If winter sports are your cup of tea, then you can’t go too far wrong with the charming town of Megève, located in the heart of the Mont Blanc Massif in Haute Savoie, Southeastern France.
With plenty of rustic-chic chalets, gourmand restaurants and cobbled streets sprinkled with a snow blanket in the height of the winter season, this gem of a village is likely to melt your heart and enchant your senses.
Easily accessible from Geneva airport by bus transfer (about 1 hour and 20 mins), Megève boasts a large number of pistes for beginners and at its highest peak, Mont Joly, a network of more challenging slopes for those stronger of heart and skill.
For this trip, we stayed in a small Airbnb flat perfectly located at the bottom of the Rochebrune piste. The first day we went for a long-awaited brunch at cafe Le Dahu (which serves heartwarming and unpretentious food and also happens to have a food truck specialising in crepes and gaufres - yum!) before meeting Lionel, my Megevian and brilliant ski instructor for the day.
I have to say, I am a beginner and only discovered skiing 3 years ago, but despite the falls and the various degrees of damage inflicted upon children’s slalom pistes by my wayward skis, I am not giving up and Lionel from ESF has been great with me. Tip - if you’re a beginner or skiing is just something you’ve always wanted to try and are starting it after your teens, I cannot recommend enough getting an instructor - it can make or break your experience.
The first day was a success (I count that based on 0 bruises) and in the afternoon we went to Cafe du Téléphérique for apres ski, which if you’re not familiar with the term, is where you transport an Ibiza party in the middle of the snowy mountains; lots of drinks and people dancing outside on the cold terrace, whilst inhaling the aromatic vapour of mulled wine and roasted cheese. For some strange reason, it really doesn’t feel that cold when you’re there.
In the evening, we went through the town which really looks like a page ripped from a children’s fairytale, or as my friend Heather told me, it’s so pretty that you want to put it in your pocket. Dinner was at Le Vieux Megève where we indulged in a grill-your-own-meat experience, local wine and the best chips and profiteroles I have had in my life - I am dead serious!
The next day started with a 3 hour straight run on the pistes and lunch at Super Megève, an al-fresco steak house at the top of the Rochebrune Téléphérique, where the stunning views are mere distractions from the long-aged grilled beef smells and the harmonious live music. And yes, a number of falls may have occurred whilst trying to show off my skills on a bigger-kids slope...lesson learned for next time!
The second evening was spent in town with a hot chocolate at Bistro de Megève serving as a gentle appetiser to a beautifully grilled steak and a house salad. The house wine was also a great accompaniment and the dessert had to, just had to, be a chocolate eclair. We next stopped at a modern rooftop bar called Le Soleil D'Or where we indulged in some Negronis and other carefully crafted cocktails, whilst admiring the church tower and the sleepy star line illuminating the old Megève.
Our last day was spent in town (it was raining so unfortunately, skiing was no longer an option). We stopped for a coffee and fresh grapefruit juice at Le Hibou Blanc (the ”White Owl”) and then went for the most delicious tartiflette (a typically Savoyard dish mixing potato, cheese, cream and bacon) at La Table du Trappeur.
I know this is a very foodie post but in my mind, France is a very foodie place and the best thing about it is that you can ski, you can snowboard, you can snowshoe, or you can simply admire the snow, drink the vin chaud or hot chocolate and simply enjoy being there, in the magic of it all...