Skiing in Morzine, France

This year we spent winter break (a.k.a. “ski week”) in Morzine, France, where we skied/boarded, skated, spoke French, ate way too much cheese and way too many pastries, and drank too much wine. After a brief delay in our flight departure due to a strike of French airport workers (Bienvenue á France!) we landed in mountain-surrounded Geneva.

I’ve never been to Geneva before, but this time doesn’t really count as we just used it to get to the French Alps. After a traffic-filled and windy ride to Morzine, we arrived in the bucolic village of Morzine. The first day we just settled in—lunch at Oh Bon Coin, grocery shopping, picking up Sally’s skis (so efficient and cheap!), a nice walk through the old part of town filled with windy streets and charming old buildings. We saw countless paragliders descending into town, which didn’t really lose its fascination even though that continued all week. There’s also a suspension bridge across the town that is both fun to walk across (nice views!) while concurrently a bit wiggly and nauseating.

The apartment David had found was perfectly located and efficiently appointed. We were maybe 25 meters from the Pleney gondola (main way up the mountain), and right in the heart of the action. We rounded out the day with dinner at L’Étale, in their cave-like basement decorated with old farming equipment.

Two things about Morzine were immediately apparent. First, there were more British folks than any other nationality, including French. Strangely or sadly or both, I didn’t hear any of them speak French to the French people. Second, the French who WERE actually living and working there seemed truly delighted to speak French with us, which was a real treat for us and very gracious of them, since the majority of them probably speak better English than I do.

This town/mountain is so incredibly family-friendly and there are weekly guides available at the tourist office with the agenda. The mountain has 3 or 4 different “kid zones” with obstacles to ski through/around/hit etc. (Les Zouszous with lots of different animals, Les Cowboys and Les Indiens (they haven’t realized it’s the 21st century yet apparently), and Eagle Park). The majority of the slopes are also blues of various difficulty, so if you were looking to really challenge yourself you might be a little sad. The town has countless free activities in the square that pop up daily, and there are loads of things to sign up for online (crafts, treasure hunts, etc.) though sadly they were all booked when I looked. Because of all the tourism the amenities here are amazing (ice rink complex, swimming complex). Finally, they seem to love those cutout boards where you take your picture with your face inserted…seriously they were everywhere!

On Sunday we all hit the slopes together. It took Sally a little bit to find her legs, but once she did, she didn’t look back. The weather the entire week was like spring skiing in Tahoe - almost hot in the sun, needed sunscreen on, slushy crappy snow mixed with some ice BUT crisp blue skies and no cold extremities. Given that we had been worried there would be zero snow at all, these were perfectly acceptable slope conditions and the environs were absolutely gorgeous. It did mean, however, that my snow shoes got no use on this trip.

The French do their lift lines like the Italians (which I believe I commented on last year) - just a mad jumble and every person for themselves. I suppose this cuts down on necessary personnel (just one person works at each lift) and helps keep those ticket prices down (incredibly inexpensive compared to the U.S. prices), BUT good God is it annoying and inefficient. However, by a couple hours in we were pushing and vying for our spots with the best of them. Skiing in France, you can see why they invented the term “après ski” - it’s like a cult! They also enjoy long, fancy lunches at the various restaurants on the mountain, which makes noon to 2 pm the perfect time to be on the slopes.

That night we wrapped up with dinner at a very cool spot (Bec Jaune Brewery) with a creative menu (seared bok choy, fried mushrooms, ramen, etc.) decorated with old snowboards (the kind where it was just two ski bindings in the middle of a big board).

On Monday it was my turn to have the morning by myself and I checked out some of the more difficult runs. Here instead of black diamonds and double black diamonds, they do red then black. I adored the reds here because they were just steeper but no moguls! As a snowboarder (and, who am I kidding, way back when I skied), I hate moguls, but I like challenging myself otherwise so this was a treat. Then we all shared a lovely afternoon together on the slopes followed by, what else, après ski (lunch, really, for us) at Le Tremplin right at the base of Pleney.

In the late afternoon/early evening, Sally and I walked around town, got free hot cocoa and listened to not so great live Elvis music at the weekly welcome in the town center, and admired the horses doing the sleigh rides.

On Tuesday morning I took Sally ice skating at the enormous sports complex. A very sweet French girl named Maya apparently deemed herself the unofficial hostess of the rink, taking Sally (and others) around by the hand and showing them tips. We stayed until they practically kicked us out, and Sally proclaimed it the “best day ever!”

In the afternoon David and Sally were ready for a rest so I hit the slopes by myself. The conditions were “rubbish” (as Sally says these days) but it was yet another beautiful day so I enjoyed myself tremendously. That evening we sat on our deck with our own après ski and watched the ladies’ slalom. Our deck was located such that it felt like we were down on the street with the lively announcers and bar-goers, but from the comfort of our own home! It was also Valentine’s day so we ate ridiculously gorgeous desserts that David and Sally had picked out at the town pâtisserie.

On Wednesday we started off with a tour of a local cheese shop (L’Alpage) that had been recommended in the town’s activity booklet. It was great, and we certainly bought some cheese, but understandably it was all in French so Sally just had to be a good sport. From there we hit the weekly farmer’s market, buying lunch and dinner items and of course a Nutella crêpe. David had a late morning meeting so Sally and I spent an awesome afternoon together on slopes, culminating in a snack break with a view of Mont Blanc, playing in the snow. That evening we tried to go to local hockey match, but it was sold out (apparently it was the championship match).

On Thursday we had a great final family ski day on the slopes and even found some donkeys randomly living adjacent to one of the kids’ parks on the slopes. We finished up with a beautiful après ski at Le Colibri in the sparkling sunshine. Sally had so much fun skiing that she was really sad our week was almost over. In a moment of weakness we let Sally just have an enormous ice cream sundae (called “Into the Wild”) for lunch. Quand en vacances…

Then Sally and I ice skating again so she could hone her newfound talent. In the evening one of the ski schools comes down the face of the mountain to the town wearing colored torches, which was quite beautiful to see. We finished up the day with a traditional fondue dinner at La Chaudanne…in which we asked them to substitute the meat in the order with vegetables, and got perhaps the largest bucket of cooked, uncut potatoes I’d even seen. Still delicious, though!

Friday was our actual last day and we decided not to get passes since it was a bit cloudy and the snow conditions had only deteriorated. I went for a walk along the river (the trail goes endless in each direction, as far as I could tell) and, imagine my delight when I stumbled upon horses! I brought Sally back to check out the horses and a random obstacle course I’d found in the woods along the river, and then when we stopped at the playground one of the miniature horses from the adjacent stable was there (I assume he escaped). Who doesn’t love to do the monkey bars then pet a pony??!! Then Sally and I made the most of the town’s amenities by hitting the pool and one final ice skating. I was fascinated by a vending machine at the pool that sold everything from swim caps to swim suits of every size. At the rink the figure skating team was also practicing so it was really fun (and inspirational!) to see them at it. On our way home they had just set up an obstacle course for kids in town so Sally enjoyed completing that. Friday evening we headed back to Geneva to stay near the airport for an early flight on Saturday morning.

We were treated to stunning views of the effulgent Alps on our way out and look forward to our next journey to this part of the world!