Best snow in the Pyrenees for 20 years
Whilst snow in Europe has generally been good so far this ski season, the French Pyrenees has seen the biggest dumps for almost 20 years.
Comments James Dealtry, the English owner of L’Ancienne Poste, a luxury ski lodge in the village of Avajan: “I worked for the Ecole du Ski Français in Val d’Isere as an instructor for 12 years and I can’t remember seeing snow as good as we have here in the Pyrenees right now.
“Everyone heads for the Alps which results in crowded slopes, long queues in restaurants and argy-bargee with the Germans in the chair lift queues. But the Pyrenees has some of the best skiing in Europe – without all the Alpine agro.
“We are within 10 minutes of three great resorts: Val Louron (which is perfect for beginners), St. Lary and Peyragudes which, between them, total 20 black, 52 red and 69 blues runs. Crowded slopes – apart from being dangerous at times – can really spoil a day’s skiing but it is not a problem we have here.”
L’Ancienne Poste was originally built in 1864 and was the village post house until the late 1940's with the animals being kept on the barn side of the building.
James purchased the house in 2006 and after renting it out for the winter and summer seasons began the renovation process, with the intention of keeping it as environmentally-friendly as possible to reduce the carbon footprint.
However many original features such as the exposed stone walls were retained and the beams and flooring were reconditioned giving the property a very smart and sharp finish whilst retaining a classic old, cosy feel.
L’Ancienne Poste has a highly skilled in-house chef, Eddie Charvet, and meals tend to be a mixture of world cuisine and classic French and are prepared using local ingredients wherever possible.
The lodge offers either 4 or 7 night stays and, for the entire month of March, prices have been reduced by 10%. A seven-night stay now costs from €799 pp (two sharing) which includes two days’ ski guiding, 7-nights’ B&B plus six evening meals with wine and beer (chef has one night off per week). Four-night breaks cost from €449 pp.
The area is served by three main airports Pau, Lourdes-Tarbes, and Toulouse, and can be accessed using low cost airlines such as Easyjet or Ryanair. Airport transfers can be arranged on request.
For more information, visit ancienneposteavajan.com.
