Croisières pour tous » - tél. : +33 6 88 40 76 21 adress: 4 impasse du Calvaire 11 590 Salléles email: mariniere_2000@yahoo.fr
This is not just a question of saving an important ecological experiment: it's also about fighting preconceived and ill-informed prejudices about the handicapped.

GITES in GASCONY

2007-04-20T09:25:00.000+02:00

Just a brief word on holiday home rental - gites and cottages in the French countryside. FRANCE A LA CARTE does not deal with these but we have launched a site - www.alacartegites.com where we feature good quality gites that we know and have visited. We don't make any money out of the site - clients book directly with the owner. Eventually we hope to have a database of 500 or so gites in the SW of France that will supplement our other offers of hotel or campsite bungalow accommodation.

Anyway, I've just added a most remarkable group of gites to the site in the southern Gers, Gascony. Between Toulouse and Lourdes, not far from the Pyrenees, there are 8 houses on the estate near Masseube, all different, all old and refurbished, all well-equipped and incredibly cheap. Prices range from 180 to 500 euros per week in high season ... and some of them have 5 bedrooms!

If you're thinking of renting in France this summer then I suggest you take a look: http://www.alacartegites.com/masseube.htm

The catch is that the owner does not have email ("je ne comprends rien!") or english ... and you have to book by phone and post. Get out those old school french primers and get working!

Return of the City Break!

2007-04-13T09:50:00.000+02:00

Spring has arrived in southern France: after a weekend of snow and heavy rain the 1st April the Easter weekend has been warm and sunny almost everywhere with cherry blossom and tulips at every corner.

For those non-sporting types among our customers who flee at the mention of white water or powder snow we have re-vamped our 'city breaks' - a rather maligned concept dating back to the birth of low-cost aviation.

The idea is to find a cheap off-season flight into one of France's regional airports and explore lesser-known towns and cities for a few nights.

We have concentrated on the 'holy triangle' of TOULOUSE-ALBI-CARCASSONNE : mediaeval towns with rich histories and architecture, museums and 'bonnes tables' separated by rolling countryside rich in vineyards, villages and castles.

A choice of packages:
1. based in a city-centre 3* hotel in Toulouse to benefit fully from the night-life offered by this student-rich lively city more
2. based in a quiet 8th century abbey in the Tarn countryside. more

Suggested flights: Ryanair fly into Carcassonne from Stansted, Liverpool, Dublin and Shannon
BA, Flybe, BMI, easyJet and JET2 fly into Toulouse from London-Gatwick, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester and Belfast! (Jet2)
Aer Lingus do a Dublin-Toulouse summer service.

Another 'non-sporting' activity for the early summer is a visit to a Spa town in the Pyrenean foothills. Our 3* hotel has one of best restaurants in the region, the spa in Bagnères-de-Bigorre is a delight and we've included 2 special care packages per person as well as full use of the spa facilities. (This package makes a good present for a deserving spouse or parent). Access by Pau airport (Ryanair from Stansted) or Toulouse (see above).
Check it out here.

NEWS from FRANCE A LA CARTE

2007-03-28T14:15:00.000+02:00

We are trying to keep up with techie advances on the web ... so we're bringing video into our site! Little by little we'll be creating and showing little videos of all the things we write about and invite you to visit.

Here's an example: right in front of our offices is the Basilica of Saint-Sernin, a marvellous Romanesque church of over a thousand years old.

There'll be more ... so keep an eye on the site!

Simon

Cycling the Great Pyrenean passes

2007-03-20T17:57:00.000+01:00

Here's a chance for all cycling enthusiasts to measure themselves against the mighty passes of the Pyrenees - Aubisque, Marie-Blanque and Tourmalet included!

Two-time Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon has devised a week-long course for serious cyclists looking to improve their climbing technique while enjoying a break in the south of France. Based in Fignon's 3* hotel and cycle centre in the Pyrenean foothills the course includes meals, bike maintenance, accompanied rides (by professionals and, who knows, maybe the Master himself!) and a challenge and Gala evening to round off the week.

France a la carte has obtained knock-down prices to launch this programme: we can offer groups of 8/10 riders unbeatable tarifs that include transfer of riders and their bikes from Toulouse or Pau airport and a souvenir Fignon jersey.

Read more about the programme here

FRANCE A LA CARTE - LAST MINUTE SKI PACKAGES

2007-03-12T11:54:00.000+01:00

The Pyrenees have had a welcome layer of snow these last two weeks - and now there is cold and sunny weather throughout the range.

We suggest you consider a last-minute, spontaneous ski weekend in St Lary, Bagnères-La Mongie or Font Romeu.
Prices (for 4 sharing a car) from only 230 euros per person - hotel or self-catering, 2-day ski pass, hire car from any local airport - for a three night/ four day break.

Contact Sylvie on +33 561 120 794 or sylvie@francealacarte.com for booking.

Ryanair fly to Biarritz and Pau (perfect for Bagneres or St Lary) and to Carcassonne and Perpignan (airports nearest Font Romeu).
Easyjet fly to Toulouse from where you can reach St Lary or Bagneres in 90 minutes.

You find your flight - we do the rest.

à bientôt

Simon
Sylvie

The French hotel grading system

2007-02-27T11:03:00.000+01:00

There are no 5 star hotels in France. This surprises a lot of people who are impressed with the inflation of stars attributed to various luxury hotels throughout the world. But it's true: the French system goes from no stars to '4 stars luxury' and that's it.

NO STARS - this doesn't really mean a doss-house or 'hôtel de passe' (a prostitute's hangout), although it can, but rather an establishment which doesn't want to be in the system, which doesn't want to be judged by bureaucrats. The hotels in this category range from the clean and efficient roadside motel chains like 'Formule 1', 'Quick Palace' and 'B&B Hotel' to the dodgy run-down places in the seedy parts of town by the station.

1 star - usually very bottom-of-the-range cheap hotels who have failed to invest and refurbish. WC and bathrooms tend to be in the corridor.

2 star - the great majority of hotels in France. From simple traveller's hotels beside the station to country auberges a two-star hotel will have ensuite bathroom (and usually toilet) with each room. The rooms may be a bit cramped and there may not be a lift in the building. In the country they will normally have restaurant and bar facilities. The 'Logis de France' hotels are usually 2 star.

3 star - These vary greatly in style and facilities, although the grading system has a complicated appreciation scale based on room-size, personnel to public ratio, presence of a night-porter and so on. But they will all have fairly spacious rooms with ensuite bath and toilet, a lift if more than two floors, 24hr personnel and parking space. The Best Western chain are usually 3 star - at the upper end.

4 star - although there is no '5 star' grading this is not the final category. These are the 'good' hotels, the 'international' hotels - Crowne Plaza, Sofitel etc with spacious rooms, restaurants and bars, sometimes spa or gym facilities, multilingual 24 hour personnel and so on found in prime city-centre or airport locations.

4 star 'luxury' - or '4 star L' - this grade was created to separate the wheat from the chaff; to make space for the ultimate in French hotel experience - the George V, the Crillon, the Negresco and those marvellous chateaux-hotels in Provence or on the coast. These are the hotels we would call '5 star' in any other country (except perhaps Dubai) but which the french taxman has perversely labelled 4L. In fact, these hotels are considered luxury hotels and so pay a value-added tax of 19.6% whereas all the other grades get away with a proletarian 5.5%!

... and that's it. There is a government commission sitting at this moment reviewing the whole set-up but don't expect much action just yet: there's an election coming up.

Watch this space for news!

SNOW in the PYRENEES

2007-01-23T16:57:00.001+01:00

SNOW in the PYRENEES!

Winter has arrived - at last - in the Pyrenean mountain range. Temperatures have dropped to minus 2° here on the plain in Toulouse and heavy snowfalls have been recorded in all the ski resorts. Most of them have taken the precaution of closing the lifts today due to heavy snow and high winds.

This means that from next weekend - when cold, dry, sunny weather is forecast - skiing will be at its best in the Pyrenees. Forecasts for February suggest that the cold snowy weather will continue.

You can check this out - on the ground so to speak - by looking at the various webcams at the resorts:
ST LARY
http://www.saintlary.com/actu4-f.htm

and on the Piau-Engaly webcam (the resort just south of St Lary)

http://www.piau-engaly.com/index.jsp?c=42706&exp=42706

and La MONGIE: http://www.tourmalet.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=13

NOW is the time to reserve a weekend break in any of our resorts: St Lary, la Mongie, Ax-les-Thermes or Font Romeu. Ryanair are running a promotion on flights into the region (Pau, Biarritz, Carcassonne, Perpignan) at the moment as well. Just contact Sylvie at sylvie@francealacarte.com giving her your dates, numbers (adults & children) and desired resort and she'll get you a quote.

French school holidays run from 12 Feb to 11 March ... if you can possibly avoid this period.

When the snow gets to the Alps we'll let you know!

à bientôt

Simon

ROUSSILLON WINE TOUR

2007-01-18T18:06:00.000+01:00

FRANCE A LA CARTE / FRANCE WINE & CULTURE present another ESCORTED TOUR

* ROUSSILLON WINE TOUR. We've added another escorted tour to the 7 tours already on offer on our site www.france-wine-and-culture.com. It's a 5 night/ 6 day sweep through a part of southern France that is largely unknown to all but the most knowledgeable francophiles - the Aude and Pyrenees Orientales départements - which contain a wealth of ancient 'Cathar' Castles, dramatic rocky Mediterranean landscapes and a surprising number of 'appellation contrôlée' vineyards.

From the pick-up point at Toulouse (international airport or TGV train station) the tour heads for the XIIIth century citadel of Carcassonne before plunging into unknown territory due south. From here to the Mediterranean Coast at Collioure it's all hillside vineyards, cliff-top castles, tasting sessions, good eating and maquis-covered mountains with the high Pyrenees as a backdrop.

Once on the coast the tour moves into culture mode with visits to the Dali museum at Figueres and the Cubist museum in Céret adding to the Fauvist past of Collioure itself. More information at www.france-wine-and-culture.com/collioure_vines.htm and where you can download a pdf of the Tour.

This tour is for 10 to 15 guests. We have created it in collaboration with an American organization - Route des Vins - based in Florida. Travel Professionals may book this tour - or seek further information - either through Richard Shieldhouse in Florida or through us here at France a la carte.

* Please note that we will be offering ALL our other tours for groups of up to 15/18 guests soon. Just ask us for a quote if this interests you.

Simon

Isabelle's 'lentilles au confit' recipe

2006-12-27T16:47:00.000+01:00

Here's a warming dish for cold winter nights: I've just posted it on the RECIPE page of www.alacartecuisine.com

The French were eating lentils long before the veggie/organic/fairtrade crowd got round to vaunting their virtues. Isabelle, who lives in the rolling country just north-east of Toulouse, between the Garonne and Tarn valleys, uses locally-produced confit d'oie to spice up the traditional lentilles au petit salé.

Ingredients (for 4 to 6 people):
500g of green lentils. The best are from Le Puy.

confit d'oie. A couple of cuisses (legs) or 4 manchons (wings)

Saucisse de Toulouse. You will need about 200 g... or for a stronger taste - a piece of andouille: a mild tripe sausage (chitterlings sausage).

fresh pork belly. Again about 200g will do.

vegetables - 3 large carrots, two onions, a leek, 2 or 3 sticks of celery with leaves. 2 bay leaves, sprig of thyme.

Method
Chop the onions, carrots and leek and fry gently in a couple of tablespoons of goose fat (taken from your confit) in a heavy bottomed cast-iron pot (or earthenware pot like Isabelle's) on a low flame. Add the Toulouse sausage in 6 inch pieces. Add the belly of pork diced. Stir around a bit to get some colour on the meat before adding the pieces of confit and the sticks of celery roughly chopped. Give it all another five minutes on the flame before adding the lentils, another dollop of goose fat and a couple of cloves of garlic roughly crushed with the flat blade of a knife. Mix the ingredients around a bit but add neither salt nor pepper at this stage. Add about a litre and a quarter of water and a quarter litre of dry white wine. bring to boil slowly and simmer very gently for about an hour to an hour and a half.

Check and stir every now and again: the finished dish should be fairly liquid so don't hesitate to add more water or white wine if it sticks or thickens too much. Add salt and pepper at the end of the cooking period.

Like most lentil dishes this one is even better re-heated the next day.

Accompany with a Gaillac Red or Côtes du Frontonnais.

Foie Gras and Black Truffles

2006-12-07T18:21:00.000+01:00

Foie Gras and Black Truffles No French Christmas would be complete without these essential ingredients. But how do you find, choose, cook and eat the things?

The answer is to take a four day break in deepest France, into the Quercy countryside south of the Lot river. There, in a unpretentious little village called Lalbenque, a centuries-old traditional truffle market is held every Tuesday afternoon in winter. At the blast of a whistle buyers are allowed to approach the sellers who stand coyly behind their little baskets of 'black diamonds' in the main street. The strange 'tuber melansporum' is examined, deals are struck and large notes change hands: credit cards not accepted.

You can participate in this ancient ritual - or just watch - by joining one of France à la Carte's escorted tours. This one - the Truffle and Foie Gras tour - is based in a chateau in the Quercy and includes not only the truffle market in Lalbenque but a hands-on session with the chateau's chef on how to choose, prepare and eat foie gras. This is followed by a visit to a duck farm where the delicacy is produced.

Tuesday's visit to Lalbenque includes a 'cavage' session in the morning - the art of finding truffles under oak trees using a dog or pig as guide: handy thing to know in Southern France. A truffle omelette at lunchtime and you're all set for the afternoon's haggling.

These tours take place every week in winter - Sunday through to Wednesday. Customers usually fly into Toulouse from where they are whisked to the Quercy in under 90 minutes. That's where the good food, local Cahors wines and chateau life begin.

Escorted truffle and foie gras tour
Self-drive truffle and foie gras tour

What is an incoming french agency?

2006-12-04T15:29:00.000+01:00

France, land of wine and culture, good cuisine and the french paradox, high-tech aerospace industries and haute coûture ... but above all a land where the quality of life takes precedence over wealth, status or power.

FRANCE A LA CARTE - a french travel agency and tour operator based in Toulouse, SW France, is not an ordinary travel agent. We do not have an 'out-going' side to the business. We do not sell airline tickets. We do not produce glossy brochures or sell bednights in 'international' hotels.

Our agency is adapted to the times: its offices are a room in the historic square of St Sernin in mediaeval Toulouse, its brochure a range of websites visible the world over.

We started out by asking a fundemental question: what do visitors to France want to see ... on their second or third visit? After they've seen Paris and Provence and the Riviera?

We came up with a whole range of topics and places:

* hunting for black truffles in the Quercy and then cooking with them.
* exploring the last remaining caves where original prehistoric paintings can be admired
* learning how to cook 'french cuisine' in a real french château
* languishing in the luxuriant waters of a turn-of-the-century Spa in the french Pyrenees
* admiring the great southern gothic cathedrals of Albi, Toulouse, St Lizier
* cruising the Canal du Midi in a solar-powered barge

and and and we could go on for ever. Or invite you to tell us: after all, this is FRANCE à la carte.

We then organised our ideas into simple, short and easily-understood packages, self-drive or escorted, and put them on our sites:
france à la carte for general short theme breaks
france-wine-and-culture for escorted breaks in France
à la carte SKI for short winter sports breaks
à la carte gîtes for self-catering accommodation in France

Of course, these breaks are open to individuals (yes, just one person), couples, families, small groups and large groups. Corporate incentive groups or team-building strategists. It really is à la carte

winter delights

2006-11-21T17:39:00.000+01:00

FRANCE A LA CARTE NEWS November

NEW YEAR'S EVE in the Quercy
Sitting around a blazing fire in an 18th century French château, sipping Armagnac after yet another gourmet meal... this is just part of what's on offer for our New Year's getaway programme in deepest Quercy. Just 90 minutes from Toulouse or Bergerac airport (we include a hire car in the package) you can relax in the world of foie gras and fine wines for the last days of the year. more

NEW YEAR'S EVE in the PYRENEES
This more active New Year's Eve programme includes skiing in the Pyrenees and relaxing in a luxury Spa centre. Again, the food is top class and we include a hire car from any local airport (Biarritz, Pau or Toulouse). more

On the trail of the BLACK TRUFFLE
The first 'truffle market' is scheduled for December 5th. Can you afford to not be there? Our truffle package include chateau accommodation, gourmet meals, hire car from the airport .. more

ESCORTED TOURS
We've just created a number of escorted tours for small groups (4-6 guests). These are luxury products designed for visitors to France who already know Paris and the major tourist spots. Although traditionally the preserve of North American visitors we feel that there may be a market in Europe for these tours (perhaps as 'presents' for elderly relations or just a treat for the hard-working?). The one which is of immediate interest is our 'black truffle and foie gras' tour over the winter months. It should interest foodies and professional chefs. You can check out all these escorted tours on http://www.france-wine-and-culture.com

If you have any questions or would like to reserve places for any of these packages then please contact Sylvie Butler on +33 561 120 794 or at sylvie@francealacarte.com

Heineken Cup Rugby - Toulouse v Ulster

2006-09-21T17:22:00.000+02:00

TOULOUSE v ULSTER

weekend packages Friday 19 to - Monday 22 January 2007 (3 overnights)

At this time (Sept 2006) we presume that the match will be played on Saturday 20th January 2007. This allows fans to take the Dublin to Carcassonne flight (Ryanair) leaving at 9.30 am on Friday 19th and coming back on the 1.05pm flight on Monday.

Below are our packages for this weekend - we'll be adding a 2* package shortly. Flights are not included. If you need match tickets then just ask. As it's a 4 day break we've included an optional day out in the vineyards around Toulouse with a meal, tastings and opportunities to buy a few bottles. All participants get a plan of Toulouse mentioning the best watering holes, restaurants and things to see.

4* package:

- Transfer coach Carcassonne airport - Toulouse Carcassonne airport

- 3 nights twin or double room in top 4* hotel in central Toulouse, including breakfast

Price: €400 per person - single supplement for 3 nights €280

3* package:

- Transfer coach Carcassonne airport - Toulouse Carcassonne airport

- 3 nights twin or double room in top 3* hotel in central Toulouse, including breakfast

Price: €290 per person - single supplement for 3 nights €170

Optional extra: WINE TOUR with tasting (probably on the Sunday)

PROGRAMME - GAILLAC & FRONTON

10h30 Pick up at your hotel and depature by coach for the Gaillac Wine region
11h30 Welcome at Château Lastour, visit of the estate, the cellars and explanation of the wine-making process
12h30 Tasting of the Estate's wines accompanied by a 'peasant buffet' (starter, cold dish, dessert)
14h30 departure for the Château Caze in the neighbouring Frontonnais wine region
15h00 You are welcomed by the owner/chief winemaker who will show you around his superb underground cellars with their ancient oak barrels. The wines are made in the same manner as in the 18th century by the estate's founder Antoine Caze in 1776.
Tasting and opportunity to purchase.
16H30 Return to Toulouse and transfer to your hotels (arrival around around 17h30)

Price per person: €75

please note: in France 4* hotels are the best. There are no 5* hotels.

BOOK or ENQUIRE

SEPTEMBER NEWS

2006-09-20T15:07:00.000+02:00

SKI SEASON
HOTELLERIE de CHARME
FRANCEALACARTE BLOG
RUGBY

SKI SEASON: booking is now well underway for the 2006/7 season. To make things easier we have created a new website dedicated entirely to our ski packages - www.alacarteski.com

We have also done a deal with a top ski equipment provider to give our customers a 20% discount on ski and boot hire - bookable on-line directly from our site! (operational from end-September)

New resorts this year include the italian snowboard centre Bardonecchia and the top alpine resorts Les Deux Alpes and Les Menuires in the 3 Valleys region.

To encourage early booking we are offering 50 euro off bookings for Les Menuires if made before 15th September 2006.

Meanwhile back in the Pyrenees, our back yard, we have developed a stunning SKI N SPA package based on the venerable spa town of Bagnères-de-Bigorre and the largest ski domain of the Pyrenees, La Mongie. These breaks combine excellent skiing on the Tourmalet Pass with relaxation in the thermal waters of Aquensis, the turn-of-the-century spa in Bagnères. Accommodation is in a top 3* hotel equipped with its own sauna and jacuzzi room (unlimited free access) and gourmet restaurant. Shuttle up to the slopes.

HOTELLERIE de CHARME: difficult to translate this expression into english without pulling out the purple prose but the concept is simply a welcoming, comfortable hotel, usually in its own grounds, which offers gourmet food, spa or fitness facilities and some sight or sights of outstanding interest in the vicinity. We have a few of these hotels who work with us and we can create short packages to suit individual tastes.

Here's a few: 3* hotel on the Basque coast near Biarritz which is right on a fine seaside golf course
- Our Quercy hideaway where the chef offers cooking classes and is the base for an epic truffle break from December through to March
- An Abbey-hotel not far from Carcassonne which can be used a base for visiting both Carcassonne and Albi.
- Spa break in Bagnères-de-Bigorre where the chef of our ultra-modern, Starck-designed hotel takes a delight in using regional ingredients in his stunning dishes.

FRANCEALACARTE BLOG: we've started a blog - accessible from the home page of the site - to keep everyone up to date with news and ideas. Sometimes these newsletters will appear, sometimes its just things or places which we've come across (like the churches in the Luchonnais last week)

RUGBY: In the upcoming Heineken Cup campaign Toulouse have drawn Ulster in the opening rounds. So contact us if you fancy a few days in the sunny south + match tickets + hotel accommodation for the weekend 19/20/21 January 2007. Enquire

That's it! Coming soon: non-ski winter activities & Christmas and New Year Gourmet packages

à bientôt

Simon
Sylvie

A short walk in the Luchonnais...

2006-09-05T09:57:00.000+02:00

At the height of the canicule, or heatwave, this summer we fled to the mountains for a couple of days. A simple hotel in the Luchonnais, a few hundred metres above the spa town of Bagnères-de-Luchon, and we were away from the heat and dust of the plains. Above us towered the high peaks of the Pyrenees - the Maladetta massif stretching away into Spain towards the highest Pyrenean point, l'Aneto - in a jumble of wooded hillsides and craggy cliffs.

One day was spent exploring the Lac d'Oô, an expanse of blue-green water captured in a cirque above the village of Oô. The next we stumbled on a series of remarkable little chapels - practically every village in this valley and the neighbouring Vallée de Louron has one - most untouched since the 15th century and beyond.

The one in Caseaux-de-l'Arboust, pictured below, has a stunning array of murals dating back to mediaeval times. Well worth a visit.

FRANCE A LA CARTE NEWS!

2006-08-22T18:55:00.000+02:00

It's been a strange summer in France with an extremely hot July and a unusually windy and cloudy August. The forecast for September is good, however, and some sooth-sayers are even predicting a lot of snow this winter!

SEPTEMBER - the perfect month for whitewater and surfing activities. We have space in most of our programmes. - we also have plenty of room on the Mediterranean coast for late summer indolence at Gruissan with rentals until late October.

OCTOBER - the grape harvest is over, the wine is fermenting, the vines have turned to gold - a good moment to enjoy the indian summer in one of our region's vineyards. Why not treat yourself to one of our escorted tours of the St Emilion and Médoc?

WINTER - to most people this means ski holidays ... and we have plenty of these this year! To kick the season off in style we are offering a special deal on two of our alpine sites: Chamrousse - for the first weekend of the season 15th-18th December a four-person apartment on the slopes, ski passes for 4 and hire car at the airport. All for 651 euros. (163 each for 4 sharing). Les Menuires (the 3 valleys) - we're offering 100 euros off any of our 7 night hotel packages in this legendary resort. The only condition is to BOOK before September 15th.
Winter also means Christmas markets, truffle-hunting, New Year's Eve breaks .... but more of these in the next newsletter.

PROMOTION on our 3 VALLEYS package

2006-08-21T15:11:00.000+02:00

To kick off the 2006/7 ski season France a la carte and A la carte Ski are offering a great deal on one of our new packages: 7 nights in a slope-side hotel in Les Menuires, one of the resorts in the fabulous "3 Valleys" area of the French Alps.

We're offering €100 off any package in Les Menuires if booked before the 15th September 2006 midnight. Check out the full details at http://www.alacarteski.com/menuires.htm

To book or enquire contact Sylvie at sylvie@francealacarte.com or on 0033 561 120 794

2006-08-05T16:07:00.000+02:00

FRANCE A LA CARTE lauches a dedicated SKI SITE

Ski enthusiasts will be happen to learn that the leading french incoming agency, France a la carte, has just launched a dedicated ski site catering to winter sports lovers from the UK and Ireland.

http://www.alacarteski.com

The new site is a user-friendly site with a simple interface allowing the user to browse a number of offers in both the French Pyrenees and the Alps.

Most of the breaks can be booked on-line using a simple 3 click booking engine.

In response to growing demand for 'weekend breaks' we have concentrated on providing 3 night packages which comprise: 3 overnights in either a hotel or self-catering apartment + ski pass for two full days skiing + hire car from any local airport.

Some people prefer transfers from the airport but, unfortunately, lowcost airlines tend to use out-of-the-way airports with little or no transfer facilities. We have found that a hire car is nearly always less expensive - especially when there are 4 travelling together.

Resorts available for the 2006-2007 season include Chamrousse, Deux Alpes, les Menuires, Pra Loup, Isola 2000, Valfréjus, Bardonecchia and Nendaz in the Alps and St Lary, Ax les Thermes, Font Romeu, la Mongie, Arreau and les Angles in the Pyrenees.

As always, we have included ski'n'spa packages in different resorts, the most exciting being based in Bagnères/la Mongie.

Booking is now open for next winter on www.alacarteski.com