Val d'Isere Apres Ski Report: 23rd December 2011

This may seem like a bizarre report for the second of the season but as it happens, last Saturday was the hen-do of a friend of mine, Courtney.

A hen-do in France is called “l’enterrement de vie de jeune fille” literally meaning “the funeral of a young girl”. Despite the ladies involved being not so young, we decided to lay this girl to rest in style. So what kind of things can you get up to for a hen-do (or stag-do) in Val d’Isere?

The day started off with coffee and croissants on the Front de Neige while comparing our choice of outfit. The costume of the day chosen by Courtney was 80’s style one-piece ski suits and there were some cracking one’s, particularly Lou France’s yellow ensemble!!!

After skiing over to Tignes we stopped in the Edelweiss restaurant half-way down the Palafour run in Tignes Le Lac. After a couple of bottles of white wine sitting on the deck chairs in the sun and some mandatory one-piece posed photo shots, we headed back to Val.

We then stopped in for champagne at Dick’s Tea Bar while having a pole-dancing lesson courtesy of Ruth and Aude. No photos available but plenty of laughs and a few bruises were added to the day.

Next we headed to the Fall-Line bar where more white wine was drank along with several shooters of various local specialities, mainly Genepi and Jager-bombs.

We then popped into Saloon where more champagne was drunk and the lovely Katy sorted us out with their famous triangle of multi-coloured fruit-flavoured shooters.

We didn’t stop too long because it was time to hit Le Petit Danois where, lucky for us, there happens to be a pole for testing out our newly acquired prowess…still in one-pieces!!! If you head along to the Danois, après or evening, it’s pretty usual to catch a glimpse of someone having a go and throughout the season there will be the odd competition, if that floats your boat, get down and check it out!

After all the après shenanigans, the girls popped home to get their glad-rags on in preparation for the evenings events.

We reconvened for dinner at Restaurant Le Perdrix Blanche, where there’s a great selection of fresh seafood, steaks, pizza’s, cheese dishes as well as a variety of tapas, salads and more (sushi coming soon!!!). They’re also fully-equipped to handle large groups, inside or out, we chose to sit in their new terrace which is now a fully heated, covered affair with a fabulous view of night-time Val d’Isere.

We had a mix of meals, out of which all were fantastic but I can particularly recommend the fish; the Red Tuna Steak was perfect, as well as the Sole and the Chateaubriand steak for two people, a meal of kings…or should I say queens!?!

After a seriously good feed of starters, mains and desserts as well as several shots of Genepi we rolled out the door and headed up to Victors to catch their 8-10pm two-for-one cocktails from their extensive menu. If there’s nothing that takes your fancy from the menu, just ask the guys behind the bar and they might make you something special.

The finale of the night was to head to the Blue Note to finish the night off on some hard liquor and yet more Genepi which, can I just add, is the best in town. If you’re only going to try it in one bar make sure it’s the Blue Note.

We happened to bump into the stag party here, or what was left of it. Most of the boys had faded pretty early on in the evening while all but one of the girls were left standing. So well done ladies, showing up the lads yet again!!!

So, yes the day mostly involved drinking…with a few sporting activities thrown in for good measure but it was a lot of fun and if you’re in Val d’Isere with a large group there a plenty of accommodating places to hang out, even if you’re a bit loud like we were.

So the holidays are here and it looks like we’re certainly going to have a white Christmas. If you’re heading to Val with the family there’s more to do than just drinking. There are also plenty of activities to keep the kids happy.

As well as the outdoor skating rink, there’s the Aquasport centre has two swimming pools, including a massive fun pool with water jets, fountains, and a whirlpool. Every Thursday there’s the Nuit Rouges running through the centre of town with entertainers, music, games and ice-sculptors. There’s also sledging events on the Front du Neige. For more information, check out the weekly event guide around town or in the Tourist Office.

So that’s it from me. Have a great week. Stay safe and have fun. TTFN!