Waving the flag!
You’ll get a warm Irish welcome in the French Alps from a chalet business boss with a very distinguished
SITTING in a cosy chalet in the French Alps, I look Irish history in the eye. Francesca Smith, owner of ski chalet company Powder N Shine, has a quintessentially English accent and surname. She also has the blue eyes of her great great grandfather, Thomas Francis Meagher.
As the first big snow storm of the season gathers force outside, she relaxes in the comfort of Chalet Bramble and tells me about her impressive Irish heritage.
Born into a wealthy merchant family in Waterford in 1823, Thomas Francis Meagher was a Young Irelanders leader in the 1848 rebellion. His own father had been Waterford’s first Catholic mayor in 200 years.
Having travelled to France to study the revolution there, Thomas returned with a flag made for him by French supporters. He was the first person to raise that flag – the Irish tricolour – on Irish soil, at the Wolfe Tone Club in Waterford on March 7, 1848.
Convicted of sedition, Meagher was sentenced to death but that sentence was reduced and he was sent to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania). Two years later he escaped, making it to New York where he became well known as a journalist and lawyer, and lectured on the Irish cause.
During the American Civil War he joined the US army and rose to the rank of Brigadier General, leading the Irish Brigade in fierce battles.
A friend of President Lincoln, ‘Meagher of the Sword’ (as he was known) was made Governer of Montana following the war but died less than a year into that role, drowning in what some commentators labelled an assassination by political rivals.
Just over 150 years later, as the Irish question proves central to Brexit negotiations, it’s intriguing to wonder what Irish patriot Thomas Francis Meagher would make of it all.
Perhaps a more pertinent issue for Francesca is how Brexit will affect her chalet business in France. She owns six chalets in the little hamlet of Reberty, above Les Menuires in the famous Les Trois Vallees ski area.
But political and economic uncertainty will surely be matched by the Meagher tenacity she displays in both in her business and outdoor pursuits. As well as running a busy company, she’s a keen off-piste skier in winter and cyclist in summer.
Francesca has three key requirements for all Powder N Shine properties. They must be high altitude, ski-in, ski-out and part of a large ski area. At 2,000m, Chalet Bramble ticks all the boxes – it’s just one lift ride to Val Thorens, one lift ride to Mottaret, two chair lift rides to Courchevel and a single lift to high altitude skiing at 2,850m. For après fans, the famous La Folie Douce in Val Thorens is also just two chair lift rides away.
BUT as the mother of a young daughter, Francesca understands that families don’t want to be in the thick of the après scene. Staying in the Reberty enclave – a pretty cluster of chalets with a pizzeria and a bus service to Les Menuires – means families can avoid boisterous nightlife while still being linked to 625km of ski- ing in the vast Trois Vallees.
Friendly Les Menuires prides itself on being a Family Plus resort so it’s no surprise that it has the largest children’s ski school in France with three ESF Piou-Piou villages and a nursery for children aged from three months.
The resort is home to the Speed Mountain toboggan run on rails and the 4km ‘Roc N Bob’ toboggan run with 22 bends and 450 metres of vertical drop. Children over the age of three can now also participate in their own torch-lit descent, displaying their progress as parents proudly look on.
Les Menuires itself has 160km of skiing and whether you’re the youngest skier or the expert in the family, this area caters for everyone. The slopes down to La Croisette, the centre of the resort, are perfect for intermediate skiers while the Easy Rider 3 Vallees label promises a range of wide descents and gentle slopes, even at high altitude.
Hardcore skiers will enjoy offpiste routes down to the pretty village of Saint Martin de Belleville, off the side of La Masse or over to Orelle while couloir lovers will enjoy Gross Tougne off the Grand Lac and the Beccar couloir off the Beccar lift.
The resort now also offers a number of special trails for those who want to gain experience in ski touring.
The Brelin trail offers a 90-minute easy ascent while the Pas de Cherferie trail involves a more challenging two-hour ascent for skiers who enjoy hiking up the mountain to ski back down.
Les Menuires takes its name from the old coal mines which operated nearby and opened as a ski resort in 1964 with the unapologetically concrete block style that so many purpose-built French resorts are known for.
For years its design has been the subject of scorn to Three Valleys skiers who lament its brutalist buildings but today its architec-
ture is viewed as a symbol of French modernism, particularly its clock tower and the Brelin cruise liner-style building on La Croisette, both of which have won architectural awards.
But if the concrete blocks of Les Menuires still pain your eyes, retreating to the traditional wood and stone-clad chalets of more upmarket Reberty could prove to be the perfect antidote.
POWDER N Shine chalets are at the top of the middle market rather than luxury level. Chalet Bramble offers a warm welcome from hosts Michael and Jess, a comfortable living room, spacious bedrooms (often a rarity in chalet accommodation) and a firm focus on delicious food with paired wines. It also offers a balcony hot tub, sauna, honesty bar and afternoon tea.
If the weather closes in, relax by the open fire or visit the spa and wellness centre in nearby Les Bruyeres where a two-hour visit will invigorate and refresh you in time for another days’ skiing with private ESF instructor Marcel Brocard. Or at canapé and apero time, simply join Francesca for a chat about the great great grandfather who played a part in shaping Irish history.