{"id":193,"date":"2009-10-09T15:46:58","date_gmt":"2009-10-09T14:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sno.co.uk\/blog\/?p=193"},"modified":"2013-07-05T14:29:55","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T13:29:55","slug":"week-grand-alpine-tour-european-ski-resorts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sno.co.uk\/blog\/week-grand-alpine-tour-european-ski-resorts\/","title":{"rendered":"First week on Grand Alpine Tour of european ski resorts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"camping

camping in the alps in September is pretty great actually<\/p><\/div>\n

After a relatively easy, if un-glamorous trip down from Calais to the French alps, we traded in our nights in highway truck stops for balmy days in a gorgeous French campsite at the foot ofAlpe d’Huez<\/span><\/a> ski resort<\/span><\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy

Jimmy helps daddy to fetch water to the Airstream<\/p><\/div>\n

We get excellent WiFi so I can crack on with a few days of work online which need to be completed before we can start to visit the alpine\u00a0ski resorts\u00a0to\u00a0review\u00a0their ski holiday<\/span><\/a><\/strong> facilities.\u00a0 Jimmy settles in immediately and, along with mummy, befriends a charming Dutch couple who are regulars at the campsite (been coming here for 17 years, and I can see why).<\/p>\n

A lot of\u00a0roadies stay in this campsite for just a night or two, as they’re here to take on the mighty Alpe d’Huez, one of the most famous climbs in the Tour de France – there are also a lot of Dutch caravanners & motorhomers here, among the many French old-timers who have made this their summer\/autumn residence in retirement.<\/p>\n

I’m struck by the marked difference in the Dutch and French approach to us – bonhommie aught rather to be a Dutch word I think, as one or a couple of Dutch campers come to say hello most days, ask if they can look around the Airstream and\u00a0enquire enthusiastically about our Grand Alpine Tour\u00a0– the French only speak or even smile at us after several days of effort\u00a0with huge smiles all round\u00a0and “bonjour! ca va?” attempts to engage.<\/p>\n

It’s here, and while thinking about this difference between the French and Dutch, that I started to realise just how similar the English and the French really are<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Dutch are certainly extraordinarily socially capable, when roaming abroad – I think a lot of their confidence comes from the impressive Dutch multi-lingual abilities, of which I am frequently envious, but there is something more to it too.\u00a0 Maybe its that straightforward matter-of-factness… whatever the reasons, they are one of the most generous and enjoyable of nationalities\u00a0to meet when travelling.<\/p>\n

\"Ben

Ben and Jimmy were immediate friends<\/p><\/div>\n

But back to the English and French – yes, we are incredibly similar.\u00a0 If you look at demographics,\u00a0a caravanner is most likely to be working class and\/or retired so\u00a0I asked myself, if a French person turned up in a (let’s be honest) fairly flash caravan, in a working class caravan site in the UK, how many of the locals would rush over to say hello… speaking in French?\u00a0 Not too many is my guess!\u00a0 But,\u00a0if that French person made lots of effort to be friendly and engage, no doubt most Brits would be generous and welcoming… and so it went on our first week\u00a0in the French alps.<\/p>\n

\"turn

turn right, behind the bins to find the waterfall – is everywhere stunning in the French alps? yes, probably<\/p><\/div>\n

By the end of the week Jimmy was saying “au revoir” or rather “ov-war” to everyone and even “bonjour” if the camper had a “doggie” with them.\u00a0 With French ladies,\u00a0Jimmy is our secret weapon! (he is a terrible little flirt – gets it from his ma \ud83d\ude09 )<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy

Jimmy checks out the cafe culture in Bourg d’Oisans, below Alpe d’Huez<\/p><\/div>\n

Next:<\/strong> driving up (and struggling down) Alpe d’Huez<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/a> with a<\/span> 2.5<\/span> ton vintage caravan<\/p>\n

(if you’ve a business or accommodation in Alpe d’Huez, Get Listed Now<\/strong><\/span> on\u00a0our ski holidays<\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/span>guide\u00a0and I’ll name-check you in the Alpe d’Huez blog post)<\/p>\n

\n\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a relatively easy, if un-glamorous trip down from Calais to the French alps, we traded in our nights in highway truck stops for balmy days in a gorgeous French campsite at the foot ofAlpe d’Huez ski resort. We get excellent WiFi so I can crack on with a few days of work online which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ski-holidays","has-post-title","no-post-date","has-post-category","no-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sno.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sno.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sno.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sno.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sno.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.sno.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211,"href":"https:\/\/www.sno.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions\/211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sno.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sno.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sno.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}