Courchevel, Les Trois Vallees!

I have been lucky enough to have been to Courchevel a number of times as my husband's cousin has an apartment on the outskirts of Courchevel 1650 where we can virtually ski in/ ski out which is great but at Christmas we decided to opt for a chalet hotel where we would be in the company of others. The chalet hotel is a great concept with all the advantages of a chalet - a hearty breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner with wine or soft drinks - but with the size of a small hotel and ensuite rooms and the opportunity to meet other people without being in each others pockets. Ours was a little basic but the food was great and so was the company and my son Alistair made some great friends which is what it was really all about. We were close to the slopes and we were lucky with the snow conditions which can often be unreliable at Christmas even in some higher resorts but the week before we arrived it had snowed and the temperatures were very low so by the time we arrived the conditions were great and a couple of top ups during the week helped to keep the pistes topped up and the off piste interesting in the accessible areas.

The Three Valleys is a massive area and could almost be called the four valleys with the new links across to Orelle from Val Thorens and covers Courchevel (divided in to several resort areas at different heights), Meribel, with links up from Brides Les Bain,and Mottaret to Val Thorens and Les Menuires so there is skiing suitable for all abilities over the 600kms of piste.

Each resort has its own character with Courchevel 1850 being particularly popular with celebrities as well us ordinary folk as it is host to five or six of France's twenty six 5* hotels and a selection of Michelin star restaurants. It does not have to be expensive and there are a selection of affordable self catering apartments with supermarkets and delis to provide for them. There is an ice rink, ten pin bowling alley, climbing wall and cinema and a proliferation of bars, restaurants and nightclubs to suit all tastes. My personal favourites include Le Refuge bar which is popular on Thursday nights when many of the chalet staff have their night off and live music can be heard. In Courchevel 1650 the Bubble is the place to go and Katie is a great hostess! On the piste we love to stop off at Le Pilatus to watch the planes taking off from the Altiport and the best Vin Chaud in the three valleys - say hello to Mattieu for me!

To brush up on our technique my son Alistair and I had a private lesson each from New Generation Ski School who are based in Courchevel 1650. My English instructor Andy put me through my paces concentrating on my turns which had become too relaxed and Alistair had great fun off piste and playing in the terrain park with a mad Italian called Marco. I think I can safely say we both improved in confidence from our great lessons - even after 30 years of skiing you can still benefit from a lesson now and again!

We never tire of skiing in Courchevel and I know we will be back before too long!