For those of us with a passion for the mountains and skiing, the last year has most likely been one of the hardest ever. We know that it's not quite over yet, but we're confident that by next winter, the European ski industry will be raring to go!
Chalets Direct began life as a passion project over 20 years ago - and we're proud to say that the same love for the great alpine outdoors is what inspires us today. We're not the only ones - there are so many mountain lovers out there who have made them their home.
This series is to tell the stories of some of our many members who came to the mountains and stayed. Enjoy!
John & Julie - Chalet Le Péry, Grand Massif, France
See Chalet Le Péry on Chalets Direct.
John is from Jersey, Channel Islands and I am originally from the UK, although I had lived in Jersey since 1988. We first met each other when we stayed in the same chalet on holiday in Tignes Le Breviere in 2011, but actually got together through internet dating 6 months later! We have both skied (well John is a full-on telemarker now), for over 30 years and we loved going on skiing holidays in winter and mountain hiking holidays in the summer (we are not beach or city people in the slightest).
We stayed at a chalet in Chatel in 2012 and we really liked the way that the host operated his business. This was the start of a little bug in our heads that kept niggling away saying 'wouldn't it be nice to pack it all in and follow a dream'.
Roll on another year and we stayed at a catered chalet in Les Carroz, this was our first time to the Grand Massif and we loved it. Whilst it isn't one of the biggest or well known resorts, it offers you everything that you need for your ski holiday and more. The chalet we stayed in at the time was not the best experience we have had, and this got us thinking again that surely this is something that we could do, right? Roll on another year and in March we went back to the same chalet in Chatel for a friend's 50th birthday - a complete surprise for him and a great week for everyone. Whilst there, we asked questions and picked up some great hints and tips from the host and that sealed the decision for us - we were going to sell up, move to France and run a catered chalet!!
We put our house in Jersey up for sale in June 2014 and in August spent two weeks' holiday in and around Morillon. We had decided that the Grand Massif was the place for us after we had discovered it on our trip in 2013. Our whole two weeks there it rained and rained, it was the wettest summer in 30 years, but we still loved it. We looked at around 8 properties in total but fell in love with our chalet from the first time we saw it, we really wanted it but we hadn't sold our property.
On our return to Jersey just as we were about to board the ferry we received a message from our estate agent that we had sold our house, it was fate! We waited a few weeks to make sure that everything was ok with our sale then put in an offer on the chalet which was accepted. On the 10th November we packed everything up and moved to France and the chalet sale was completed on the 14th November 2014.
We already had a lot of experience, having stayed in numerous catered chalets over the years, so we had a really good idea of what we wanted to offer our guests. That said, we are constantly learning and adapting what we offer to ensure everyone who stays with us has the best experience.
Our first summer season was a bit of a shock as we had intended to offer the same catered service as we do in the winter, but this really didn't work out, so from the middle of April to the end of October we offer a flexible catered service where guests book on B&B terms with the flexibility of reserving a two course meal on the evenings that suit them.
We can't wait for each new season to arrive which brings with it a variety of guests all looking for something different from their stay.
Julie & John Nicolle
Check out Chalet Le Péry on Chalets Direct! You can already book for Winter 21/22 - see prices here, and summer stays are available on a b&b basis.
