What's it like skiing in Les Arcs in the French Alps?

Рет қаралды 4,479

Күн бұрын

If you are new to skiing, or a seasoned veteran, we invite you to join us on a typical day of our family skiing in the French Alps during our annual ski trip to Arc 1950. The kids may have grown up, but we still love spending time together in the mountains building memories that will last a lifetime.
In this video we will take you through every aspect of our day... from the skiing, to the eating to the all important apres ski.
We are Richard and Jackie and we live in the UK. We retired from teaching at the age of 51 in the summer of 2022. Our plans for early requirement include relocating to the Yorkshire Dales, developing our forever home and travelling the UK, Europe and eventually the world in our VW campervan Nelson.
Please subscribe and like our videos if you like what you see.
Check out our blog earlyretirementwanderlust.com
Many thanks,
Richard & Jackie

Пікірлер: 55

@VictoriaGetsVocal 6 ай бұрын

Ah, what a treat, I too love to ski and what a joy to see your footage, thanks for sharing. ❤

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

Thank you and you’re welcome! We love skiing too ⛷️♥️

@se3059 4 ай бұрын

Really heartwarming to see you and family, loved the partying shots! ❤ Lovely that you let us in, whilst mindful not spoil your precious family private time.....just the right balance.

@earlyretirementwanderlust 4 ай бұрын

We do try to keep family time sacrosanct...but the kids are always up for a party...and leading their parents astray!

@suewheeler5795 6 ай бұрын

Now thats my kind of party! 🎉 😂

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

It took a while to recover from Molly’s birthday 🕺🏿🍻⛷️ so much fun!

@jillchapman286 6 ай бұрын

Simply stunning scenery! And how wonderful to spend time with family. My two daughters live in NYC and Sydney, Australia - far from me - so I'm thrilled whenever we can get together. Glad you enjoyed!

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

Wow you are spread well and truly around the World!! It was a lovely week together and our children and partners are keen for a 2 week trip to the Florida gulf coast in the autumn which would be lovely with my mum too 😊 the Alps are lovely and all that skiing at around 5000ft - the same as Denver!

@ellon118 6 ай бұрын

Another great video, yeah spending time with your own kids is the best, Like you guys it says a lot when your kids still want to spend time with us old-yins. Both of you must be great skiers if you can still ski down after an afternoon at La Folie!!! Maybe Richard you have found a new career as an afternoon table top dancer? Cheers

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

🤣 we feel really blessed that our kids want to use their holiday allocation to spend time with us, and each other! Unlike our kids, myself and Richard have a cut off of only a beer if we are skiing! They had sussed pretty quickly that there was a bus back to our resort which we all very sensibly did on Mollies birthday 🤣

@janehutchinson9999 6 ай бұрын

Great family video, nothing better than family holidays and look at Jackie bopping along to the music. 😀😀

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

It was such a lovely week! Including the dancing on the tables at La Folie Douce for Mollies birthday 🤣⛷️

@marianshattock2732 6 ай бұрын

Your trip looked wonderful. I have stayed mostly in Arc 2000, not far away. Your video brought back many happy memories, thank you.

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

Thank you we have really enjoyed our time both at Arc 1950 and in the valley at Bourg saint Maurice 🚐 it is a fantastic ski area

@gailkoursari2599 6 ай бұрын

Looks fab. My apres ski is sleep usually 😂

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

Very different Apres skiing from the campervan in the valley this week 🤣

@SharonMcMillan 6 ай бұрын

What a beautiful video of your lovely family holiday in the Alps! I’ve never seen the French Alps so this was a treat - especially the skiing footage. Thank you for sharing!

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

Thankyou 😊 if you love the Yorkshire Dales you would like the Alps in the summer. They are just stunning. The skiing is also fab with several really large ski areas ⛷️

@jayt5970 6 ай бұрын

Great vlog we have loved going snowboarding with the kids in our campers over the years then log cabins it was a family tradition until COVID kicked in , Have the best time guys

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

It does feel like an adventure, having a week with the kids was fab and then living in our little camper for a few weeks 🚐

@commuterbranchline8132 6 ай бұрын

That looked absolutely spot on👍 I completely agree family time trumps filming. Thanks for sharing what footage you did, it definitely captured the spirit and flavour of the week.

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

It was such a fab week and Luke’s surprise proposal was so lovely! I have to say we are also enjoying a quieter pace of life down in the valley with much less drinking and tucked up in bed by 9pm 🤣

@commuterbranchline8132 6 ай бұрын

@@earlyretirementwanderlust If you kept pace with 20 somethings for a full week, you definitely deserve a rest! You have the choice now to decide your own pace. It’s nice to totally chill, potter about, relax and recuperate. I’m sure it won’t be long before your batteries are recharged and you’re out on the mountains again. 👍

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

Heavy snow in the mountains yesterday and today so 2 days rest then blue sky days so back to it ⛷️

@ingonowack3839 6 ай бұрын

Good morning Richard and Jackie 🤗🥰! Hope you’re doing great! Gonna carry on watching a little later, cause I’m a little short of time right now! See you later 😘!

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

Thank you 😊 life is great and we are enjoying skiing from the campervan this week 🚐⛷️

@motorroamingaround 6 ай бұрын

Wow guys. It looks like you had the most amazing time and great to share it with the kids. The Apres Ski parties looked fantastic and you can both boogie a bit too lol. Keep safe guys on your travels. We head home from Florida tomorrow for 4 weeks and then come back for another month so should get some better Florida sunshine on the next trip. Irvine & Karen.

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

Hope your journey home was ok and no troubles with the new storm in the UK? We have had a blast. A little more sedate now from the valley 🚐😊

@alannorman1773 6 ай бұрын

Just lovely ❤

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

Thank you ☺️

@janetbowen7854 6 ай бұрын

What an amazing family holiday in the mountains, thank you for sharing, the disco bar looks great fun. I hope you managed to have time for board or card games in the evening after dinner. Stay warm in Nelson and enjoy your skiing 🎿⛷️ 🚐🏔️🍾❤️xxx

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

We managed to get Richard to play Canasta - a family favourite card game. It’s been ok so far in Nelson but tonight is a tester - forecast is -14 in the night 🥶

@janetbowen7854 6 ай бұрын

@@earlyretirementwanderlust take care, stay warm, I've never played Canasta, will look it up, I also want to learn how to play backgammon, we have a lovely travel set, which will be great for our VW campervan. Have fun ❄️🚐⛄❤️😄xx

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

@janetbowen7854 I learnt backgammon playing against the computer on an app backgammon it is a great game

@davidhall8745 6 ай бұрын

Fantastic vid and love the partying! Definitely a great vibe in the mountains whatever you do. Thanks Dave n Jo

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

It was definitely fun with the kids, a little bit more sedate with the kids. We wished we had the chance to go to the old ski clubhouse in Glencoe before it burnt down - we heard that was legendary too!

@davidhall8745 6 ай бұрын

Glencoe is great and a shame it burnt down. Had some great nights up there after usually a days training on the hill. Great for a park up in winter either with or without hook up

@jillchew-tetlaw3388 6 ай бұрын

Wow, that looked fun.

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

It was ace spending the week with the kids. We definitely needed a rest for the few days after they left!

@aboveandbeyondpt 5 ай бұрын

Hi Richard & Jackie! I have recently discovered your channel and wanted to jump on to say how much I love your videos. Stumbled upon this one first because we're heading to Les Arcs + La Plagne in a few week's time, but I have since enjoyed watching loads of your videos. (incidentally, would you be happy to say which company/agency you booked your apartment in Arc1950 through? Totally understand if not.). Its so interesting and inspiring to hear about how you went about organising your early retirement...it's making me seriously think about it too (just need to convince the husband!) We're perhaps part-way there because we already have the T6, though not a camper! I love your videos because they bring a bit of calm, simplicity and natural beauty to this crazy world, and they seem to help me de-stress after a busy day. Thanks so much and keep up the great work! Tina.

@earlyretirementwanderlust 5 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for your lovely comments about our channel - it made our day! We booked our apartment through crystal ski - not as a package - it was accommodation only. You can also book through booking.com and I would also think through Pierre vacance which is who owns all the Arc 1950 apartments. Owning the campervan made such a difference in our last few years before we retired as it gave us an escape every weekend. Good luck with your retirement plans x

@aboveandbeyondpt 5 ай бұрын

@@earlyretirementwanderlust Thanks so much for your reply and for letting me know about the Les Arcs apartment. Please keep doing what you're doing so well, and keep looking after yourselves. I look forward to your next videos. Tina : )

@anns6393 6 ай бұрын

Fabulous video - I think we'll give the Folie Douce at ADH a miss next week, it's a bit of a Marmite place! Looking forward to your next video. Ann

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

🤣it certainly is! Our kids love it- no surprise there. I do however like the food and at 12.30 it is quiet and a french onion soup is just the thing to keep us warm. Have a great week and safe drive x

@DeansGoTravelling 6 ай бұрын

When I first saw a Folie Douce I thought the same! Our daughter worked a ski season in Val d'Isere and often mentioned how fun it was, but I couldn't imagine liking it myself. However, recently in Les Arcs we agreed to make a brief stop there on Christmas Day for our kids (18 & 21) just as the sun was going down. Just like Richard said, somehow things escalate very fast and before we knew it we were all dancing on the tables and I have to admit it was so much fun. Bonkers but fun! Towards the back there's a lovely seating area with gas fire pits, a great spot to watch all the silliness against the backdrop of pink mountains. I would definitely go again!

@FrugalMrB 6 ай бұрын

Skiing has never appealed to me, but it looks like you had a fantastic time (especially at the disco!)

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

We love being in the snow and the mountains - the skiing is just a bonus ⛷️ La Folie Douce is definitely an experience with the live music and entertainment!

@FrugalMrB 6 ай бұрын

There has been some snow in the Dales this week - but the apres ski isn’t quite the same in Settle! 🤣

@DeansGoTravelling 6 ай бұрын

Fab to see how you've got on over the week, thanks for sharing! We stayed at the campsite in Bourg over christmas with our two kidults in (what we thought!) was a large motorhome, and it was quite a squash and a squeeze, so you guys have definitely got it right hiring an apartment for a week. We're thinking of doing that next time. Do you hire the same apartment each year or try somewhere new? The best thing about your apartment (in my view) was being able to to just ski in and out of the apartment - staying in Bourg and getting up to the higher slopes and back again is quite a trek! Otherwise it's a fab place to stay.

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

We are back on the campsite in Bourg now and it is definitely a squeeze after the luxury of all that space last week 🤣🚐 we stayed in Plagne Montalbert last year in a lovely apartment rented through mountain Heaven which was considerably cheaper than 1950 but the kids wanted somewhere a little more central with the buses that run between the villages. It helps that they now pay their own way so it didn’t work out too expensive. It was certainly easier being able to ski in and out from the apartment but I think we just switched mindsets when we got down to Bourg. We have hired a ski locker in 1600 and walk to the funicular, which I quite like as I get my steps in. We are quite enjoying the start of the day- a little less so at the end of the day!

@DeansGoTravelling 6 ай бұрын

Good tip about the ski lockers at 1600. We vaguely knew that was a possibility but unsure how to book that so we decided to just lug the skis back and forth. I'd say by the end of our stay we definitely wished we'd hired a locker at 1600! May I ask how you booked your locker, how much it cost and if you were happy with it, i.e. were your boots dry next morning etc?

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

@DeansGoTravelling you pay at the inter sport shop just off the funicular. It was €42 for a double locker per week. They do a 4 person one too. It is heated so I leave gloves, helmet and ski socks up there and just walking shoes to get back to the campsite. A lot of hassle saved!!

@DelicedePhunk 6 ай бұрын

How did you get the footage where All of you were on the chairlift?

@earlyretirementwanderlust 6 ай бұрын

Richard has a newish toy. It was shot on a DJI action 3 camera on a stick

@greeno6064 6 ай бұрын

Came across your video by accident as im going skiing to les arcs next week. You should seriously rethink your strategy of bragging about retiring at 50 when the average Brit has to work on till 67 or 68 to get a state pension. If you have, good for you you are lucky, but dont brag about it, tnays not gonna get you subscribers