We drove up to the mountains together from Aix passing through the lovely Isere River Valley en route. Just seeing the snow got us excited about the skiing that lay ahead...
After a four hour drive we arrived at the Alp Hotel in the small village of St. Martin. This authentic Savoyard village is situated at 1,450m in the middle of the valley. It had everything we needed for a perfect stay in Les 3 Vallees without all the frill you might find(and pay dearly for) in next door Courchevel and Meribel. It was a charming village, with Baroque church, St. Laurent de la Cote, and just the right amount of shops and restaurants to offer diversity but not feel touristy. Our hotel was right on the slopes at the base of the St. Martin station.
Our first night there, we ate in the hotel's dining room and despite the regional delicacy of a duck salad which included the duck gizzard, we had a delicious four course meal!
We were all up bright and early for our first day on the slopes. Fiona and Gary had skied Les Trois Vallees many times before and knew the mountains wellso Nick and I were treated to never having to look at a trail map and basically having them as our private guides for three days of fabulous relaxing skiing. Without too much more commentary, here's a look at our mountain adventure...
First day, first tram...
First run, happy skiers...
Fabulous views in every direction!!!
With Gary and Fiona as our 'fun to be with' and very affordable personal guides, we saw most of the entire area of Les 3 Vallees during our stay. Their son, Jack, working at the resort as part of his gap year, skied(and ate) with us on several of days. He was value added for knowledge of the mountain and for entertaining us with stories of life as a teenager in Courchevel!
One of the great events of the ski day in Europe is lunch...or is it the vin chaud mid-morning break, not sure?! Everyday, we stopped around 1 o'clock for a proper lunch at any one of a number of adorable, sometimes fashionable chalet-type slopeside restaurants. Depending on the meteo we ate indoors or sat outside soaking up the sun...
No matter what you order; a tartiflette, spaghetti bolongese, savoyard omelet, salade with chevre chaud it's a great way to warm up, rest your weary feet and people watch. With hearty food like this and a glass of local red wine, you're fortified for a full afternoon of skiing. 
One afternoon after skiing we wandered into the village of St Martin de Belleville...
We had an after dinner drink by the fire here one night but left when they asked us if we'd like to participate in Karaoke Night! Pour quoi pas?!
All in all, fab ski trip...can't wait to come back someday and do it all over again! A la prochaine!
More information:
Les Trois Vallees: http://www.les3vallees.com/ski/ski-resort-france.html
Alp Hotel, Les Grangeraies, St. Martin de Belleville, www.alphotel.fr +33 (0)4.79.08.92.82
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