On arrival at our chalet, the sun was shining and the living area was bathed with light, the afternoon tea was laid out beautifully with champagne, fresh French bread and the most stunning cake adorned with flowers. The chef and hostess were there to greet us and our nannies came to introduce themselves and offered to stay to help with the little ones whilst we headed to the ski hire shop with our in-resort driver.
The amazing thing about St Martin de Belleville is everything is in one place. The Intersport ski hire shop is opposite the bubble that takes you up to high altitude skiing in Les Menuires and the ESF Piou Piou is next to this. The brand new uber trendy Lodji Hotel sits at the base of the gondola and is a haven for luxurious apres-ski drinks and a real suntrap.
We couldn’t have been more delighted with the ESF Piou Piou club for the 3 years olds learning to ski. It’s right at the foot of the bubble, super easy for dropping the children each morning. They went in happily each day to the indoor creche before being served a delicious lunch, followed by ski school in the afternoon from 2ish – 5pm. Most afternoons we would pick them up and whisk them off for a celebratory apple juice and a bit of live music apres ski at the Lodji Hotel next door.
My little boy Jasper is two now and pretty active, so I was a little nervous that he might be bored from time to time in the chalet, but the nannies couldn’t have made it more exciting! They went out to the soft play centre in Les Menuires, for picnics at the top of the bubble lift, made snowballs and snow ducks in the snow and they came with a tonne of toys, books, buggies and other things to make our life easier. Their flexibility with timings also allowed us to switch our routine as we needed, which is a godsend when you are rushing to get back to them in time.
