Last-minute ski promotions French Alps

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!

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.