Maison Clarée Blog

Easter skiing

bandito — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:45:24 +0000

We had a fantastic Easter skiing holiday at Maison Clarée this year. Skied on Easter Sunday in fairly typical spring conditions, good but soft snow by the afternoon. But on Wednesday morning we were skiing in 20 inches of fresh powder, all the skiing was amazing and we skied the full Serre Chevalier area with no queues and no crowds. Who could ask for more?!

A huge thank you to Davina and her team at Ski Connections in Villeneuve – they provided us with excellent instructors – all the children really enjoyed ski school this time. We also rented our gear from Davina, which was good quality and competitively priced. The whole set-up was great and all very easy and convenient. We particularly enjoyed the 9.30 start, which made the mornings more relaxing! We’ll definitely be going back to Ski Connections next time!

Our stay was further enhanced by Nathalie’s delicious food and Lindsay’s help in the kitchen which meant that we had time to put our feet up and enjoy pre-dinner drinks/showers and minimal clearing-up. We achieved all this for less than the cheapest half-board package any tour company could offer – Maison Clarée is the way to go!

Art in les Alberts

bandito — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:42:10 +0000

Our host Jacqui Gibello gave us a tour of her studio during our recent skiing holiday and showed us some of her fantastic paintings. She also laid on a watercolour workshop for the children, which they thoroughly enjoyed! Next time we’re going to try one of her Fimo bead-making sessions and one of the adults in our group is planning another trip to do some landscape painting of the stunning Clarée Valley. Jacqui has experience of a wide range of artistic media and would be delighted to help visitors who would like to broaden their skills at any level.

Summer cycle races

bandito — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:55:31 +0000

Cycling fans can enjoy two exciting road bike events in the area this summer. On Saturday 7th July, ‘La Marmotte’ will see amateur competitors tackling major mountain passes. This annual, one-day cyclosportive event is thought to have been the first of its kind and remains not only one of the most popular in Europe but also the hardest. The route is 174 km long and takes competitors over the Col du Glandon, Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier and finishes at the top of the Alpe d’Huez, one of the most famous Tour de France climbs. Then on 12th and 13th July, the Tour de France itself leaves Albertville and heads through the Hautes Alpes, passing within an hour’s drive of Maison Clarée.

Serre Chevalier Derby

bandito — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:53:07 +0000

The Serre Chevalier Freeride Derby will take place on 8th April, following straight on from the freeriding event in La Meije, home of extreme skiing.

Slalom

bandito — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:46:31 +0000

On 7th and 8th April 2012 the Fischer Masters Elite Challenge Tour final Super-G, Giant and Slalom ski races will take place in Villeneuve, one of the ski areas in Serre Chevalier.

Snowboard championship

bandito — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:38:21 +0000

There will be high excitement in Serre Chevalier from 22nd to 25th March 2012 when the French junior snowboard championships hit the slopes. Serre Chevalier has been described by worldsnowboardguide.com as ‘one of the best resorts in France… this great resort has heaps of major terrain’.

Music festival comes to Serre Chevalier

bandito — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:21:36 +0000

From Monday 12th until Saturday 17th March 2012 there will be a festival celebrating the music of Offenbach in and around Serre Chevalier. Under the direction of Jean-Christophe Keck, the Hautes-Alpes Chamber Orchestra and pianist Yoshiko Moriai will perform recitals of Offenbach’s music and his operetta ‘La Belle Hélène’.

For more information, see www.offenbachetsesamis.com or contact the tourist office in Serre Chevalier (00 334 92 24 98 98) or in Briançon (00 334 92 21 08 50).

‘Babyfoot’ at Maison Clarée!

bandito — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:10:59 +0000

We can now offer table football to our guests – so get those wrists flexed for some serious après-ski action!

Jazz Festival

Jacqui — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:14:42 +0000

Montgenevre is organising an international jazz festival 26th to 31st July 2011

Hello! Winter is here and we have 25cm of fresh snow in the resorts!

Jacqui — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 15:50:19 +0000

We are expecting our first guests of the ski season for the first weekend in December when Montgenèvre opens. Before that we’ve got a group of family and friends coming to celebrate a 30th birthday…

The house is looking great with a bit of repainting and decorating. Wood is stacked by the stove for cosy winter evenings.

We look forward to greeting all our guests; we still have room for more in January and late March.