THE GUIDE WINTER BREAKS 2016


Dine heartily post-piste at a Ski Amis chalet in the Alpine ski resort of La Tania


lovely woodland setting, is located conveniently between Courchevel and Méribel. One of the operators offering


accommodation here is Ski Amis, which has seven catered chalets ranging from the 8-person Chalet Elliot up to the 30-person Chalet Christine. All chalets are close to the pistes and the gondola lift, and just a short walk from the traffi c-free centre of the very quiet village. www.skiamis.com/chalets/ la-tania.htm


Serre Chevalier


Serre Chevalier is a major ski resort consisting of the town of Briançon and the villages of Chantemerle, Villeneuve and Le Monêtier-les-Bains, all stretched out along the valley fl oor. There are loads of varied pistes on offer – over 155 miles in all – and some excellent woodland runs thanks to the higher-than-normal tree line at 2,150 metres. Multiple snow cannons ensure you get a good covering of the white stuff, even during milder winters. Thanks to the lovely brickwork in some of the older buildings, the Telegraph newspaper has (perhaps somewhat bizarrely) described


144 ❘ FRANCE TODAY Oct/Nov 2016 FT158.WINTER BREAK GUIDE.indd 144 05/09/2016 16:24


the resort as “a sort of Provence in the snow”. www.serre-chevalier.com


Caribbean adventure There’s a notorious volcano on the island of Martinique called Mont Pelée which, when it last erupted, killed 28,000 people. But that was back in 1902. Nowadays, Pelée is quiet as a mouse, making this Caribbean paradise, one of France’s fi ve overseas departments, the perfect destination for a winter getaway. If you can drag yourself off the white sandy beaches in the south, and away from the French colonial architecture, then head for the mountainous north, where you can hike among the extinct volcanoes and the rainforest. If you’re there in late winter, don’t miss the island’s racy carnival at the beginning of March, where you can sample plenty of the local AOC rums. www.martinique.org


Winter playground


The only way to describe it is as a winter playground. Mille8, in the ski resort of Les Arcs, is a huge mountainside centre that includes both skiing and


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