Val d'Isere Apres Ski Report: 5th January 2012

I had a crazy, hectic couple of weeks but still managed to fit in Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve; both were spent in my favourite bar, which as long time readers will know is the Blue Note bar.

Christmas Eve itself is the big celebration in France as families spend the evening together eating, drinking and opening presents at midnight. After a lovely meal with friends and present-swapping, we all headed to Blue Note to share some champagne and genepi.

The place was packed with locals and tourists and, as always, there was a lovely, friendly atmosphere. The owners, siblings Matt and Lou France, were in full festive mode as were the bar staff, all santa-hatted up and very jolly indeed (helped of-course by the genepi which is the best in town!)

New Year’s Eve was a special night and as usual Matt was on the door with a bucket taking donations for charity. Unlike other bars where you need a ticket to get in, Matt and Lou choose a worthy cause to donate their entry fees to.

This year it was the very worthwhile Pisteurs’ Fund which helps out piste security and their families in times of accidents or worse. With the amount of snow this year, the Securite des Pistes have an extra hard season ahead of them so everyone was happy to donate. Especially as these are the guys who could save your life if you have an accident on the mountain and they often risk their own lives to save others. So, a big thank-you to everyone who donated.

The good thing about New Year at Blue Note is you get to celebrate it twice. Midnight local time and midnight GMT (which is an hour later) so plenty of champagne was had (twice) as were plenty of hugs all round.

Blue Note is a great bar hidden away between the Bricoval DIY shop and the Hotel Mercure. Head in the direction of the Front de Neige from the tourist office roundabout and you’ll see a discreet blue sign on the glass door.

Head down the corridor and the bar opens out into a space with comfy sofas, bar tables and the all important baby-foot (table football) table which has been joined this year by a mini pool table. One word of warning though; be careful who you challenge, especially if it’s Lou or Alex behind the bar. Saying they’re rather good would be a massive understatement.

Blue Note opens from 3pm where during après they offer free nibbles to get you going again after a hard day skiing.

They have a wide range of drinks, from hot chocolates and real English tea to beers, wine and, of course, shots. The hot chocolates are great, particularly if you get one of the flavoured ones, spiked with a shot of liqueur to really warm you up.

If you’re feeling a little tender, you can get the best Bloody Marys in town which come in a pint glass and really do the job.

The bar’s open until 1.30am and the music is, as the name suggests, a mix of jazz, funk and soul so no banging beats here. Although if you challenge the bar staff to a drinking competition you might have a banging head in the morning!

For those who need to get their Valdinet.com fix, there’s also free wifi, just ask at the bar for details.

There are no special events at Blue Note because it’s already special enough but for those who want to continue the partyafterwards, here are some nights to check out the following:

Tonight at Dicks is their “This Is It” events party with great music and special offers. Doudoune has La Isla Blanca with DJ Petit Jean playing a range of house and deep house.

Tomorrow is MBC’s Ibiza White party and at Doudoune, there is DJ Marine L playing tech house.

So that’s it from me, stay safe and wrap up warm; it’s snowing a blizzard out there. TTFN!