Lates ‘N’ Breaks
THAILAND: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:
Go all-inclusive for 14 nights at the three-star BelleVue Dominican Bay, Boca Chica, from £919pp. Departs Gatwick on March 13. Book at travelsupermarket.com. TURKEY: Jet off for seven all-inclusive nights at the Febeach Hotel, Side, from Manchester on February 27, with prices from £281pp. sunshine.co.uk. CYPRUS:
A week on an all-inclusive basis at the five-star King Evelthon Beach Hotel & Resort, Chloraka, departing from Liverpool on March
23 costs from £357pp. teletextholidays.co.uk,
0208 174 3963.
WHEN I was a little girl, my family and I used to hit the dry ski slopes near Edinburgh every winter.
And although we had fun, I always dreamed of the day I could ski on powder-white snow.
Fast-forward 30 years and here I was gliding down the beautiful French Alps on the pistes of Les Arcs.
It had been my playground for the past week and after several skiing lessons, I was now comfortably slaloming down the tree-lined slopes and enjoying the breathtaking scenery.
But it hadn’t always been like that.
My husband Jay and I arrived in the sleepy village of Plan Peisey after a short flight from Gatwick and a two-and-a-half-hour coach transfer from Lyon to Chalet Bayona, a traditional lodge run by Ski Beat.
The chalet sleeps 14 guests and offers home-from-home comforts including a hearty cooked breakfast, afternoon tea (the flapjacks and lemon drizzle cake are to die for) and a delicious three-course dinner every night. Husband and wife team Sue and Simon were our friendly British hosts for the week, alongside Gerard who stepped in to cover at one point. Nothing was too much trouble for this trio.
Our lift passes for the week were 265 euros per person and our lessons cost 160 euros each with the ESF ski school, which was just a stone’s throw away from our chalet.
Day one – and my previous years on the dry ski slopes had not stood me on steady ground. In fact, you’d have thought I’d never set foot on a piste. But thanks to the patience and skill of instructor Fred and his assistant Anais, before long I was snowploughing my way