If I think the exchange rate is going to get worse I can buy enough euros here, now, to pay for the lift pass because Bonjour will take payment in euros in cash for the lift pass I've ordered.
We have also been thinking about lunch out on the slopes. Tignes and Val d'Isere are notorious for the horrendous prices charged by their mountain restaurants.
This is something I wrote (page 55) about one of these mountain restaurants after my trip to Tignes at the end of April 2012:
AllyG wrote:This is a photo taken from the mountain restaurant Le Trifollet, which is above La Daille (in the Val d'Isere half of the Espace Killy).
We skied here from Les Boisses on the first morning (Monday 23rd April 2012) of my research trip, after going down into Les Brevieres first to have a look at it, and by the time we got here I was ready for a hot chocolate!
This restaurant is in a very good position because it's connected by green, blue, and red runs and you don't have to ski down into La Daille to reach it (although we did because we wanted to). There's the blue Criterium, the green Verte, and the red Triffolet as well as the red Coupe de Monde 'OK' pistes down into La Daille.
It is, however, very expensive. Our hot chocolate was 4-20 euros and the tea was 4-50. But the view is great and I really did need a rest and a hot drink by the time we got there :D
We have been trying to think of ways to keep to a reasonable budget for lunch. I asked Andyhull how he manages on the group trips he organizes, and he says they can manage on a budget of 20 euros for lunch, including a glass of red wine.
The problem is that all the cheap lunch places are down in the villages, and I think really we all want to be up high somewhere with a fantastic view. So I think we will probably manage by bringing snack food, like cereal bars and water, with us and then going into some of these lovely restaurants and choosing the less expensive items on the menu.
In the Edelweiss restaurant, for example, on the blue piste Mangard above le Fornet, 'Tagliatelles a la carbonara' at 16 euros should bring us in on budget, with a drink as well. And if anyone has plenty of money and is really hungry their 3 course 'formule du chalet' costs 26-50 euros.
http://www.restaurant-edelweiss-valdisere.com/mountain_restaurant_valdisere.php
I have also spoken to Bonjour about this, because there is ski hosting for 5 days, and they say we can discuss restaurants with them when we get there and decide how much we want to pay for lunch and where we want to go, and then the ski host will take us there.
Bonjour don't do packed lunches so anyone that wants to bring their own lunch up the mountain will have to either bring something from the U.K. or go shopping in the supermarket in Les Brevieres, which fortunately is pretty much next door to the chalet, and buy something for their lunch. I suspect that most of the restaurants won't allow you to bring your own food and eat it on their terraces, so we will have to think about that problem next!
