THE GUIDE WINTER BREAKS 2016


Vichy is perhaps the best known of France’s many splendid spa towns


après-ski facilities. There’s a snowpark, a 900-metre toboggan run, a sledging area and igloos for kids, a hiking path through the woods, a restaurant, live music, a golf simulator, a stargazing observatory, barbecue cabins and an aquatic centre with indoor swimming pool, hot tubs, saunas, steam rooms and a gym. Could this be the blueprint for future Alpine ski resorts? www.lesarcs.com/activities/ mille8.html


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Alpine water park If the snow melts, there’s one resort where you’ll have no problem keeping yourself amused. That’s Courchevel, home to an enormous


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15,000-square-metre water park called Aquamotion, which opened in 2015 at a cost of £50 million. As well as every possible activity you can get up to in both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, it also offers spa facilities, beauty treatments, indoor surfing, indoor climbing, a three-lane water slide and a kids’ play area. Even better is the fact that it opened in December 2015 so it still feels relatively new. www.aquamotion-courchevel.com


Winter music festival It’s been going since the 1970s… Transmusicales (or Les


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Rencontres Transmusicales de Rennes, to use its full name) is a mid-winter music festival that takes place every December in the Breton city of Rennes. The venue, Parc Expo, near the airport, may not sound that glamorous but the festival itself is highly respected within the music industry thanks to its uncanny ability to spot future talent. Artists and bands that cut their teeth there include Nirvana, Björk, Lenny Kravitz, Daft Punk and Kasabian. 2016 sees the 38th edition. www.lestrans.com


African music festival France has arguably done more than any other nation to bring the music of Africa to European ears. One of the best showcases you’ll see this side of the Sahara is the Festival Africolor, which stages 25 or so concerts in Paris and the surrounding suburbs in the run-up to Christmas. There are also film screenings, exhibitions and poetry readings. This year’s event will run between November 18th and December 24th. www.africolor.com


Christmas concert in Notre-Dame


This is one of the most famous cathedrals in the world, so when


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