Appartement Les Menuires, 3 pièces, 8 personnes - FR-1-452-292

The kids were sorry to leave, which says a lot. We normally ski somewhere for four days and feel ready for a change, but we could easily have stayed another week or two here. With 600 km of runs, there was plenty more to explore, and getting between Menuires, Val Thorens, Meribel, Courchevel and the other areas by ski worked better than any non-ski transport. It's a huge, well-connected place, much less broken up than somewhere like Chamonix. Pt de les Masse was a lovely little area, easy to reach and picturesque, and Orelle on the far side of Val Thorens was beautiful too. We'd come back. We're a family based near New York, and Europe has become more appealing for the cost, access, snow, food, culture and other reasons. The 3 Valleys was high on our list for a December trip because snow seemed more reliable there in a less predictable month. We booked late for the holidays, so some options didn't make financial sense for us. Courcheval 1850, for example, would have meant selling a few Rolexes. Les Menuires turned out to be family-friendly, easy to get around and within budget. Staying at our hotel in Croisette meant we could ski in and out, leave the car behind, and choose from plenty of good restaurants over six nights. Alpybus made it easy to get there from GVA airport. Lift passes and guide prices were more affordable than in the US. I'm fed up with Epic and Ikon, at least until US private equity refocuses on the skiing experience instead of upstreaming profits. Even though the last major storm had been on Dec 8, the coverage and access were still good when I wrote this on Dec 28.