Plan to spend 12 weeks in France - where to go?

Thanks again - just looking at the Chamonix piste map - the fact it's not far from Geneva is a big advantage too.

Italy will be cheaper for longer stays.

Going for a season to France is an expensive way to learn French!

Def not Brides-le-bain. The gondola ride alone is 25 min to the main ski area lifts. At the end of your day you have another 25 min ride down, because on most days, a run down is not possible. So if you ski every day of your 12 weeks, you will spend 84 hours on a lift, which will not add to your skiing.

In my first season, I skied for 4 months, every day on the 8.00am lift, and never missed a days skiing. I cannot imagine not skiing every day, what a waste! I still ski dawn til dusk every day.

I am not sure who you will build your social circle with, since most people will be out skiing?

Forty five years after my first season, my "social circle" from those days is still there. I still ski every day with Austrians that I worked with.

Here's the thing - not everyone's the same. One of the joys of being there for so long will be NOT having to get the 8am lift every day in all weathers.

If I pull back the curtain and there's cold, heavy snowfall, I can wait until it stops before heading out - go to a bar or cafe instead and practise my French! The locals aren't all out piste-bashing all day ime.

Btw Dave Mac, have you thought of asking that charm school for a refund?

Have to confess am getting a bit of a lazy skier, not often I will put in a full day on-piste. Maybe is a bit sad but quite often I can be seen going home at 10am. Quick skin up, one run down and spend day doing something else. Actually just don't think I am fit enough to ski full on every day.

Me too ..I did 4 weeks last year (2014) and there was a LOT of snow so if I couldn't see I didnt go but I was tired at the end and needed a day or two's rest ...or at least my muscles did.

Definitely lazy myself. When conditions are boring I skin up to Cabane Mont Fort, have lunch and ski down. I invested in a pair of Head Magnums to make piste skiing more enjoyable, but even then, it's 3 hours of skiing maximum, after that it's terrace/bar hopping. I did make a point of going up in any weather, any conditions last season (well, one of my flatmates was a ski nut who would drag me out as I was the only one in a flat without a valid excuse not to ski - everyone else worked on weekends), but on some days it was literally for one run only - couple times visibility was so bad this one run took a very long time, couple it was so icy that skiing for longer would be definitely pushing it. The benefit of longer stays and season passes is that you don't need to ski bell-to-bell. But it's good to go in any weather if only for an hour just for the sake of having skied some awful conditions :) That's what many locals do as they don't feel the need to maximise the uptake from the short holiday. They would ski most days that they can ski but many of these days will be rather short.

Head Magnums, great minds must think alike.