This week's Ski Life Story takes us from the Alps to the Pyrenees. Geoff and Victoria's journey took them from the UK to the Alps and then to Bagneres de Luchon in the French Pyrenees, where they now call home!
"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, far away we were both practising civil engineers. We have always been big lovers of the outdoors and our particular passion was skiing. For many years we considered working a ski season, but it wasn't until the summer of 2010, when Victoria was made redundant, that we felt we finally had the opportunity to work "just one" ski season before "returning to real life". That was over 10 years ago and we're still here!
We both had connections in Morzine, so that was where we started our search for jobs as chalet hosts. It was only after we'd accepted jobs that we realised quite how big Morzine is! Luckily after a dozen or so interviews we were offered positions hosting a chalet alongside a professional chef. We were amongst the oldest chalet hosts in the town (we were in our early 30's in 2011), but loved the experience to the fullest. From a work perspective we learnt an awful lot about standards, food and professionalism in that exhausting season.
It turns out that we'd loved it so much, that when we were offered a 2nd season with the same company we jumped at the chance. This time around we did all of the food prep, cooking and serving alongside the other chalet duties and we had a floating 3rd pair of hands to help out. It was part way through this 2nd season when we started to think that we'd quite like to do this for ourselves, and having more responsibility opened our eyes to the amount of spare time we'd have to focus on the admin in the background.
The next summer, we were offered roles hosting a chalet for a walking & hiking company in the Pyrenees. This was our first experience of the French Pyrenees, although we'd both been to Andorra regularly. We were immediately struck by the differences between the two mountain ranges, and slowly began to realise that if we were going to start our own business it would be here in the Pyrenees.
Fast forward 2 years, via a winter in the Pyrenees (one of the best ski seasons we've ever had), and another year in Samoens, and we'd bought our Villa in Bagneres de Luchon. A whole 12 months of renovation followed.
We employed a builder, a plumber and an electrician to handle the major stuff, but we tackled everything else ourselves. This was a complete change to our chalet host lifestyle. We only really took off the decorating clothes on a Friday evening to visit a local bar for a couple of beers and a takeaway pizza. We opened The Free Range Chalet in December 2015.
We love our vocations (it's not a job, it's a lifestyle choice!) and seeing our guests have the very best time. Holidays are precious and we will do everything we can to make sure that you have a hassle and stress free break with The Free Range Chalet. We are your hosts, chefs, chauffeurs and much more (or less if you prefer) during your stay and we look forward to welcoming you into our home.
The highlights of the last 6 years are simply all of the guests we meet and introduce to the lesser known Pyrenees Mountains. We've met some truly wonderful friends along the way. But the lowlight has to be our trusty old minibus dying on the very first Saturday of the February Half-Term 3 years ago with the entire weekly shopping in the back. Our proudest moment has to be winning a Small Business award from Theo Paphitis (which led to us meeting him) back in the summer of 2018.
I'm not sure there's a great deal we'd change along the way. We're lucky to have found something we love to do together and we're conscious that we're the only people who can make decisions for the business - so once we're committed you have to stick with it whether it turns out to be the best decision or not.
We decided early on that we wanted to do this for ourselves, and set about learning the trade, realising that not only could we learn from the things that were done really well, but crucially, that we could avoid things that make guests feel uncomfortable or frustrated."
Villa Gracieuse is the beautiful Free Range Chalet, located in the spa town of Bagneres de Luchon and surrounded by dramatic peaks. It's a fabulous base for exploring the Pyrenees in both winter and summer! Check it out on Chalets Direct!
