TV Travel Bucket List – The Returned

It might have been less than a minute but it counts. One place ticked off my list - the Lake Pub featured in Channel 4’s The Returned.

Monsieur X picked me up at Geneva Airport on an April Saturday, and we drove though the town of Annecy on the way to Courchevel.  He wanted to show me the lake however I wanted to go zombie hunting and begged him to stop off at the Lake Pub in Sévrier for a quick photo, after his complaining he gave in. Luckily for him it was closed (opens at 5pm), so he only had to drive around the car park while I took a photo of the pub.  It made my day!

 

 

So this holiday weekend I watched the The Returned (les Revants) again.  It’s my favourite new show of 2013 and it freaked me out! No blood, gorge and graphic violence like the Walking Dead just a guessing game of what the hell is going on. 

Series one is about a bunch of ‘dead’ people who suddenly return to their village, acting like nothing ever happened to them, while the ‘alive’ people are being all French and acting cool about this crazy situation.  Only the French would have gorgeous zombies. There is Simon the brooding undead who even looks good lying in the morgue and Serge the cannibal zombie who still manages to get his leg over with a human.  Then on the cuteness scale of 9 out of 10 there is little Victor, this boy loses a point due to his sinister ways.

Not that I’m jealous of their beauty and Frenchness (I so am!) but the women in this show are annoyingly beautiful and the younger cast are just annoying. Oui! I mean you Camille! The film this series was based on (called They Came Back/Les Revenants) was just as weird and being a scared pathetic loser as I had to watch it in the day with the lights on, no pretty zombies this time but it did screw up my head again.

So I’ve seen the front of the pub and the lake, maybe next year when I visit Monsieur X, we can visit another Returned scene hopefully the Tignes Dam (Barrage de Tignes) which is only 67km - 1 hour and 15 minutes away from Le Praz, Courchevel - hint hint Monsieur X hint hint.  

Courchevel Weekend... For a Broke Non Skier

When my photographer friend Monsieur X gives me an invite to France, I never say no even if it is on the wrong side of pay day and it’s to a five star ski resort.  This was my second attempt to visit Courchevel, last year I ended up in Marseille instead (24 hours in Marseille:  An unplanned weekend), but after a £150 return Easyjet  flight from Birmingham to Geneva  and a drive though Annecy I reached Monsieur X ‘office’.

I was staying at Monsieur X very little penthouse apartment aka his studio in La Praz and less said about his place the better, but the words ‘clean up’ needs to be said. Its location was perfect a few minutes’ walk after from the bus stop and cable cars.  After dumping my bag at his studio he took me to Courchevel 1850 (via the free bus service) to show me where he works…on the beautiful slopes of 1850 and his base for selling his photos at (Funhouse) La Datcha restaurant in the Forum Centre. The La Datcha staff was very welcoming, there was a good chilled out and quiet atmosphere (due to it being end of the ski season) and the pizza tasted great.

La Praz

Courchevel

Sunday was his day off and after realising my cash isn’t going to last my stay or even another day we went to the top of this mountain.  Seriously 8€ for a coffee and a tea in Le Praz and it wasn’t even a proper cup of tea! Yes you can take the girl out of England but not the England out of the girl.  We took a cable car from 1850 up to the highest level we could go for around 15€, I was unsure due to the cost (and that I hate cable cars) but Monsieur X  said it would be worth it.  He was right the white mountain views of snow and clouds took away any remaining bit of stress I had and drinking white wine lying on a deck chair knowing that I would have a sunburnt nose the next day isn’t what I usually do on a Sunday afternoon.

Before heading back down we took a detour to La Folie Douce in Meribel, the Sun, dance music and people dancing on the tables reminded me of my Ibiza days and so did 7€ a pint! Watching the tres expensive bottles of champagne been send via a mini cable car/box from the DJ stage to the VIP area bizarrely reminded me that I need to buy a new car. Why? One of those bottles of champagne is the same price as my car deposit. I seriously need to find a new job to fund my five star lifestyle. I also learned a valuable lesson – trying to run for the last cable car back to Courchevel in snow after a few beers isn’t cool.

La Folie Douce

I can’t go to a ski resort and not have fondue and after nagging Monsieur X in the cable car and free shuttle bus down the mountains, he gave in at 1650 and we went to the Le Table de Marie not far from the bus stop.  It was empty around 7ish but by 8 it was full. It was 25€ each for fondue for 2 people and the plate of bread, salad and meats was massive and there was enough cheese for us so there were no fighting over the last melted drop.

The next few days of my long weekend consisted on pretty much nothing, just up and down between Le Praz and 1850 and afternoon drinks in La Datcha and dinner in L’Escorchevel pub and restaurant in Le Praz. It was mainly English/American food on the menu and very big portions, I’ve had a lot of chicken nuggets in my time but not as big as these.  With a car it was easy to visit the town Moûtiers and another the resort of Champagny  and I think four nights in Courchevel was enough time for a broke non-skier like myself to relax, socialize and see this rich resort from the top to the bottom.

 

On the way back down

 

 

Merci Monsieur X I hope we can do this again next year.