La Belle Vie: Tips for enjoying winter in France (without skiing) and celebrity French levels
From what to do if you can't ski this winter in France to common French expressions and their confusing counterparts, plus a glance at celebrities' French levels, this week's La Belle Vie newsletter offers you an essential starting point for eating, talking, drinking and living like a French person.
La Belle Vie is our regular look at the real culture of France – from language to cuisine, manners to films. This newsletter is published weekly and you can receive it directly to your inbox, by going to your newsletter preferences in “My account”.
Last week, I took a short holiday to go skiing with some friends in Villard-de-Lans, located south-west of Grenoble in the Vercors. Even though our resort had several runs above 2,000m elevation, the odds were against us. As we arrived in the village, it was warm enough to walk around in only a light jacket. The normally white hills and mountains surrounding the town were a muddy brown.
Luckily, we were able to ski for one day. As we boarded the navette to head for the slopes, the driver informed us that if we had only come one week earlier, there would have been more than enough snow. It seems this is the new reality for mid-to-lower altitude resorts these days.
Beaches, cities and skiing: How the climate crisis will change French tourism
I recognise I've begun a 'Belle Vie' newsletter on a rather depressing note, so I should add that while it rained in Villard-de-Lans, the higher altitude resorts apparently had plenty of snow. Overall, we ended up having a nice trip. We went on walks, ate tasty, authentic food from Isère and enjoyed plenty of board games and movies.
It was a reminder that there are many different ways to enjoy the French mountains, - The Local has put together a guide for what to do if you find yourself in rainy, rather than snowy, mountain weather this winter.
What can I do if I’ve booked a French skiing holiday and there’s no snow?
One alternative might be to consider other French winter traditions aside from skiing.
From the Dunkirk Carnival, a large celebration in northern France that really kicks off during Mardi Gras, to the Fête du Citron in Menton, which brings in 200,000 visitors every year for a spectacular 15-day celebration of all things lemony, there are plenty of options to choose from.
8 things to do in France during the February holidays (apart from skiing)
If you head down to the south of France around the time of the Nice Carnival, then you'll be sure to enjoy the parades and decorated floats (the 2024 theme is King of Pop Culture).
You might also be tempted to take the 30-ish minute drive over to Monaco and explore the world's second smallest country. The micro-state bears a lot of resemblance to its larger neighbour, France, but it has plenty of its own quirks.
'East Germany with sunshine and millionaires' - France's special neighbour Monaco explained
Monaco is known by many as a playground for the rich and famous and a long list of celebrities have houses there.
One of my two celebrity encounters in Paris was with Lily-Rose Depp - daughter of Johnny Depp and French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis - who decided to eat at the restaurant I used to work at.
As we're talking about celebrities - we've put together some video of British and Americans stars speaking French, ranging from the fluent to the, er, enthusiastic.
VIDEO: The French accent and vocab of these 11 celebs rated
And finally, if you happen to run into a celebrity on the streets of Paris what would you say? Bonjour or salut? We've put together a guide to several popular French expressions and their synonyms that mean basically the same thing.
Comments
See Also
La Belle Vie is our regular look at the real culture of France – from language to cuisine, manners to films. This newsletter is published weekly and you can receive it directly to your inbox, by going to your newsletter preferences in “My account”.
Last week, I took a short holiday to go skiing with some friends in Villard-de-Lans, located south-west of Grenoble in the Vercors. Even though our resort had several runs above 2,000m elevation, the odds were against us. As we arrived in the village, it was warm enough to walk around in only a light jacket. The normally white hills and mountains surrounding the town were a muddy brown.
Luckily, we were able to ski for one day. As we boarded the navette to head for the slopes, the driver informed us that if we had only come one week earlier, there would have been more than enough snow. It seems this is the new reality for mid-to-lower altitude resorts these days.
Beaches, cities and skiing: How the climate crisis will change French tourism
I recognise I've begun a 'Belle Vie' newsletter on a rather depressing note, so I should add that while it rained in Villard-de-Lans, the higher altitude resorts apparently had plenty of snow. Overall, we ended up having a nice trip. We went on walks, ate tasty, authentic food from Isère and enjoyed plenty of board games and movies.
It was a reminder that there are many different ways to enjoy the French mountains, - The Local has put together a guide for what to do if you find yourself in rainy, rather than snowy, mountain weather this winter.
What can I do if I’ve booked a French skiing holiday and there’s no snow?
One alternative might be to consider other French winter traditions aside from skiing.
From the Dunkirk Carnival, a large celebration in northern France that really kicks off during Mardi Gras, to the Fête du Citron in Menton, which brings in 200,000 visitors every year for a spectacular 15-day celebration of all things lemony, there are plenty of options to choose from.
8 things to do in France during the February holidays (apart from skiing)
If you head down to the south of France around the time of the Nice Carnival, then you'll be sure to enjoy the parades and decorated floats (the 2024 theme is King of Pop Culture).
You might also be tempted to take the 30-ish minute drive over to Monaco and explore the world's second smallest country. The micro-state bears a lot of resemblance to its larger neighbour, France, but it has plenty of its own quirks.
'East Germany with sunshine and millionaires' - France's special neighbour Monaco explained
Monaco is known by many as a playground for the rich and famous and a long list of celebrities have houses there.
One of my two celebrity encounters in Paris was with Lily-Rose Depp - daughter of Johnny Depp and French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis - who decided to eat at the restaurant I used to work at.
As we're talking about celebrities - we've put together some video of British and Americans stars speaking French, ranging from the fluent to the, er, enthusiastic.
VIDEO: The French accent and vocab of these 11 celebs rated
And finally, if you happen to run into a celebrity on the streets of Paris what would you say? Bonjour or salut? We've put together a guide to several popular French expressions and their synonyms that mean basically the same thing.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.