Our Family Ski Holiday in Puy St Vincent

Going skiing is a really special holiday for us, it always feels like we are going home in a way.  We have visited the same resort for a few years now and we know it well.  The guys in the ski hire shop ask how we have been all year, the ski instructors recognise me and ask about my sister (who worked out there for a few years) and we know exactly where to find our favourite French treats in the little supermarkets.  The journey there feels long (as do most journeys when you have four children under 8) but once we arrive and breathe in the fresh mountain air, we feel at home.

It was our sixth year visiting Puy St Vincent with Snowbizz so in many ways I have nothing new left to say but I still feel like I have so much to share.  It was the first year that all four children could ski which made it so much more exciting.  The 'Totons' which is the youngest group start learning at 3 years old and Cora had been desperate to try on a pair of skis like her brothers.  She was the first one to the hire shop to request a pink helmet and her skis were so adorably small, I think possibly the smallest pair in the store.  Every morning we dropped her off at the creche in her thermals with everything she needed and at 10am she walked with the other two children in her group and the nanny that accompanies them on their lesson up to the Toton Garden.  She had so much enthusiasm, she got up with a smile every time she fell and she never gave up.  She asked to go back each day and loved every minute.  

The three boys were all in ski school and we got into a habit of dropping Finn off first for some play time and taking the bigger boys out for a pre-lesson ski.  Finn found the two hour lesson was plenty for him and he liked to insist on two snack breaks in it, but the older boys had more stamina and I loved being able to spend time with just them without guilt as their younger siblings were having the best time.  I would take it in turns who I sat with on the lift and I loved that little pocket of time where we could chat together before we climbed off and they skied ahead of me as I tried to keep up.  They loved being out on the mountains, showing us the skills they learned during their lessons and relishing the one on one time with a parent.

The afternoons were spent doing all sorts.  Some days one of us would take the bigger boys back out on the slopes as they had endless energy for racing back down them.  Finn, Cora and I loved the pool which you climbed into indoors and then swum into the outside.  The pool was surrounded by snow piling up over 1 metre but the water was a warm 32 degrees and it was glorious to climb out into the cold and jump back in again.  We all went to the sledging fields carrying with us a variety of shapes that we had borrowed from the creche and racing down the hill with huge grins across their faces.  Sledging has to be followed by Chocolat Chaud of course and nothing tastes better than a cup of hot chocolate after a day out in the snow.  The creche is open until 5pm and some days a few of the children chose to go in there to do some arts and crafts which meant all four of them had some one on one time with a parent - something that is such a novelty in a larger family and is so rewarding for all of us.

It was the first year we could all sit around the dinner table and discuss our skiing that day and I loved that it bonded us more. The pride the children had in learning a new skill and mastering an existing one was incredible and their faces by 5 o'clock were rosy and warm and full of joy.  It was the first year that all four children could go to some of the evening clubs.  The outdoors ones like treasure hunt and winter olympics were always going to be a bit much for our little three year old but she got stuck in at the disco and won the talent show as well as falling asleep half way through the movie night, snuggled up on her bean bag.  It was the first year we could go out alone and enjoy the hearty French mountain food in the evening, have a Raclette, and know that the children were all entertained in a club for a couple of hours.

The children are so comfortable in the small resort, they know where everything is, how to get around and where they need to go.  They walk around as though they are always there, like it is a second home and we are all sad when the alarm goes off so early on Sunday morning and alerts us that it is time to board the coach that is the start of our journey home. There is something special about this place, with the small family feel, the personal service every step of the way, the dedicated and enthusiastic pink ladies that I entrust my children to each morning and those mountain views that take my breath away in every direction.  If you are even a little bit curious about taking a family ski holiday then I can't recommend Snowbizz enough.  Of course there are always more pictures than there are words and I can't choose which ones not to include. . .